Evening star., 1939-02-24

to trifle with the courts may be deter
and punishments. but by an aroused
1T is the solemn duty of the judges.
and lawyers who are a part of the
courts, and the citizens who are
litigants. jurors and witnesses in the
courts, to demand that rugged hon.
esty shall be maintained by all en-
gagged in deciding disputed issues.
If the time comes when confidence
in the administration Of justice is
lost, when litigants despair of a fair
trial in their tribunals, we shall con-
front one of the gravest menaces
which might affect our community,
even our country.
Dishonesty's Results Startling.
''The results of the dishonesty
which has been brought to my at
tention in the cases before me have
been startling. A mistrial of a case
well under way has been forced, at
tremendous cost and inconvenience.
Suspicion Of wrong doing has been
cast upon the deliberations of
prior jury, which disagreed as to
the guilt or innocence of the de-
fendants in the same case. Officials,
heretofore trusted, are under sus-
plcion of breach of faith. Gambling
has been said to have occurred in
the court house by those charged
with enforcing the law. Lawyers,
long respected and liked, have not
escaped the shocking charge of
tampering with court officer. It
is an ugly picture.
Those who have analyzed the
crime problem realize that in i'm
posing a sentence upon a wrong
doer, there must be taken into con-
slderation not alone the punishment
Of the individual but also the tend
ency to deter those who thereafter
might be tempted to commit a
similar wrong. Having this purpose
in view, it seemed to me from the
beginning that the proceedings in
these cases, while at all times tenn
perate and fair, must be persistent
and determined, must be public in
all respects, and that the punish
ment of the guilty must be of a
character to serve as sharp warn
ing to others who might consider q
wrongful approach to the courts.
Witnesses Help Recognized.
II am. appreciative of the fact
that the Government must obtain
help through witnesses in order to
clear up scandals and that If the
courts are too severe with witnesses
who have come forward to testify
where their testimony would i'm
plicate them, it would not be able
to find witnesses to help in future
cases. The courts long have recog-
nized the Importance of permitting
persons, themselves guilty of wrong
doing, to become witnesses for the
prosecution and thus escape punish
ment, or at least escape punishment
to some extent had this situation
in mind when I required citation of
Juror Denekas, whose conscience
had led him to expose the wrong in
this case. I also had this in
mind when I requested citation
of others, who, when confronted
with charges, had been will
ing to give testimony for the
Government, Notwithstanding they
would become implicated in a pos
sible prosecution. 1 had in mind
the assurance of the district attor-
ney, properly given, that he would
speak favorably in their behalf to
the court. However, I did not feel
this serious state of affairs properly
could be brought to an end with
the punishment of Emmitt Warning
and John B. Upperman. Juror
Denekas had confessed he had been
approached with a proposition to
buy his favor and had kept this
from the court for four days dur
ing the trial. Fine and Quinlan
had confessed they had been willing
Intermediates in trying to reach
prospective jurors who might be in
duced to act in favor of defendant
in criminal case. Shall people be
permitted to believe that when
scandal breaks, those implicated
may escape punishment if they come
forward with confessions and then
assist the Government as witnesses?
If so, the risk of committing wrong
of this type is not great and there is
little to deter those tempted. It
seemed to me that these confessed
wrong-doers should receive punish
ment of some character and the
public given to know that the courts
will not tolerate trifling with their