Evening star., 1952-11-08
Motion 10 Shift
Trial Of Carper,
Taylor Denied
D. c. Jury to Try
Suspended Policemen
On Croft Charges

Suspended Policemen
On Croft Charges
Efforts by Police 1t. H. H. Car
per and Sergt. William Taylor to
get change of trial site on mar
cotics and graft charges failed
yesterday.
Had District Judge Burnita
Shelton Matthews granted the
former head of the Narcotics
Squad and his chief deputy their
motion, it would have been the
first change of venue ever granted
here.
Carper and Taylor were sus-
pended from the force last spring,
after James (Jim) Yellow Roberts,
once the city's biggest dope ped
dler, testified before the Senate
District Crime Subcommittee.
ROBBERS. now serving a 5-to-15-
year sentence. said he had been
doing business for years with the
policemen. He asserted he paid the
two, generally Carper, between
$4,000 and $4,000 graft to oper-
ate unmolested.
Indicted in May.
AS a result, a grand jury. on
May %, indicted the pair on
charges of conspiring to violate
the narcotics laws and accepting
bribes.
To back up his declaration that
the Carper-Taylor publicity pre-
cluded a fair trial here, Attorney
Myron Ehrlich termed it the
widest prejudicial coverage by all
the media known to man except
skywriting."
The lawyer subpoenaed nine Of
f1cials from the principal radio
and television stations and repre-
sentatives of the four Washington
daily newspapers. All appeared
loaded down with bound volumes
OF their papers or with transcripts
OF hundreds of broadcasts.
They related to the heavy cov-
erage given the appearance of
Carper and Taylor before the
crime subcommittee, headed by
Senator Nicely, Democrat, of West
Virginia.
Emphasizes Dissemination.
Mr.. Ehrlich hammered away at
newspaper and radio publication
OF the subcommittee's report casti-
eating the two policemen and
lnferential statements it contained
linking them to crime with which
they were not charged.
He told Judge Matthews it
would be impossible to get a jury
that had not either read, heard
or formed an opinion about the
case, if the jurors answered such
questions honestly.
In addition. he introduced in
evidence a copy of the Saturday
Evening Post of September q,
which included nine-page article
entitled, How They Got the
Goods on Washington's Cops"
About one-sixth of the story,
Mr.. Ehrlich said, referred to
Carper and Taylor.
Judge Matthews said she did
not think the lawyer had presented
a clear-cut case to support his
charge of prejudice.
Under the circumstances"
Judge Matthews said, "all you can
do is speculate as to a fair trial.
To Get Another Chance.
However. she promised Mr..
Ehrlich another chance. She said
he could renew his motion, if It'll
is found at the outset of the trial,
scheduled for December IS, that
1t is impossible to Obtain an
unprejudiced panel.
Those appearing as witnesses
yesterday included:
Bryson Rash, WMAL-TV cast
er; Cassius M. Keller, program
director, WNBW-TV and WRCI
radio; William N. Feed, program
director of Radio Station WWDC:
Robert Cleos of Du Mont's WT"TG-
TV; Lawrence E. Richardson, pro-
gram director, and Theodore S.
Coop, director of news affairs for
WTOP radio.
Also Melvin A. Petit, Star Ii
brarian; George L. Norris, Times
Herald reporter: Jack K. Bur-
ness. Post librarian, and Don H.
May, a reporter for the News.
2 Peddlers Plead Guilty.
Seconds after the Carper-Tay-
lor hearing, Judge Matthews &C
cepted guilty pleas from two dope
peddlers who had appeared on
the Hill against the policemen.
They were Herbert w. Buckle
jaws johnson. SO, colored. of the
100 block Ninth street NV, and
Nellie Leach. 38, colored, of the
1000 block South Carolina ave-
nue. Sc.
johnson pleaded guilty to two
counts Of selling heroin, and the
Leach woman, to one. They were
permitted to remain on bond.
pending a probation Office pre-
sentence report.