Evening star., 1931-12-04
DETECTIVE ADMITS
HE MAY HAVE HIT
BABER IN TUSSLE
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IACIii -
three officers struggling with Baber nm
the davenport. / joined the scufie for
a minute, but there were no blows
| struck"
Barrett said he left the apartment .
moment later to get Baber's boss
CWilliam Sheets, who was waiting in
a car parked in front of the apartment
house. He said he was out front with
Sheets when Baber was led frcm the
building and that Sheets was never in
the room with Baber.
Ihe detective said he noticed an
aorasicn on Baber's lip the following
morning. but did not know how it
got there.
Photograph Identified.
Detective Sergt. Frank SandberQ, in
charge OF the Police Departments
Identification Bureau. identified a pho
tograph cf Baber taken at headquer-
ters on the morning after his arrest.
The defense has announced 1t will ase
its case to large extent on this
photo, claiming 1t does not show the
injuries Baber said he received.
Detective Sergt. James e. Kenney.
who had been identified by other wit
nesses as the man said to have asked
Barrett to stop beating Baber. denied
making such request. He testified
that he did say: This is no place
to question him. I'm going to take
him out"
He said he saw no blows struck and
that he did not smell any liquor on
Barrett
Hughes Grabbed Youth.
Detective sergt. Van D. Hughes
identified himself as the man who
grabbed Baber and pulled him into
the apartment. There was a scuff1e.
he said, but no blows were struck.
Hughes said he noticed cut on Baber's
lip Immediately after the scuff1e.
The defense called = nurp%r ~
character witnesses who testified rur
Barrett.
Policeman Sorber was cleared yester-
day. He was charged with striking IA
gust /, when he found him leaning into
his automobile parked in an alley in
rear OF the 0 Street Market.
The verdict came after Justice F. D.
Let's, before whom the case was tried,
instructed the jury that Sorber had
right to use such force as was necessary
to eject the boy from his automobile,
arrest him and maintain the arrest.
Anoa&hk Ivy WAS hiCAs
sorber testified that he thought Paul
was bent on robbery. The boy, however,
said from the witness stand that he
went to the automobile to get light for
his cigarette. He later was acquitted
in Juvenile Court of charge of taking
property without right.
Defense Counsel James A. O'Shea
sought to discredit Paul in his argu-
ment to the jury, by emphasizing tes-
timony OF defense witnesses that the
alleged assault occurred In the evening
and not in the afternoon as Paul had
declared. He also called attention to
statements of two witnesses that Paul
had told them he received the cut over
his right eye and brutSe to his right
cheek, alleged to have been inflicted by
Sorber, by falling against the wall OF
the market.
Mental State Considered.
Considerable play also was given t.,
Sorber's mental state at the tina
caused by receiving word of his fathers
death few minutes before the alleged
beating took place. O'Shea urged that
a man oppressed with grief would not
be likely to beat q l4-year-old boz.
Assistant United States ATTORNEY
John J. Sirica. who prosecuted the case.
stressed testimony of market employees
that they saw the officer strike Paul
Sorber, the last major witness of the
trial, contended in court that the boy
hurt his head by striking 1t against tba
market wall as he sought to escape ar
rest. He denied knocking Paul down.
but would not say definitely that no
blows were struck in the struggle to
maintain the arrest.