New Britain herald., 1925-04-03

Washington, April s.-The gov ernment's effort to secure criminal convictions against Albert B. Fall and the oil magnates who negotiat- ed the celebrated western oil land leases with him encountered a seri- ous setback today when all of the indictments were thrown out of court. .
 Reasons For Action
 Because of the presence in . grand jury room of an assistant at4 torney general while the indictnf fents were being drawn up last summer. the DistriabNpf Columbia supr&les court held fhat neither the forrnea interior secretary, Edward l.. Do heny, HarryF. Sinclair, nor Edward l.. Doheny. Jr., had been legally in- dicted.
 The bill charging Fall and the Dohenys with criminal conspiracy first was dismissed on the ground that the assistant attorney generals presence in the grand jury room was contrary to law, and then the court proceeded in another opinion to apply the same rule to the Fall Sinclair conspiracy indictment.
 Terms of Indictments
 The circumstances surrounding the granting of the oil leases, as de- veloped before the senate oil com mittee and later before q grand jury here, were recited at length in the indictments, which were returned on June 30 last.
 It was charged that Fall and the two Dohenys maintained an unlaw- full conspiracy from July 1, 1921, to December II, 1922, to enable the Pan-Americau Petroleum and Trans port company and its subsidiary, the Pan-American Petroleum company. to obtain and control naval oil re- serve No. in California.
 The same grand jury returned a similar indictment against Fall and Harry F. Sinclair, charging unlaw- full conspiracy in the leasing of the Teapot Dome oil reserve in Wyom- ing to the Sinclair interests. This was not mentioned In to- days court ruling which applied only to an attack brought against the Fall-Doheny indictments. A similar attack, however, has been made by Sinclair counsel on the Fall Sinclair indictments and the ex- pectation now is that the court will follow the rule 1t laid down today and throw out also the criminal charges relating to Teapot Dome,
 Government counsel accepted the decision today as only temporary check, however. on their efforts to secure criminal convictions. They already have presented fresh evid- once to a grand jury now sitting here and they expect to renew on a different technical basis their charge hat conspiracy did exist in viola ion of the criminal laws.
 The opinion today was handed down by Chief Justice Mccoy who held that the senate esolution talk ing prosecution of the oil reserve cases from the department of jus tice and placing it in the hands of special counsel, took away at the same time the right of the attorney general or any of his assistants to appear before the grand jury.
 Oliver E. Pagan. indictment expert | of the department of justice, for 30 l years, Is the assistant attorney gen. eral who was present during the grand jury investigation, He drew he indictments which now are hrown out of court.
 The court overruled the conten- ion of counsel for the oil men that he radio speech of Senator Thomas [. Walsh, of Montana, chief prose- tutor of the senate oil inquiry, dur ng the time the case was pending ,efore the grand jury, rendered the void.
 He also overruled the claim of the