Evening star., 1936-06-20
z|ONCHECK FACES
FREEDOM BATTLE
BEFORE D. c. Jury
Hearing in District Supreme
Court Is Set for
Friday.
ACTION COMPLETE
SURPRISE TO BRIDE
"They're Trying to Railroad Me" p"
Says Legislator When Told
of Action.

WIN MS 1reeQOm at STAKE, Repre-
sentative Marion A. Zioncheck will
fight the crucial battle of stormy ca
reer when he faces a jury next Friday
at a lunacy hearing in District Su-
preme Court.
Justice Oscar r. Luhring set the
hearing date yesterday after receiving
a petition from the District commits
sioners, which stated the belief that
the Representative is IAN insane per-
son with homicidal or otherwise dam
gerouS tendencies, who is unfit to be
at large
This move came as complete sur
prise to Zioncheck's bride, the former
Rubye Louise Nix 2l-year-old w. P. A.
stenographer. Mrs Zioncheck was in
formed of the lunacy hearing by re-
porters while visiting her husband yes
terday afternoon at Gallinger Munich
pal Hospital
Sister to Arrange Defense.
The bride of few weeks was ac-
eompanied by zioncheck's secretary,
Mrs. Joseph Young. After an inter-
view with DR.. Joseph L. Gilbert, chief
psychiatrist at the hospital, the two
women indicated that Zioncheck'S
legal defense would be arranged by his
sister, Mrs. William Nadeau, who came
here from ner home in Seattle to aid
her brother.
If Zioncheck should be found in
sane by the court and admitted to an
asylum, the House would not declare
his seat vacant, William Tyler Page,
House minority clerk, said
He would be treated as an i'll per-
son and if he recovered before the
expiration of his term it would be up
to him to decide what to do" Page
said
Zioncheck's term expires this year.
After his commitment to Gallinger, he
said he would be a candidate for re-
election at the 1886 Washington State
elections
The Representative, who was ar
rested June l and committed to the
psychopathic division of the hospital
for observation and treatment, talked
briefly with reporters through win
dow yesterday afternoon.
Informed that he was scheduled for
q lunacy hearing in less than a week,
zioncheck exclaimed:
My God. they're trying to railroad
mel"
Ready to Prove Sanity"
Several days ago Zioncheck told
newspapermen through a window that
he welcomed hearing before a jury,
and was confident he could prove his
sanity. He suggested as alternatives
that he be released, that he be sent to
st. Elizabeth's Hospital for a definite
determination Of his mental condition,
or that he be allowed to select five
prominent psychiatrists to pass on his
case
zioncheck'S commitment to the hos
pital followed sensational series of
misadventures climaxed on June
when he drove to the White House and
left empty beer bottles and moth balls
for President Roosevelt Friends said
zioncheck had been drinking heavily.
Just Back From Honeymoon.
At that time, Mr. and Mrs. Zion
check had but recently returned from
a riotous honeymoon in the West In
dies. Upon reaching Washington, the
zionchecks resisted the efforts of Mrs.
Benjamin Scott Young to evict them
from the Harvard Hall Apartment she
had sub-let to the Representative.
Mrs. Young. claiming Zioncheck
had damaged her furniture, persisted
in her efforts to evict the couple and
was herself forcibly evicted. Zion
check said he had paid his rent far
IN advance. His landlady, however,
obtained a warrant against Zion
check and his bride on a charge of
assault.
Petition Came as Surprise.
The petition for lunacy hearing
came to District Supreme Court yes
terday through routine channels with
a sheaf of similar papers. It was
signed by Corporation Counsels Ver-
non E. West and T. Gillespie Walsh.
zioncheck probably will be con-
fined to st. Elizabeths Hospital should
the jury find him of 'unsound mind"
and unfit to be at large"
and unfit to be at large" Later. in
that event, he probably would be
taken to his home State.
The petition follows: "One Marion
A. zioncheck, who is believed to be
Insane or of unsound mind, has been
apprehended and is now detained at
the Gallinger Municipal Hospital,
pending formal inquiry into his
mental condition.
The said Marion A. Zioncheck is
represented to your petitioners and
by them believed to be an insane
person with homicidal or otherwise
dangerous tendencies, without sufi-
cient capacity for the government Of
himself and Of his property.
Fit Subject for Detention"
The said Marion A. Zioncheck has
been insane or of unSound mind since.
to wit, the first day of June, 1886, the
cause OF his insanity being to peti-
tioners unknown, but if certain repre-
sentationS made to them be true ne
Is an unit person to be at large, and
is a fit subject for detention and
treatment on account of his mental
condition.
Your petitioners further believe
that if he be permitted to go at large
within the said District the rights of
persons and propery therein will be
jeopardized and the preservation of
public peace imperiled and the COM
mission Of crime rendered probable"