Evening star., 1953-08-07
Procedure Drafted
To Prosecute Patrons
OF Illicit Businesses

More than 130 men and
women already have been
charged under the new law
aimed at taking the profit out
of illegal enterprises by dis
couraging patrons, a police sur
vey showed today.
The measure is part of the
Districts big crime law. The leg
iSlation makes it a crime to be
a patron or employe of an lille
gal Establishments dope pad,
gambling joint or a place where
whiSkey is sold in violation of
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
rules.
To make a case stick in court,
police must be able to show
that the patron or employe knew
the place was violating the law
and could not give a good ca
count of why he was or the
premises.
Rover Backs Measure.
United States Attorney Leo A.
Rover, who is an enthusiastic
supporter of this new laW-en-
forcement weapon, said it would
not be difficult to show guilty
knowledge.
after ALL" he added, "if a
man seeks gambling, drinking or
dope selling. he knows he's not
in church"
Police are under orders to
question occupants of a dive at
the time of arrest to establish
that they have no legitimate
explanation for being on the
premises.
Police, prosecutors and judges
were all feeling their way on the
new law during it's first month
of operation but a clear-cut
policy on it's enforcement is now
developing.
Routine Established.
Mr.. Rover said today his office
will follow this routine:
If an employe of an illegal
establishment can be charged
with operating a lottery, ABC
violations or dope peddling, this
is the charge which will be
brought. The lesser charge of
being employed in an illegal es-
tablishment will be filed only
when there is not sufficient
ground for the more serious ones.
ABC violations are prosecuted
by the Corporation Counsel's
Office. Mr.. Rover said police will
go there first in whisky cases. If
the Corporation Counsel's Office
does not consider there is enough
evidence to prosecute for the
whisky violation, but the indi-
vidual was undoubtedly present
in the illegal establishment, the
United States Attorneys office
will consider the presence case.
Where 20 persons are picked
up in raid on a gambling
house and one is charged with
permitting gaming while the
other 19 are accused of being
present in an illegal establish
ment, the latter cases will gen.
orally be tried without waiting
for the outcome of the gaming
case. The exceptions will be
cases where the Government
wants to keep it's evidence Sc
cret until the main gaming case
is tried.
Procedure Evolved.
All these procedures grew out
of questions raised during the
first months operation. Some of
the cases of presence" which
have been dropped we're dropped
because a more serious charge
also was made against the de-
fendant. Some cases have been
continued on the now-corrected
theory that the case against the
operator must be tried first.
The bench, too, got off to a
conservative start. Municipal
Court Judge George D. Nelson,
facing 81 persons accused of be-
ing present in places selling
whisky Illegally, remarked that
he was inclined to be lenient
since the law was new.
Twenty five of the accused
promptly pleaded guilty and
Judge Nelson fined "a of them
$40 a piece. He sentenced the
twenty fifth man to so days on
the same charge after it was
brought out that the defendant
already had pleaded guilty to
sale of illegal liquor in another