Evening star., 1932-07-03
CURTIS CONVICTED
IN KIDNAPPING CASE
Mercy Is Asked for Alleged
Mediator With Lind
bergh AbduCtorS.
Continued From First Page)

ready, and there was a hasty scramble
about the corridors as spectators hur-
ried back to the court room.
1t was reported the jury stood IL TO
l for conviction on five ballots and 10
to on the sixth. The one holding
out for acquittal joined the others after
they agreed to include the recommen-
dation for mercy in the verdict.
As the Jurors were polled in court, all
answered guilty" but William P. Har-
rison said guilty, with recommended
tons for mercy"
Appeal to Be Made.
The defense announced it will file an
appeal at once.
This is the greatest blot ever on
Jersey Justice" declared Lloyd Fisher,
defense lawyer. THE jury doesn't know
what Mr.. Curtis was convicted Of. AL
1t did was to decide Col. Lindbergh is
still the most popular man in the
country"
1T is a just verdict" said the prose-
cution.
Fisher said he would file formal ap-
peal in Trenton next Tuesday. 1t
probably would be taken to the Su-
preme Court, he said, although it might
go directly to the Court of Errors and
Appeals. He will seek his clients re-
lease from jail in a legal move on
Tuesday, he said.
The defer3e hinted the appeal might
not be pressed. If the sentence called
only for payment of fine without a
jail term.
Regarded as Contact.
BY finding verdict Of guilty the
Jury expressed its conviction that Cur
It's was actually in touch with the kid
napers.
an order to convict" the court had
instructed them when court convened
this morning, you must find that John
Hughes Curtis acted knowingly-that Is,
he had contact with the actual kid
napers or knew their whereabouts"
The instructions continued that II
the jury did not find the State had
proved actual contact, then Curtis
could not have willfully and knowingly
aided them"
Col. Linobergh testified at the trial
he did not believe Curtis ever was in
contact with the kidnapers.
The court also instructed that the
fact Curtis did not take the stand in
his own defense justified the infer
ence" he was unable to deny the charges
against him.
Daughter Not Present.
Eleven-year-oId Constance Curtis,
who has hovered close to her fathers
chair in court during the trial, was not
present when the verdict was read.
Told of the outcome later, she held
back her tears, and then sat silent for
a few minutes beside Mrs. Mott Ander-
son. wife of the jail warden.
- fn gafI for
brief talk with the prisoner, and
then said they would return to Norfolk
at once. Constance and Mr.. and Mrs.
Bruce Carney, Curtis friends, who came
to testify as character witnesses, said
they would return tomorrow.
Review of Case.
The verdict in the trial Of John
Hughes Curtis marks another milestone
in the tragic trial Of the Lindbergh
baby case.
Looking back along that trial to its
beginning at the Lirdbergh home in
Hopewell on the night of March l,
there are to be seen an almost endless
succession of fantastic happenings.
There is the kidnapping and murder
of the baby himself. There is the at
tempted enlistment of the underworld
in behalf Of law and order. There are
the strange negotiations Of Curtis and
DR.. John r LJafsie) Condor. There is
the Imprisonment Of one hoaxer and
the curious suicide of a woman who
was exonerated after death.
And along both sides Of that tor
tuous trail is heaped the gold which
has been wasted in vain efforts to save
the child and to capture his abductors.
Baby Stolen March 1.
The calendar of the case in brief
follows
March 1.-The baby is stolen and the
heart Of the world is grieved.
March Henry (RedD Johnson,
sailor suitor of the baby's nurse, Betty
Cow, is taken into custody in Connect
cut CoincidentaIly the Lindberghs
make their first direct appeal to the
ki6nappers, promising secrecy
March 5-The LindberghS appoint
Salvatore Spitale and Irving Bitz to
negotiate with the kidnappers through
underworld channels.
March S-The first Of the advertise
ments seeking to make contact with the
kidnapers inserted by DR.. John F. Con-
don, aged educator, signed "Jafsie."
March lot is learned that Morris
Rosner, who is reputed to have under
world contacts, is conducting an in
vestigation for the Lindberghs.
March 12-In an interview Rosner an