The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-05-02
POLICEMAN may
Be KILLER, IS
HINT IN TRIAL
Sweet Trial Witnesses
Have Short Memories
BY o'BRIEN ROBINSON.
Especial to The Daily Worker)

(Speclal TO me Dally Worker)
DETROIT, Mich, April So-Cross-
examination of Fred L. Gill, police pa
troIman witness in the trial Of Henry
Sweet, by Thomas F. Chawke, assist
ing Clarence barrow in defense, was
designed to indicate the possibility of
Leon Brenier having been killed by
shot which Gill testified he fired at
two men firing from a back porch of
the Sweet residence. Gill said that
he was standing by a garage in the
alley at the rear Of the premises when
he fired.
Gill, Roy Dove, neighbor of the
Sweets; his wife, Kathleen Dove;
John Getke, also a neighbor, and his
wife, Stella Getke, all testified that
they did not hear glass breaking nor
did they see anyone throwing stones
at the Sweet residence on the night of
the 9th of September. Two child wit
nesses, George >Suppas and Aldrick
Arthur, IA and Is years of age re-
spectively, testified that they had seen
stones thrown by children Tin testi-
mony, varying from 3 to 81 at the
Sweet residence and heard the stones
hit the roof.
Can't Remember.
The testimony of the Doves and
Getkes was marked by a peculiar in
ability to remember anything. So
marked was this tendency that Mr.
barrow was completely exasperated in
cross-examining Mrs. Getke, the last
of these four to testify, and demand
ed: do you know anything?"
These witnesses found it strangely
impossible to remember" any CONVEX
sation whatever regarding the unusual
presence of police patroling a house
in the neighborhood as they did the
Sweet home, and didn't "rcall" that
their interest was aroused to the ex-
tent of causing them to investigate
the necessity of the presence of these
police. The Getkes live next door to
the Sweet residence and the Doves
across the street and little to the
north.
- Join Organization.
Both Mr.. and Mrs. Getke admitted
that they were members of the Water
Works Park improvement Association,
which held meetings prior to the NOV
ing in of the Sweets to prevent their
occupancy of the residence located at
Garland and Charlevoix. Again a
startling poverty of knowledge and
lapse of memory was demonstrated.
Mr.. Getke couldn't remember whether
he Joined this organization before or
after the shooting, at what meeting
he joined, or anything else about the
organization, and Mrs. Getke gave as
her reason for joining my husband
Joined" She stated that she knew
nothing about the organization what
ever. Several times Mr.. barrow called
her attention to the fact that she was
speaking under oath, intimating that
her testimony was so "forgetfur' as to
suggest dishonesty.
Boys Honest.
The two boys seemed to besthe most
honest of the witnesses. Their testl-
mony was marked with boyish frank
ness and acknowledged the existence
of unusual circumstances, 4. e., large
number Of people congregated before
the Sweet residence.
1t is the effort of the state to dis
prove the truth of this fact-that there
was a mob threatening the Sweet res
idence. That their witnesses are, in
the major part, including police wit
nesses, lying and forgetting" conve-
niently is obvious.
The court room, from the judge to
the onlookers, have been forced to
hearty laughter at the contradictions
and thin" testimony of state wit
nesses.