Evening star., 1943-11-19
McNubb
Continued From First Page.

and questioning of persons accused
of crime, and for additional legis-
latlon to wipe out restrictions in
the admissibility of evidence in
the Federal courts which were i'm
posed by the Supreme Court in set
ting aside the second degree murder
conviction of the trio.
Twin brothers. Freeman and Ray
mond McNabb, 25, and their cousin,
Benjamin, 20, who never progressed
beyond the fourth grade. nor got
more than 20-odd miles from their
home in the hills, are the principals.
Revenue Agent Shot Dead.
They, with two other members of
the family who afterwards were &C
quilted, were arrested in connection
with the fatal Wounding of a reve-
hue agent by the name of Leeper,
who was shot to death in a ceme-
terry in August 1910, when a party
of agents, in tow of informers, went
after the McNabbs on the basis of
reports that they were preparing to
dispose of some illicit whisky.
Freeman and Raymond were ar
rested and questioned at intervals
for about 48 hours before they f.
nally admitted being at the scene Of
the shooting. Benjamin surren-
dered, and was questioned for five or
six hours, when he admitted firing
one of the two shots officers heard
when Agent Leepc- was killed. OFF,
GERS prompted this confession by
leading the boy to believe that his
cousins had accused him of the
killing.
Convicted in Federal Court for the
Eastern District OF Tennessee, the
youths were sentenced to 45 years
in prison. The Sixth Circuit Court
of Appeals upheld the convictions,
and then the case came to the Su-
preme Court. BY II decision
written by Justice Frankfurter, with
Justice Reed the dissenter, the high
tribunal reversed the conviction On
a retrlal, the trio was convicted of
involuntary manslaughter and SEN
fenced to nine years and three
'iOAioAlo III piioOll. 4iISy IldNe IlUIeQ
an appeal.
Decision Starts Trouble.
The TrankfuTter decision started
the trouble for the courts and law
enforcement officers,
While tie rcCo"d was silent as to
Just how long tie men were held
before arraignment on the murder
charge, Justice FrankfuHter and his
associates decided that the defend
ants had been detained overly-long
for questioning before their commit
ment, and that their confessions,
therefore, were inadmissible, as evi-
dence.
Judicial supervision of the ad-
ministration of criminal justice in
the Federal courts implies the duty
of establishing and maintaining civ
1llzed standards of procedure and
evidence" said Justice Frankfurter
in defense of the courts position.
Justice Reed countered WITH the
declaration that the court was es-
tablishing "a new rule CT evidence.
The same charc ctc. izatton was
applied yesterday by Representative
Hobbs, Democrat, CT Alabama, who
scored the decision as poison in
the creek" in an address before the
National Sheriff's Association, and
later introduced bill in the House
to tighten the impact of the decision
on the judicial system
Hopes For Early Action.
Under the Hobbs bill, failure to
observe any requirement of law as
to the timeliness of arraignment
would not render inadmissible any
evidence otherwise admissible"
Mr.. Hobbs said he was hopeful of
getting early consideration for the
measure in the House Judiciary
Committee, and added he had been
promised support by colleagues with
whom he had discussed the meas
ure.
Discussion by members of the
Sheriffs' Association disclosed a
general uncertainty as to just how
long prisoners might be detained
for questioning before arraignment,
II confessions are to be valid.
Several speakers raised the ques-
ton as to what happens where
arrests are made late Saturday, and
prisoners cannot be brought before
n committing officer until Monday