Evening star., 1949-11-09
Court Upho|ds
Defense
0nPhoneCaIIs.
Morshol's Testimony
On Messages Ruled
Out for Time Being

Out for Time Being {
The Government suffered a sets
back today at the gambling triaf
of William (Snags) Lewis and IS
co-defendants when District Court
Judge Matthew F. MCGUIRE tenn
porarily stopped a United States
deputy marshal from repeating
telephone messages he said he
heard during a raid last March.
The prosecution scored. how.,
ever. when it began to pile up
in the courtroom mass of evil
dence, including IA. adding ma !,
chimes and scores of other items.
|of alleged big-time gambling
equipment and records. re
The witness. Deputy Marshal,
Edward j. Geraci. identified the
material as having been seized Id
la Bladensburg, Md, bungalow
which the Government declares
was the headquarters of a $14.E
100000 numbers game syndicate
headed by Lewis.
Describes Telephone Calls. 4
Mr.. Geraci testified earlier that
during that raid last March IS he
answered many telephone calls in,
the room where the equipment
was seized and the defendants arr :,
rested. He said he took notes
on those conversations.
When Assistant United States
Attorney William Hitz asked him
to tell the jury what he had
heard. and in some instances had
repeated, over the phone at the :
time in the presence Of several :
of the defendants, Judge NC
CUR upheld defense objections. 2
This set off a half-hour con-
ference in the judges chambers
while the jury Of nine men and !
three women was excused. Mr..
Hitz said he could cite q Su-s
preme Court opinion and rulings 1
to back up his contention that
such telephone testimony was adj
missible.
Ruling to Stand Temporarily. =
A major aim in the Govern
ment's case as indicated pre-
viously by the United States at
torney's Office, is to prove that
most of the gambling business al
legged to have been handled at
the Bladensburg cottage orig
mated in the District. The IA de.
PENDANTS are charged with hav-
ing violated the Districts laws
against lotteries. particularly
operation of a numbers game.
After the closed conference.
Judge Mcclure indicated his rul-
ling against admission of the tele-
phone conversations would stand
for the present. Mr.. Hitz then di-
rected court employees to begin
bringing in the other evidence on
hand trucks. The items included,
among other things. a ticker ma
chine with pritned messages show
ing horse race results.
Mr.. Geraci also testified that
in searching the bungalow the
marshals found not only a total
of $26. .084.01 in cash, but also two
unloaded guns in a locked cabi-
net. The key to the cabinet, he
said, was discovered on a ring
to which a rabbit foot was at
tached.
Perjury Action Hinted.
Meanwhile, Mr.. Hitz told re-
porterS that the United States
attorneys Office is considering the
possibility of requesting perjury
action against Government wit.
ness who testified, yesterday.
The witness is Samuel Leiber-
man. president of Associated Con-
tractors, Inc, who was called as
Government witness earlier in the
day.
Mr.. Hitz also said he is consid-
ering asking Judge Mcclure this
morning to issue bench warrants
for Mrs. Helen c. Maimone. 1904
Bunker Hill road, Hyattsville, Nd,
and Miss Helen Damhakl, 1881
Second street NE, Government
witnesses who failed to answer
whsn their names were called yes
terday.
The two women, United States
deputy marshals said, were in the
Bladensburg cottage at the time
Of the raid.
/ Mr.. Leiberman was called to
the stand after the Government
introduced records showing As
sociated Contractors did a 5000
remodeling job on the Bladens-
burg cottage in 1947 and carried
its accounts for the job in the
name of William Lewis"
On the back of one of the COM
pany records was the, penciled
notation: "Snags told me the lady
in the house would take care Of
tlle VeStlDule.
In His Handwriting.
Mr.. Leiberman said. the nota-
ton was in his handwriting, but
he could not recall what prompted
him to write it. ....,.
The tall, gray-haired contrac-
tor emphatically denied he had
ever talked to Lewis about the
Bladensburg cottage job or had
accepted any payments from him
for the work. Il
He said he had known Lewis
"all my life," but had not han
any conversations with him since
the Bladensburg cottage was
raided..
It was the late Isadore "Sheps
Shapiro. a well-known figure in
local sporting circles, who paid
him 5000 in cash to remodel
the cottage at 1910 Forty-sixth
street, Bladensburg, Mr.. Leiber-
man said.