Evening star., 1929-12-01
Special Board Expected to
Be Composed of District
Commissioners.
REQUEST FOR SPECIFIC
ACCUSATIONS REFUSED
Deposed Police Officials to Be Given
Chance to Face General
Charges.

Inspector William s. Shelby and
Lieut.. Edward j. Kelly, former Detec-
tive Bureau oficials, will be cited this
week to appear before q special trial
board probably composed Of the Dis
trict Commissioners, on charges of the
July grand jury that they "bungled"
their investigation of the Mcpherson
strangling mystery.
| Such are the latest indications In
the local police tangle, following fail
| ure of municipal authorities to obtain
| from the Department of Justice conf
Dental data which they hoped would
aid them in determining the fate of
! the veteran officers.
Inspector Shelby, deposed chief of
| the Detective Bureau, and Lieut. Kelly,
| former head of the homicide squad,
are to be brought to trial at their own
| request.
Insist on Defense.
They have insisted, through counsel,
that they should be given the opportu-
nifty to face their accusers before le-
gal tribunal and defend themselves
from the scathing rebuke admins
! tered by members of the July grand
Pherson, jr, for murder, after the de-
tectives had cleared him.
| The charge against Mcpherson has
| been nullified by the overwhelming
vote of the present grand jury, but the
serious accusations against the police
/ officials remain of record. The Com
miSsioners are understood to be in
agreement with the condemned officers
| on the point that they should be per-
mitted to answer the charges in open
| trial.
| Action by the Commissioners has
been delayed pending completion of the
| Federal investigation of Mrs. McPher-
sons death and settlement of the case
| in the courts. The matter has been
further complicated by the inability of
the District oficials to obtain specifca-
| to trial.
| General Accusations.
They had only the general charges of
the previous grand jury, alleging,
broadly:
/. That Lieut.. Kelly permitted the
destruction of certain evidence at the
scene of the tragedy in the Park Lane
| Apartments before It was possible to
have completed q thorough investiga-
ton.
2. That the police department con-
Quoted "a most cursory and inadequate
investigation at the time the body was
found"
3. That the detective bureau failed to
interview witnesses whose testimony
proved of vital importance to the jury
in arriving at its verdict" viz, the in
dictment of Mcpherson, although such
witnesses were readily available had
an effort been made to interview them"
4: That Inspector Shelby and Lieut..
Kelly did under oath attempt to mis-
lead the jury in regard to physical facts,
and their statements were subsequently
disproved by other witnesses and by
members of the jury themselves"
Instructions Alleged.
S. That the grand jury firmly be-
lieved that officials of the detective bu-
they should testify and what they
should forget"
6. That Inspector Shelby, appearing
as a witness before the grand jury,
raised his fist in rage and shouted,
This grand jury should indict that man
and that damnable woman-for per-
jury indicating to the jury that the
testimony of these two witnesses had
been divulged to him"
The grand jury concluded by recon-
mending that Shelby and Kelly be re-
lieved Of all duties with the Detective
Bureau until their activities in this
case have been investigated by the
proper tribunal to determine what, II
any, disciplinary action should be
I taken"
Shelby and Kelly at first had de-
manded a detailed specification of their
alleged shortcomings, so that they would
know exactly what they were accused Of
That is, they wanted to know what evl-
dence the grand jury referred to as
having been destroyed; in what respects
their probe was cursory and inadequate;
what important witnesses they failed to
question: the nature of the physical
facts which they were accused OF dis
! torting; the names of the witnesses
whose testimony they were alleged to
have sought to control. and, in the
case of Inspector Shelby alone. the
identity of the man and woman whose
testimony allegedly had been divulged
to him.
Information withheld.
Since the report of the grand jury, as
| a whole, did not contain these Speclf1-
cations, the special committee composed
of Assistant Engineer Commissioner
Donald A. Dawson and Corporation
Counsel w. w. Bride sought to obtain
them from individual members of the
grand jury. They failed completely In
this effort
Last week the committee took a new
tack and turned to the Department OF
Justice in the hope that 1t might
obtain some information OF value from
the confidential records OF the Bureau
of Investigation, covering the testimony
of more than 900 persons questioned
in the Federal investigation OF the
strangling case. ~
Attorney General Mitchell blasted
this move with a diplomatic but posi-
tive refusal to permit the committee to
examine the secret nles.
to obtain the elusive specifications"
but Convinced that the plea of the
accused oficers for proper trial was
reasonable. the District authorities are
believed now to be ready to accept the
offer of the attacked pair to waive
specifications and go to trial on the
broad charges contained in the grand
jury's report.
Joint Trial Favored.
The Commissioners are understood to
feel that there should be q ioint trial
of the two men, since most of the
charges are made against them Jointly.
If either of the pair should demand a
separate trial, the problem might be
coIonIicated. The present attitude
at the District Building appears favor
able tn a ioint trial before the Com
nissioners themselves, constituting an
extraordinary trial board.
Lieut.. kelly. Of course. could be tried
pronerly by the police trial board. but
in the case of Inspector Shelby there is
the drawback of his high rank. An ac-
cused ofIcer customarily Is entitled to
. trial by q jury Of his peers and