Evening star., 1948-05-16
Jury Selection
due Tomorrow
On Gambling
Choice From Panel
Of 100 Residents by
Pine May Take Day
By Chris Mothisen

By Chris Mothisen
To % Washington residents.
selected from a group of 100
certified to him by the District
Jury Commission, Justice David
A. Pine of District Court will
entruSt tomorrow the task Of
attempting to break up organized
gambling operations here.
Those chosen will constitute the
special grand jury to investigate ths
business of chance, the first OF its
kind to have been authorized In the
District.
The working of organizing the
special grand jury probably win
take most of tomorrow. If this
proves true, the explanation of the
problem by United States Attorney
George Morris Fay and Assistant
United States Attorneys John w.
Fihelly and Charles B. Murray will
be made Tuesday.
Thereafter, the grand jury will be-
gin hearing witnesses.
Proceedings to Be Secret.
The proceedings of a grand jury
are secret, and Mr.. Fay has re-
fused to indicate how many are
likely to be heard or who they may
be. He has stated the pattern OF
the inquiry would be established by
the grand jurors, and the schedule
of sessions will be adjusted to suit
their convenience.
No Saturday sessions are planned.
The 100 persons whose names
were drawn by lot by the Jury Com
mission have been summoned to ap-
pear before Justice Pine at $50
am. tomorrow. Their names have
not been made public.
The impaneling, however, will bs
a public proceeding. Justice Pine
will ask questions intended to re.
veal disqualifying facts about pros
pective jurors and will pass on re-
quests to be excused, if any.
Then, after designating fore
man and assistant foreman. he will
give the jurors their instructions.
Authorized April %.
The special grand jury was au-
thorized April 28 by Chief Justice
Bolitha J. Laws at the request Of
Mr.. Fay. The latter told Justice
Laws that information reaching him
over a period of months indicated
the gambling industry here crossed
more than 500, 100000 a year.
Mr. Fay explained 1t was his be-
lief that q gambling investigation
could not be carried on by the reg
ular grand jury without hampering
its regular business.
His request OF Justice Laws had
the approval Of Attorney General
Clark.
To serve on the grand jury, .
person must be a citizen of the
United States, over 81 and under
65, a resident of the District, Able
to read, write and understand Eng
lish and "a good and lawful person
who has never been convicted Of
felony or a misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude.'
Executive and judicial officers Of
the Federal and District Govern.
ments. members of the armed serv-
ices on active duty, policemen, fire.
men, practicing attorneys, clergy
men, practicing physicians. keepers
of hospitals or charitable institu-
tions and persons employed on ves-
sells navigating District waters are
exempt from service.
Jury to Sit in Court House.
A person otherwise qualified may
be excused by the court for reason
of health or when for any reason
his interests or those of the public
may be materially injured by his
attendance
The special grand jury will use q
courtroom in the Municipal Court
Criminal Division Building for its
deliberations.
It's first concern will be orienta-
ton by Mr.. Fay and his assistants.
They have been devoting most OF
their time recently to preparation
Of an exposition of the situation.
In addition to information previ-
ously on hand, they are expected
to give the jurors the benefit Of data
received in response to Mr.. Fay's
plea for assistance of the public.
Many reports, some of them Of sub
stantial interest. have come in by
mail, telephone and personal visit,
according to Mr. Fay.
The interstate character of the
gambling racket here. with the major
operators said to be maintaining
headquarters in Maryland and Vir-
ginia, was pointed out by Mr.. Fay
in his certifcation to Justice Laws.
The special grand jury, backed by
the power of Federal subpoena, he
added, would be able to reach across
/ the District Line
Subpoenas Good Outside ID. c.
| Undoubtedly, names will be men,
| toned by Mr.. Fay and his associates
in addressing the jurors. If the
grand jury decides it wants to hear
from any Of the persons discussed,
subpoenas will be issued. If those
summoned are known to be resid-
| ing outside the District, but within
the United States or its insular pos
sessions, the subpoenas will be for
| uarded tn the approprtate limited