Evening star., 1939-02-21
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to say before I render a decision.
Therefore, will defer my decision
until 10 a m Friday"
In answer to question concerning
sentencing of others who have pied
guilty to contempt of court in con-
nectlon with the scandal, Justice
Laws said:
THE court has given tremend-
Gus amount of thought to the ques-
ton OF sentence. After some study
I have reached the conclusion that
there is no statutory limitation to
the length of sentence I may impose
in connection with criminal con-
tempt.
However, counsel for the de-
PENDANTS may be able to furnish
some arguments to aid the court in
this matter. I have decided there
fore to put this matter of sentencing
over until Friday. Counsel will have
until noon Thursday to submit any
argument on behalf of their clients "
Exhaustive Inquiry.
In announcing that Mr.. O'Connel
was going to recant his version OF
his movements that night, Michae
Doyle, attorney for the accused
lawyer, said that during the week
end he had made an exhaustive in
vestigation into the circumstances
1nterrogating perhaps 20 persons.
To my mind" Mr.. Doyle said
this is the most astonishing thing
l have met with in my 20 years OF
active trial work.
The attorney explained that one
set OF witnesses were positive that
Mr.. O'Connell did not 20 back tc
the court house that night ano
others were equally certain that he
did and the defense finally had be-
come convinced that Mr.. OConnel
was IN error and honestly mistaken
when he gave his previous testi-
mony.
But still can't convince Mrs
OConnell or Mr.. O'Connells mother
and brother and his two nephews
that he was not with them that eve
nlng.' Mr.. Doyle added.
Mr.. O'Connell said on the witness
stand that he had not heard Upper
mans first testimony. in which the
former deputy marshal described
receiving from the lawyer $40 one
OF the three nights the jury was out.
Mr.. OConnell said as soon as he
read the transcript of this testimony
ne got in touch with relatives and
any others who might throw light
on his whereabouts during the three
nights and had become convinced
that he left court by pm. the first
night and did not return. But, he
added, he felt now that the Federal
agents, Swain and Dawson, could
not be mistaken when they asserted
positively that they talked to him
around o'clock.
Told Of Seeing Hoover.
1t was during testimony by these
two agents that the name of J..
Edgar Hoover, chief of the Federal
Bureau OF Investigation, was brought
into the tangled case. Swain and
Dawson said OConnell returned to
the courthouse that night and told
them he and Emmitt Warning had
dined at the Occidental restaurant
and had sat next to Mr.. Hoover, who
had wished Emmitt good luck.
Mr.. O'Connell recalled the con-
versation, though he at first was
under the impression it happened
another night, and he described the
remark attributed to the head Oman
as joke. After that attorneys on
both sides tried to discover where
Mr.. Hoover had dinner on the night
in question, but reported that his
diary did not show and he could
not recall. The chief of the F. B.
I. is said to be in Florida.
What is your independent recol-
lection regarding where you were
that night?" Justice Laws asked
Mr.. OConnell.
I'm coming to think that I was
here" Mr.. O'Connell said.
Cites Lapse of Memory.
During his summation in defense
of Mr.. O'Connell, Attorney Doyle
cited Mr.. Hoover's reported lapse of
memory as an illustration of the
of almost every one to
remember where he was on partic-
ular date some months past.
Here we have" DR.. Doyle said.
the ace investigator of the Nation,
the greatest oppressor of rackets in
the country, who can't tell where he
ate dinner on that particular night,
according to Mr.. Cox.
The attorney referred to John R.
Cox, chief Of the local intelligence
office.
Director Hoover has described
as IAN absolute lie" the report
that he greeted either Mr.. OCon-
nell or Emmitt Warning at the
Occident Restaurant on the date
IN question or at any other time.
He said he would not know either
OF the men if he saw them. He
was unable to recall specifically