Evening star., 1927-03-07
Jury IS SELECTED
TOTRy yS|NCLA|RON
CONTEMPT CHARGE
Court Adjourns Until Tomor-
row Morning as Soon as
Panel Is Complete.
SWIFTNESS OF ACTION
COMES AS SURPRISE
Case Grows Out of Oil Magnate's
Refusal to Answer Questions
of Senate Committee.


magnate of New York, charged with
contempt of the Senate, which grew
out of his refusal to answer certain
questions propounded to him by the
Senate public lands committee nearly
three years ago, got or with a ny1ng
start before Justice William Hitz in
Criminal Division today.
Two hours after court opened
jury was completed. The selection or
the IL men took the Government by
surprise and as all subpoenas for wit
nesses had been made returnable to-
morrow, United States Attorney Pey-
ton Gordon suggested an adjournment
until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.
which was agreed upon by George p.
Hoover and Martin w. Littleton. coun-
sci for Sinclair, and approved by the
court.
Jurymen in Box.
The jurors selected are: c. G.. Bell.
81, 642 G street northeast. motorman:
Raymond J. Thorn. "a. 415 Eighteenth
street southeast, electrician, Albert E.
Vanderloo. 25. 1928 Twentieth street.
real estate salesman; James r. Gun,
"a, butcher, Center Market: Emory j.
Irwin, 80. electrician. 72O Twelfth
street; Joseph d. Smelling, al. 1915
Eighth street, cigar salesman: Charles
F. Green. %, 271S Hammond street
northeast, clerk, Southern Railway;
John G.. Schultz, SO. 519 Longfellow
street, grocery manager: Isadore
Turoff, 56, watch repairer. r. Harris
& Co.; r. e. Kelley. So, clerk. Wood
ward & Lothrop; William B. Meade,
56. 205 Third street, garage manager.
and Archie A. Moore. Al, Eli E street
northeast, insurance solicitor.
The rapid selection Of the jury was
responsible in a measure to the fact
that each side had only three chal.
lenges to exercise as against 10 for
each side in conspiracy cases.
The offense charged In this case IS
mfsdemeanor only. Twenty-one
prospective jurors were examined and
of this number three were excused
by the court and six by the Govern.
ment and defense for cause.
Excused by Court. r.
John Biddle. who served on the grand
jury that reported the indictment In
this case: j. B. Boiling Of the firm Of
Gait & Bros, who owned oil stock and
who had formed an opinion of the
case, and Richard W. Henderson, a
real estate salesman. who likewise had
made up his mind about the guilt or
innocence OF the defendant.
Maj. Gordon. who received the case
to prosecute from the Senate, examin-
ed the prospective jurors, 'inquiring II
they were acquainted with the defend
ant or any OF his counsel; IL they were
familiar with the facts in the case; II,
after reading newspaper accounts OF
the oil cases, they had formed opinions.
and IL they owned stocks or securities
in Oil companies.
Mr.. Hoover conducted the examina-
ton for the defense and questioned
the prospective jurors as to their rela.
tionship with the Government; their
knowledge Of the oil cases. their ac-
quaintanceship with Senators Walsh
OF Montana and Smoot of Utah and
former Senator Adams of Colorado.
three of the principal Government
witnesses; If the fact that the prosecu.
ton of the case was ordered by the
Senate would influence them and IL
they are acquainted with Maj. Gordon
ana owen j. Roberts and Atlee
Pomerene. special Government oil
counsel who are sitting in on the case.
Challenged by U. s.
Those jurors examined but chaI-
lenged by the Government and defense
were: Edward Outlaw, colored, jani-
tor; j. T.. Park, Southern Railway en-
ploye; John s. Thiemeyer. 1923 Gala
TN street. musician; Charles p. Tin,..
ney, colored messenger for therlNa-
tional Savings and Trust Co. John j.
Fahey, bookkeeper for the CONNER
c1al National Bank, and Elroy Kauff-
man. grocery clerk.
All three Of the defense CHALLENGES
affected chair number 8, in which
Park was first to take a seat after
Mr.. Boiling had been excused by the
Court. He was followed by Thiemeyer
and Tinney and Vanderloo. The last
man examined was retained, as there
were no more challenges and no
grounds for his excuse by the court.
Mr.. Sinclair took an active interest
in the proceedings and conferred with
Littleton and Hoover when the time
came for the defense to take advan-
tage of challenge. He arrived in
court few minutes before the ses-
sion opened and took seat next to
these attorneys. Mr.. Roberts and Mr..
Pomerene, who as special Government
prosecutors, will be in charge of the
Fall l-Sinclair conspiracy case, which
comes to trial next month, sat in
with Maj. Gordon this morning.
Brief Trial Forecast.
The case should be concluded by
Friday, both Mai. Gordon and de-
fense counsel informed Justice Hitz
when the court inquired If counsel
"had any designs on the court for,
time" The list Of Government wit
nesses is very short and although the
names of the persons to be called. by
the defense have not been revealed.
Hoover and Littleton informed the
court that 1t was their opinion the
case would end in a few days.
Tomorrow morning Maj. Gordon will
deliver the opening statement for the
after which several in
witnesses will be placed on
the stand.
Mr.. Sinclair Is the first defendant to
be tried in the District Supreme Court
on charge Of contempt Of the Senate
since 1895, when Elverton r. Chap.
man of New York was convicted Of
the charge and fined 500 and sen.
fenced to one month In the District
Jail. Chapman was member OF q
stock brokerage firm in New York
which members Of the Senate
we've charged with having stock opera
tions.
The penalty on conviction in this
case carries flne Of not more than
f1 mn NOR Iaoa thar, e1An onA frv1Yrin-