Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-17
JOHNSON APPEALS
ITO CONVICT CAPONE
Asks Tax Trial Jury to Re-
move "Sinister Influence"
-, y
- From Chicago.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
FEDERAL BUILDING. Chicago. oc-
tober 17.-United States District At
torney George E. @. johnson pleaded
with a Federal jury today to convict
AL Capone for evading income taxes
and rid the city OF his sinister In
fluence."
His counsel suggested that this man
Is a modern Robin Hood" said the
grayhaired prosecutor, speaking slowly
and emphatically. Did this Robin
, Hood buy thousands Of dollars worth
of diamond belt buckles for the unem-
= ployed? Did this Robin Hood buy
! thousands of dollars worth of meat to
! feed the poor and hungry? Were those
$27 shirts to protect the men who
sleep beneath the city's streets?"
Bewildered by Defense.
/ johnson said he was "a little bewild-
cred" by the defenses attempt to place
a halo of mystery and romance" around
: the head of the gang leader And he
resented, the prosecutor said, the de-
lenses statement that the Government
at the end Of frivolous" prosecution
would try to con" verdict Of convic-
ton.
johnson spoke Of the Cicero gambling
house, which the Government charges
Capone owned, and Of the Government
witnesses who took part in raid or
1 the establishment, headed by preacher
, Two Of these witnesses said Capone tolc
them he owned the place"
! These men," he said, were good
{ citizens, men who resented the sinister
! influence of the gambling house in the
j community. You will see from the EVIL
dence that the gambling house paic
= $4,000 to the police. That Is why the
' brave citizens didn't call on the police
to conduct the raid"
Watches Jurors IntentIy.
Capone, dressed in light green suit
the loudest he has worn since the tria
started, watched the jurors intently a:
the prosecutor asked them to convict
him.
The Government" said johnson
''haS no mere important function, ex-
cept in times Of war, than to enforce
the revenue statutes. If all people
should disregard and evade them, as
this man did. American civilization
would fall, governmental institutions
crumble and society would revert to the
days of the Jungle
Johnson finished his argument al
11:10 am. and court was adjourned
until 100 pm. when Judge Wilkerson
said he would instruct the jury.
The usual elaborate claims of victory
were Haunted before the jury in the
closing arguments. There was mot
one scintilla of evidence to support the
charges" And on the other hand
there could be no possible doubt OF
his guilt
He had an inning in the final argyll
ments yesterday, heard his lawyers at
tack the Governments case and heard
some illusions to himself that were
far from complimentary.
mo Evidence Of Guilt"
Maybe he's the worst man who ever
lived" said Albert Fink, one of the
defense lawyers. Maybe he's every
thing the newspapers say about him
But you have no evidence Of that. And
a man can't be convicted except or
evidence
Both Of them pictured the gangster
however. as a man being prosecuted
only because Of his name, only because
the Government was trying to answer
t the new cry "Capone must be de-
Stroyed"
The indictments charged Capone with
attempting to evade and defeat taxes
on yearly incomes which ranged from
; $103, 999 to $257,286 in 1924, 1925, 1925,
1927, 1928 and 1929 Conviction carries
80 years imprisonment and 100000
fine as q maximum penalty on all
counts.