Evening star., 1945-11-08
Snyder Denies
Using Police
0nCountyT Time
Coptoin Tells Jury
Men Volunteered
To Help Cut Corn

To Help Cut Corn
D. Leroy Snyder, suspended Mont
gomery County police captain on
trial In County Circuit Court on
charges of malfeaSance in office,
took the stand shortly before noon
today to deny that any county po-
liceman worked on his farm in Bur-
louisville while they were supposed
to be on duty.
Capt. Snyder, a member of the
force for 81 years, said he had
never ordered any policeman to
work on his farm. He added that
they always had volunteered"
He said that on September 10,
1945. one of the dates on which he
is charged with using men to work
on his farm while on police duty,
several of the policemen at the
Silver Spring station arrived at the
farm to help him cut corn.
Were Not on Duty.
He emphasized that there were
not in uniform and not on duty
at the time. He said he told them
to be sure" and leave at 4 pm,
when they were supposed to report
at the station, but that he did not
know when they left.
Declaring that he did not know
about the failure of the other po-
liceman to report to duty until they
testified before the grand jury,
Capt. Snyder testified that although
they were marked on the station
worksheet as working that night
he signed the sheets in the belief
that his subordinates were "ac-
curate and truthful"
He admitted that a police car
was used last June to pull hay
on his farm when his own car broke
down, but said that the cruiser
was used only about half an hour.
He also said that policemen help
ed him harvest hay on the farm
during the week of June 18 when he
was on vacation, but they were all
on the pm. to midnight shift at
the station. He said the group in
cluded Clarence Gray, a former po-
liceman, who testified yesterday that
he had worked on the farm June 26
and q while he was supposed to be
on duty
Police Helped Painting.
According to Capt. Snyder. several
policemen helped him do some
painting on the farm in the spring
of 1943. He insisted, however, they
had worked on their own time and
not while they were on duty.
Mr.. Gray and Leo Hull, Glenmont,
another former county policeman,
testified yesterday they were sup
posed to be on duty part of that
time.
Asked whether he had ever had
any trouble" with Mr.. Gray, Capt.
Snyder told the jury that he had
reported to Police Chief H. Leslie
Carlin last July that Mr.. Gray had
refused to take a detail" to which
he had been assigned.
Capt. Snyder said it is a COM
mon practice" for policemen at the
Silver Spring station to trade days
off, although he admitted they are
reported working on the days which
they have traded.
Asked by States Attorney Joseph
B. Simpson, jr., how he would get
in touch with men who are marked
working but who are actually of.
Capt. Snyder replied that he would
ask the officer in charge to call the
men.
How would you get in touch
with the policemen who testified
they were on the farm bat were
marked at the station worksheet on
duty?" he was asked.
Il would get in touch with the
officer in charge Capt. Snyder re-
peated. After all, I have to de-
pend on the officer who makes up
the worksheet for their accuracy.
Calls Character Witnesses.
Earlier the defense called several
character witnesses to testify con-
corning Capt. Snyder's reputation.
They included Fred L. Lutes, presi-
dent of the Suburban National
Bank, Silver Spring; John H. Hun
ter and John j. Dolan, both of Silver
Spring. All said Capt. Snyders rep
utation was good"
1t. Charles Barnes. attached to
the Silver Spring police substation,
testified earlier that one of the
policemen under his command had
been marked on the station work.
sheet as on duty when he actually
was on the farm.
1t. Barnes explained, however
that the policeman, Coy Moorefeld,
frequently had changed his tours of
duty with other policemen to work
on the Snyder farm, and on those
days he was marked as working"
: He said he could not recall the
specific days, adding that the en-
tries were not false since the police
men had traded periods of duty with
one another.