New Britain herald., 1925-05-27

h police station when the Lincoln car was examined and as to his finding Of flashlights and other articles in a umpartmcnt in the machine The officer did, however, state that his 1 testimony lo the effect that he had seen the clothing removed from the body of Odiccr SkpIy was not true, lis prrOr, he explained, was due to his being agitatcd and possibly mis- understanding the question rather than to any WilfuI misstatcmcnt of fact.
 "patroDman Malona was question: cd regarding statement made by him under ross-cAaminaliun 10 the effect that he did not know who it was that said, "Thcro he goes around the corner" The officer told your committee that al the tune he testified he knew that the man who made the statement was the hosticr, Johnson Asked why he did not reply ruthtutly 10 this question, he stated that he was acting under orders from ,he states attorney, who, hr said, had told him 10 make no mention Of Johnson or his pres rnre in front of the store where the murder and robbery took place.
 "putrolman lieblcr was QucS- roncd regarding the accuracy of 'hrcc statements which transcript Of the testimony showed he made while under cross examination. In an swcr to question by defense coun- soI, th" transcript shows Officer Ii.hlrr denied he had talked with his brother officers about the case a' al.' To your committee he stated that between the date of the nlur- der and the opening of the trial he had discussed the case with other officers Of this department. He offered no satisfactory explanation as to why he had testified incorrect iy on this point
 "The transcript indicated that Officer Licbler had testified under . Ni ppS tAA LII llldklDll lIdk 4lF 'IiAli | lt member having read in the papers or having heard that Officer Skelly had said that Shean had shot him. To your committee he stated, with out a satisfactory explanation, that he heard that Officer Skely had identified Shean as the man who had fired the fatal bullet and that his testimony on this point was in correct.
 Regarding his apparent unwili- ingpess, while under cross cXamina- lion, to tell that the man who hol- 1 Tered, There's somebody on the corner" was the hostler, Johnson, i Officer Liebler said that he was un- der orders from his superior. who, he said, was the states attorney, not to mention Johnson's name in con- nection with the case.
 Your committee is not of the opinion that any one of the poliCe- men involved gave false testimony for the purpose of misleading the court UT Jury lO CO4NICt ll4S a--A>|H but that they did not have proper 1 understanding Of what their conduct should be while on the witness stand Neither does your committee be- lieve that the testimony which tAey 1 admitted was defective had the slightest bearing on the result Of the l trial. That they should tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in giving testimony, rccitin2 the facts as they know them, irrespective Of what bearing ] their stories might have had on the outcome of the trial seemingly was not uppermost in their minds. Your committee believes that the mere fact that they appeared before members of the board 10 ad- luit discrepancies in their testimony was in itself a reprimand for their conduct and as We do not think they Intentionally made false state ments for the purpose Of convicting the accused, we feel they have been sufficiently punished