Evening star., 1950-01-30
Lewis and Bi||eci
Ask Bond From
Appeals Court
Defense Charges
Misconduct by Judge
In Gambling Trial

grant them bond on grounds the
higher. court must pass on what
their attorney described as the
misconduct of District Court
Judge Alexander Holtzof.
Defense Attorney William H.
Collins sought bond for William
"Snags" Lewis and Frank Billeci,
two of the trio convicted last week
in the trial that ended with SEN
sational charges of jury tamper-
ing.
There were these other develop
ments on the gambling front:
/. The fifth case growing out of
United States Attorney George
Morris Fay's anti-gambling cru
sade was dropped today. Assistant
United States Attorney Arthur
Mclaughlin asked Judge Holtzoff
to dismiss lottery charges against
Philip Samakow, so, on grounds
Iof insufficient evidence"
2. Two cases set for trial today
were postponed until February 27.
In one. Attilio Acalotti, already
twice convicted, is co-defendant
with Ralph Caparotti and Freder-
Iick c. Whiteoak. In the other, he
must stand trial with Umberto
ID'Ambrosio.
Judge Charged With Errors"
Acalotti was the third of the
co-defendants in last weeks trial.
He already was serving time for
an earlier conviction threatening
a witness. Judge Holtzoff, how
ever, also refused to grant bond
to Lewis and Billeci and ordered
them to start serving their SEN
tences Immediately.
In seeking bond for Lewis and
Billeci, Mr.. Collins took the posi-
tion that Judge Holtzoff's errors
were so "glaring" that the men
were convicted unjustly and stood
a good chance of winning a re-
versal in the higher court.
Mr. Collins filed his request for
bond in a bulky document re-
viewing the trial. He claimed
substantial questions were raised
during the trial that must be de-
termined by the appeals court.
Among them, he listed:
Illegal search and seizure.
Variance between the allega-
tionS and proof offered by the
Government.
Charge to Jury Cited.
Denial of the defendants re-
quest for certain instructions to
the jury.
Errors committed by the Judge
in his original and supplemental
charges to the jury.
Denial of fair trial by what
Mr.. Collins described as the mis-
conduct" of Judge Holtzoff.
Mr.. Collins specifically COM
planned that Judge Holtzoff told
the jury it could infer facts preju-
dicial to the defendants because
of their failure to call witnesses
to refute some of the Govern
ment's charges.
The attorney also mentioned
Judge Holtzoff's quotation of the
late Supreme Court Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes. In that decision
Justice Holmes upheld Police
Court judge who had told jury
if he had the power to find the
defendant guilty. he would do so.
Grounds for Reversal Stressed.
Mr.. Collins contended on the
basis of that quotation of Justice
Holmes alone, the Court of Ap-
peals had sufficient grounds, to
reverse the verdict.
Judge Holtzof sentenced Lewis
to serve from 10 to 80 months,
Bolleci to serve from eight to 27
months and Acalotti to serve from
eight months to two years. The
latter sentence was to run during
the same time as Aealotti's earlier
conviction.
In the Samakow case, Mr.. Fay
was asked by reporters today why
the Government waited nearly 10
months before asking dismissal.
It's just a normal occurrence as
far as I'm concerned"
Other Major Cases on Trial.
Mr.. Mclaughlin added a cryp-
tic, Other major gambling cases
were on trial during this time"
Deputy marshals recalled Mr.,
Samakow was in his kitchen when
the raiders descended on him.
The nearest thing to gambling
paraphenalia found in his rooms,
according to their report, were
some yellow scratch pads with
numbers and other writing on
them.
Mr.. Samakow was arrested at
his rooms in the 5000 block of
Queens Chapel road, Hyattsville,
Md, on March 25, 1949. That was
the night of Mr.. Fay's widespread
raids.
A special grand jury indicted
Mr.. Samakow and 35 others. So
far, these are the results:
Five cases have been dropped.
Two defendants died before
coming to trial.
One was acquitted.
-Four have been convicted.
Fourteen are awaiting retrial
after their first trial ended in q