Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-09-11
Loopholes in Law and In
efficiency Held Largely
to Blame.
Failure to Get Evidence and
Jury Reluctance Aid
Lawbreakers.
Article V.
BY LOUIS SEIBOLD.

OF these, virtually none Will serve any
thing like the full term for which he
! was sent away. due to the system OF
! combinations and compensation.
II Is almost impossible to enumerate
every opportunity for the Skiller and
holdup man to escape punishment
provided by law Between the commits
sion Of a crime and the door of the
| prison there are q thousand by-paths
down which a criminal may slip to
liberty. Criminal lawyers are familiar
with them all.
Loopholes for Crook.
Here are some of the ways the pro
fessional criminal can escape paying
the penalty society desires to place on
his crime
| ID The police fail to find clues en-
aiding them to make an arrest. or,
having made an arrest. fail to obtain
| evidence needed to make out case
| (2) Pressure, political Or otherwise.
induces the arresting officer to become
vague when judge or grand jury asks
him to elaborate the charges made IN
| the misleading short af11davit.
(3) Prosecutor fails to get an lnd1ct-
ment.
| (4) The stolen goods are returned
or the complaina nts bought on
(5) Indictment is plgeonholeo,
ouashed or allowed to go cold =,
& The prosecutor fails TO round
I'D necessary witnesses at the tr1al. or
| by fncapability Of one kind or announcer
loses his case.
| C7l tury refuses to convict, some
times on the best of evidence, because
of sentimentalism, prejudice, honest
doubts or corruption:
| ~ Incomplete identified ton records
1 allow prisoner to pass as nrst onehuei
nd draw a suspended or ngnt sen
tence.
! (Ql The higher court reverses a Yer.
| dict on purely technical GROUNDS ho1
affecting the merits or the cast
! 0M Leniency Of the Judge may
send the convicted man away for a
short neriod or. even If the period ID
! long pressure may be brought to bear
on prison or parole officials Inc sen
tence given by a judge is almost never
served to its termination
Juries Reluctant to Convict.
All This presupposes sufficient finan'
! ciai means or political pull or ootn.
70 hire an expert criminal lawyer; II
! tbe crook has these means, ana ne
! Generally has or can get them, ne mas
| 7oo cha noes out Of 900 TO go free re-
On rdIess Of the evidence in the case.
one IF the greatest problems Iaceu
nv the judicial branches OF the -.
eral. state and local governments i is
the unwillingness OF JuloiS ~
verdicts of guilty. -. ce,era,
e.as,nns of New York City recentiy
go 40 the writer in discussing TINS
point: ~. weak spot in
o,r administration of the criminal iaM
~ a. not so much in our police forces VI
n,y. prosecutors as in our Jurles: n.
! tendency of the American JUL 80 +he
to deliver a verdict 49, 49, sort of
evidence, but pronounce SUI
| Judgment of solomon.
Much Sinking by Citizens.
>,ar,hars OF the district attorney 5
| s.ofy IF New York and the other coun,
Ties comprising the greater cI.s 49,
constantly registering conip1S'l nv
aeatnst the attitude OF 1uries. ou ~.
s;stant district attorney said that the
,,,;ttal of criminals in the race Oh
overwhelmins evidenee of their gum
&C. one result of the Sinking OF Jur!
duty by citizens. :. co,er.l
Tha wav another judge OF Genera
! Sessions put it was that %! 81,
dav iuries turn loose men "nose w
% c,ear. they want motion pictures OF
The man engaged in the act OF coni'
hitting crime. .i,,,o,talit,.
! L.axness, stupidity. sentliiaeLl
and even corruption on inc pa ~ ~
| i,,rias have resulted in demands lhde
! ~ i,,rv system be revised. Maryland
and Connecticut have MADE chanses
4, in the system, and reports from oo'i
{ indicate improved conditions:
As far back as 1898 Maryland
courts allowed accused persons to
elect a. trial by a Judge alone instead
! of bv a jury if they so desired
Trial by Judges Alone.
C,ief Justice Bond of that State
/, "a "a that "a docket of jury trials only
would be something which MarStahu
LAWYERS could hardly conceive, ana IL
| would dismay them. for 1t would $40"
down the court work greatly ana the
courts would have to be multiplied 10
cope with the work.
| In the year 1924 more tnan ~ per
cant Of ali criminal cases in Baltimore
U.are tried bv Judges alone. Ten years
ago 70 per cent of the cases were so
tried zach wear. Baltimore. with
nonulation of SOC. 900. has only two
criminal courts, but there Is no con-
eestiou. verdicts are reached rapfdly
and generally more in accord WIN
evidence than they are in this CITY
| and the crime situation is conse-
ouently less terrifying In Baltimore
than in New. York.
Speeds Court Action.
Since, 1921 Connecticut has been
dea ling with 20 per cent of its crimi-
nal cases without juries. while juries
are used in the remaining 80 per cent.
, Connecticut lawyers estimate that
non.iurv case takes about one-third
the time Of a jury case and general
satisfaction with verdicts is ex-
pressed.
Further laxness in punishment is
the result of legal provisions regard.
gambling, the old law provided such
harsh punishment that juries never
would bring q verdict of guilty. The
law has been amended to provide
short.term sentences for common
gambling, and more frequent convic-
tions are expected to- result.
The disparity in penalties is some
times striking. AT meeting OF the
Parole Board several months ago the
writer saw two convicts come up for
parole. One was a negro, who had
stolen a watch worth IS. He was
finishing his seventh year in prison.
The other was an East Side banker,
who had defrauded his depositors to
the tune Of SIS. 900 He was released
after two years of imprisonment
Comparisons of this sort are COM
moner than imagined, and complaint
is constantly made against the harsh
ness of judges in some cases and their
leniency in others, both tending to ag-
gravate the situation rather than
diminish crime.
Clemency Overworked.
nnA AZ the greatest elements in the