Evening star., 1926-08-26
FENN|NG PARKING
CASE DISMISSED
Decision Declared to Make
Future Enforcement of
Rules More Difficult.

Establishment Of a somewhat new
| and more difficult method of enforc-
ing automobile parking regulations,
in the opinion of court attaches, must
be the result of a ruling yesterday
by Assistant Corporation Counsel
Frank Madigan in dismissing two
charges of parking violations brought
against Frederick A. Fenning. former
District Commissioner, on the ground
that the prosecution witnesses could
not testify that the defendant owner
of the car had, himself, parked his
machine in the illegal position In
which 1t was found.
Briefly, Mr.. Madigan's ruling In the
| Fenning case means that. in the face
of a denial by the defendant. the
| officer or other witness must testify
that they saw the defendant park
| illegally before Mr.. Madigan will
| order the driver held for trial.
Past Procedure Simple.
In the past, motorists have been
tried for violations of the parking
regulations, and many convicted, In
| cases where no one witnessed the
actual act of the defendant parking
his car illegally, it was pointed out
| today.
'In the future the assistant cor
| poration counsel announced, II inr
tend to nolle pros cases Of this kind
when the defendant convincingly de-
MES guilt and when the officer cannot
| say he saw the defendant actually do
the parking. The fact that car is
| parked Illegally does not establish a
| prima facie case against the driver or
owner OF the car. 1t is possible that
some one else moved the car, as In
| the case Of Mr.. Jennings machine"
If the new procedure is widely ap-
piled. it was pointed out, it will call
| for the employment Of many more
| traffic officers in order to get the same
percentage of convictions.
Mr.. Fenning was charged with hav-
| ing parked his machine in front OF
| 1900 K, street in such way that It
partly blocked private driveway and
| was closer than 8 feet to another
| parked car.
Denies Parking Illegally.
| At the preliminary hearing held
before Mr.. Madigan, Mr.. Fenning ad-
mitted that his car probably had been
found as charged by the prosecution
witnesses, but denied that he had left
1t so. He said that when he arrived at
, the parking place, on August Z. there
was not room for his machine. so he
| enlisted the aid Of a passerby and
pushed one of the parked machines
ahead, making sufficient space for
all to be parked legally. The blame
for the parking violation thus was
placed upon an unknown party.
Mrs. William w. Smith of 2514 @
street and Lafayette Mavritt. colored,
| 18, switchboard operator at 1900 X
street, testified that they later found
Mr.. Jennings car partly blocking the
driveway and jammed against the
rear of Mrs. Smiths machine. Officer
Orville Staples of the third precinct
was called to extricate the machines.
He left a summons for Mr.. Fenning' s
car. later obtaining a warrant for his
| arrest.
I'm view of Mr.. Jennings denial
| that he was responsible for the posi-
ton of his machine, and in view of
his reputation and standing in the
| community, I think this case is not
one to go to trial." Mr.. Madigan an
! nounced. He directed that the charge
he nOlle pressed.