Evening star., 1926-11-14
OIL TRIAL COMING
AFTER2 Il YEARS
Fall and Doheny Ready to
Face Bar Next Week on
Conspiracy Charge.

Almost two years and a half since
their original Indictment on charge!
of conspiracy to defraud the Govern
Nnent in the leasing of the Elk Hill
naval oil reserves. Albert B. Fall, for
ner Secretary Of the Interior, anC
Edward L. Doheny. multi-miliionair,
California oil operator, are prepared
to stand trial, week from tomorrow
before a jury in the Supreme Cour
Of the District Of Columbia.
The prelude to the opening Of tht
first criminal proceedings involved II
the four indictments growing out o
the celebrated TEAPOT Dome investi
CATION begun i've years ago by The
United States Senate, was staged las
Wednesday when the two defendant.
appeared before Justice Adolph A
Hoehling In Criminal Court No.
and pleaded not guilty to the indict
ments.
Whatever the verdict of the Jury II
the. pending case prison bars or eX
oneration, the forthcoming trial Is the
first phase OF a legal battle which
may continue for as long a time as
It required TO bring the defendants
before the bar OF justice. Like the
equity suits now pending in the
United States Supreme Court to can
eel the Elk Hills lease to Doheny and
the Teapot Dome lease to Harry F.
Sinclair, also under indictment, the
criminal proceedings undoubtedly will
lead through the same tortuo"s trail
of appeal and counter-appeal.
Big Staff for Defense.
The defense has assembled Ell ar.
ray Of couMel. Frank J. Hogan
leads the stiff of attorneys for Do
heny, with Frederick II. Kellogg of
New York and Joseph l.. Cotter and
Harold Walker of Washington. Will
ton j. Lambert, engaged for the dc.
Tense Of Fall at the eleventh hour
will be assisted by Henry A. Wise OF
New York. Mark p. Thompson of
New Mexico and Levi Cooke of this
city.
Trial Of the present case is expected
TO occupy at least six weeks, and If
the Government is successful it will
be followed by trial Of the bribery
charge against the two defendants. as
well as the trials Of similar cases pend
ing against Sinclair and Edward L.
Doheny, jr., the messenger who con
veyed to Fall the loan" of 100000
from his father in the "little black
bag" that figured so prominently in
the Senate investigation. If the Gov.
ernment, represented by Peyton Cor.
don. United States attorney; Atlee
Pomeree and Owen J. Roberts. special
oil counsel. fails to convict Fall and
Doheny in the forthcoming trial, II
nevertheless will press the bribery
charge as the next move.
Harry +. Sinclair is not defendant
with Fall and Doheny at this time.
Originally indicted with them, Sinclair
week ago. through counsel, field a
petition in the United States Supreme
Court to test the validity Of the in.
dictment. The Supreme Court is now
in recess and will not convene until
November %, the day the Fall and
Dohenv trial opens. The earliest pos.
sible date 1t can act on the Sinclair
motion will be November 20. While
there exists the possibility that the
ruling Of the court may favor Sinclair,
It is not believed probable by opposing
counsel that Justice Hoehling will
postpone the trial case until the high
est court passes on the validity Of the
indictment. .,.s~"
Indicted I'm 1924.
The original indictments against
Fall, the DOhenys and Sinclair were re-
turned June 30 1924. They were
challenged in the trial court because
Of the presence of the Assistant At
torney General and the United States
attorney in the grand jury room. Chief
Justice Mccoy Of the District Supreme
Court sustained the defendants plea,
and the Government, on April 6, 1925.
took a special appeal to the Court Of
Appeals, which was abandoned and
the court dismissed the case. Pomer-
enc and Roberts, the Government
counsel, then represented the testi-
mony to the grand jury, and a second
Indictment followed on May 27, 1925.
Edward L. Doheny, jr., was enjoined
in the first indictment. but the second
grand jury declined to include him.
which explains the reason he is not
to stand trial next week.
Demurrers were submitted and ar.
g1led, and in February of 1926 Justice
Wendell Phillips Stafford of the trial
court submitted q memorandum up
holding the validity of the indict-
mentS The Court of Appeals allowed
special appeal on March 30.
1t was then that Senator Walsh of
Montana, chief prosecutor of the SEN
atorial investigation out of which the
indictments sprang. moved to circum-
vent any probable action of the Court
of Appeals reversing the ruling of the
trial court. The Walsh act was passed
on July 3. This act of Congress pro-
hibited the Court Of Appeals from re-
viewing interlocutory orders in crimi-
nal cases, and by virtue of that stat
ute the court on October % issued a
mandate dismissing the appeal
Sinclair Appeals Again.
Neither Fall nor Doheny appealed
from that rejection, but counsel for
Sinclair did. Sinclair in his petition
in the Supreme Court attacked the
dismissal on the ground that the APP
pellate court had given the law a re-
troactive construction.
Aside from these indictments and
the civil suits growing out Of the oil
Investigation. there is also pending in
the District Court Of Appeals q Senate
proceeding against Sinclair for con-
tempt OF the Senate in refusing to ap-
pear further in the hearings of the
public lands committee after he had
previously appeared five times. This
Indictment, filed March 81, was argued
on demurrer May and 8, 1924. before
Justice Hoehling, who, July IA, 1924.
overruled the demurrer, but suggest
ed a special appeal because of the i'm.
portant constitutional questions in
volved. These relate to the power
denied by the defendant, of congress
sional committees to compel private
citizens to give testimony and open
their private records. The special ap-
peal was allowed August %. 1924. Last
week United States Attorney Gordon
and the Governments special counsel
filed in the Court of Appeals a brief
in support of their motion to dismiss
the special appeal.
The length of the pending trial of
Fall and Doheny depends TO a great
degree on Justice Hoehling's ruling
as to the admissibility of evidence.
II the door is left wide open, then in
all probability the trial, one of the
most involved in the history OF local
courts, Will extend six weeks or more.
100 Witnesses Expected.
No subpoena has been issued as vet.