New Britain herald., 1926-02-27
BIMRA CASE READY
 FOR EARLY RULING
Defense Counsel Will Appeal fl
 Il Is Adverse DENIES RADICAL TALKS
That Accused Advocated O,cr- throw of |. S.-ProSecutor Ar raigns Defendant severely.

in the Bimba biaspiomy trial said today he was not concerned wlcta- CT Bimha Was convicted of bias. phemy but asserted evidence was | lacking 10 prove that he had urged the overthrow of the lni'ni States government,
 T am perfectly ready to g 70 t higher court on the ilsphemy | charge he said, "because l am con- yincei that q man has d consutu- tional right 10 deny his beliel in tho l existence ot God" Hoffman then went to nn analysis Of the testimony 10 prove that Wm- | bu had not urged rhe overthrow e 1 the government when he spoke in Lithuanian National hall here on the nigh. of January 26. Attorney Hoffman said, Tn my argument in favor of the motion to dismiss the blasphemy case, l ex- p,ainod the position Of the defense us 10 lis rights. Mir. Bimba did ueny the existence Of God. The govern ! III It, LitS bttFIl pAtI u lAStA cLN-l other facts and curcumstanccs as to take the case bcyonl the law as shown in the dissenting opinion in the Commonwealth versus kneeland. Hence came the injection O. that punlcSs pun, l have dWelt upon that not because it is Of consequence 10 the blasphemy charge. The matter of the possession or lack O. soul from the time ot Plato and Aritotle until today has been q matter Of dis cussion. To deny possession, would he attacking only the dogma of d part Of one creed. IL was injected into this case by the government solely 10 lend color,
 The court has said that it con- siIcrod itself bound by the majority opinion in the knealand case. In criminal matters the trier Of facts can declare the case does not come within the law, or can follow mi
 n0riry opinion. However, the court
 has 'aken broad open course which is perfectly satisfactory to me. l
 should bo perfectly satisfied to take
 the nlasph, my case ;o higher court if the facts are found to b. the same
 as in the knerlaud 3ose.
 The government has tried to push
 1t nearer to profanity and obscen- ity.
 "Is it profane to call Christ a man." Do all rrligionisls believe , IChrist was a God? It is merely
 denying divinity, not blasphemy. The ) law protects Christ from profanity or degrodation.
 "I don't care what your honor ) dos with the hlasphemy case. l J believe q man has a constitutional . right to stand up and deny there is a God, so long as there is no pro- D ranity ot matter tending toward q disturbance of the peace. The laws
 of profanity and disturbance are
 al,ouat" 10 protect the public. Tn
 hlasphomy law fills no need.
 T am more interested in 'h, ! other charge (scdition). It is pc \ cvliar that all Of the government witnesses are members Of the l.ithu.
 anian American Ci'izcNs' club anI
 that thry were the only ones 10 asE questions lt the m"Cting.'
 "Tho government has drass | 'A'
 communist Gthor party into this
 case" said Hoffman. "The court
 have held that the communist labo' rarty never was an illegal party il
 th. United States. am glad 10 sa7 n | have a hand in defending c'r'aii ', aliens in obtaining that decision. t "Thoy say the department of jus n t;cc soizod books belonging to Stan is Icy Smith. one of our witnesses. 10 don't want 10 hayo 10 explain th l. factions of the department of justice IS Anyway. does that prove that Rimh '' committed a crime?"
 Prosecutors Charge 1t Rimba's denial ot the eNis'enc Ut of God in his speech at Iithuania at National hall or Jan. 26 Was Tin C. tended to lessen th" regard of hi " listeners for God, 10 impair thei ,e trust and confidence in Him, O. Manuel Rubin, prosecuting attorn"! lg declared in his argument in distrlt ye court today.
 Bimba, says Mir. Rubin, rc
 preached God for failure to hee
 .he suffering of Lithuanian prisor
 CTS in Russia" and the words wei 0 intended 10 alieAate respect and loV ,, for Him, 10 impair their trust an ,a confidence in Him"
 ;,, Concerning tho charg" of scditio, ,' Inttorancos. Mir. Rubin said thcr" VI ~, .a sharp conflict between both sid as to tho facts One set Of witness 5. or the other was not telling il . truth. he declared.
 ' "Rimha either told lis audient .' that night the workers were oppres 'h cd in the United States, that ha p- of the people were working and Il k other half loafng; that the on
 solution of the workers problem N was 10 organize and overthrow Il iN government by revolution; that I ny hope lav in the prayers or the oa ne lot: or he did not say these things 'I' the attorney said.
 Mir. Rubin pointed to circumsta
 ces 10 subst antiate the testimony
 his own witnesses. The meeting, I declared, was called as a prott Cu against atrocities 10 Lithuanian wo on CTS in Lithuania-"A very fine hI ti to start q harangue about the wor he DTS conditions in the United State; .on The defense. said Mir. Rubin, co nd tended that Bimha did not menti
 communism in the second half of nd address. but spoke on educating ci- workers here. "Educate themselN ms for whate" hn asked. How ahc 2 such questions as theseH" said
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