Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-13
Defense Asserts
Rood Maps Were
Open to Public
BY CHARLES L. HOFFMAN

as early as 1852 at the offices
Of the Maryland-N National Cap
ital Park and Planning Commits
sion.
Planning commission officials
testifying at the roads conspiracy
trial in Circuit Court in Rock
vile today said the plats of the
road were opened to PUBLIC view
at their Offices.
William Adams, highway PLAN
ming engineer with the commits
sion, disclosed this under exam
nation from Defense Counsel
Vivian v. Simpson.
On trial on charges of con-
spiracy to defraud the Maryland
State Roads Commission are
Max Gutenberg and Constas
(Gus) Basiliko. They allegedly
received inside information from
ex-roads commission employee
Ben Du Pre- and manipulated
land values.
Thousands of Maps Issued
Planning Commission Secre-
tary-Treasurer Jesse F. Nichol-
son also told the court that
several thousand maps were dis
tributed by the commission in
1852 showing the proposed loca-
ton of the National Pike and
locations of interchanges along it.
He said the master plan of
highways showed the new roads
location on the basis of infor-
nation provided by the roads
commission.
MI. Nicholson, however, said
he could not tell from the
publicly distributed maps whose
property the National Pike went
through or its actual width in
any area. He added that about
all that could be determined was
that the highway proceeded in a
Inorthwesterly direction from
Rockville toward Frederick, Md.
New defense motions for a
mistrial were denied today by
Circuit Court Judges Kathryn
M. Lawlor and Thomas M. An
derson.
Prejudice Claim Fails
The motions were made on the
basis of an alleged prejudice the
defense commended had been Gre
ated by a newspaper story assert.
ing that Chief Judge Stedman
Prescott had regained ownership
i of a piece of land over which
he had filed suit against Basiliko
and two other men.
The suit alleged Judge Pres
colt had sold property to a straw
party for Basiliko at lower
value than he would have had
he had information the suit al
leges Basiliko had gotten from
Du Pre- on the location of the
new National Pike.
The suit was reported settled
yesterday by Albert D. Misler.
one of the defendants named by
Judge Prescott.
The defense yesterday prom
ised to show that information on
location of the New National
Pike was given freely by the
roads commission on request OF
landowners and that the .oca-
ton could be easily determined
since ground survey stakes mad
been laid out.
Joseph B. Simpson, jr., attor-
ney for Gutenberg, said he also
would show his client had no
direct contact with Du Pre- and
that the use of straw parties
was not unusual in land trans
actions.
Visits to BasilikO
Mr.. Simpson asserted the de-
tense would show that seveial
roads commission employees Wis
tied Basiliko at his hotel in
North Beach and that. OF all OF
them, only Du Pre- contends
Basiliko asked him for conf1den-
tial information.
He added he also would show
that other roads commission ofti-
Gals had dealt in oil trans
actions"
The latter reference appar-
emily was in answer to Du Pres
ALLEGATION that, for his part In
one transaction, he was promised
an interest in an oil drilling OPP
|eration in Indiana.
The defense sent Leroy c.
Moser, chief of the commissions
tot way department, TO the
stand as its first witness.
Mr.. Moser said the only time
he had met Basiliko was at
North Beach in 1850 when he
had lunch at the hotel with Du
IPre while on an inspection trip.
Tells of Rights-of-Way
He testified at length as to
Iright-of-w way acquisitions on the
new National Pike in Montgom-
cry in the vicinity of transact
ltions in which Basiliko and Of
Ifenberg allegedly were involved.
He said the $50, 1000 paid Often-
berg for a % 12-acre tract near
Gaithersburg was used in deter
mining other land values farther
south. Du Pre- earlier had said
the Gutenberg price was more
than the land was worth.
Mr.. Simpson failed in efforts
Ito introduce as evidence the road
commission files on the acquisi-
ltions in the vicinity of the al
legged Basiliko-Offenberg deals.
! States Attorney Alger Y. Bar
bee objected repeatedly to this
testimony on the ground it was
,immaterial and that the proper
ties were not comparable.
On property near the Often-
berg tract at Gaithersburg, the
commission had put values OK
$500 to $1,700 an acre. Mr.. Mosef
Icoid