Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-10
Robb's Role in Defense
OfMurroy Was d Gift

e1AA-NS
Murray in the discrimination
hearings was q citizens gift to
q cause he believed in.
It was o civic contribution
earned in large measure, as q
matter Of fact. by Chief Muir
ray himself.
std known Bob Murray o
long time. very favorably." said
Mr.. Robb. HE always i'm
pressed me as an intelligent
and very sensitive mama gen.
tie man who was also an excel
lent police officer.
II knew he had that reputa-
ton among a great many other
people"
When the chief called on Mr..
Robb for legal services prior to
the Commissioners hearings on
charges by the local branch Of
the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People that he failed to disci-
pline offiaers for alleged brutal
ity to colored citizens and per-
mitted discrimination in the
hiring and assignment of col
ored policemen, that reputation
paid of.
20 Days without Pay
Mr.. Robb pitched in and
spent total of some 20 days
working on the case, including
o days in the hearing room, all
without pay.
The proceedings produced a
finding that the NAACP had
failed to sustain its charges
with evidence and a reassertion
Of confidence by the Commits
sioners in Chief Murray and
the department.
Although he had selected
Mr.. Robb. the chief also had
voluntary offers of assistance
from many of the city's promi-
nent legal figures.
Aside from his local stand
ing, Chief Murray has won
national and international rec
ignition in his work with the
International Association of
Chiefs Of Police. Last October
he was elected third vice presi-
dent, a post from which he
will step up in three years to
the presidency.
Mr.. Robb, q Yale-educated
attorney who looks younger
than his SO years, is what
might be termed an uptown"
lawyer with a thorough ground
ing in criminal law practice.
During service as an Assist
ant United States attorney
from 1881 to 1888, his wide
trial experience included %
f1rst-degree murder cases. One
Of his first big cases was the
prosecution of CASTOR B. Means
in the Lindbergh baby ransom
hoax.
Defended BrOwder
Since leaving the United
States Attorneys Office for pri-
vate practice, he has handled
few criminal cases except those
assigned him by the courts. |
The biggest one assigned him
was the Earl Browder con.
tempt of Congress case in 1851, |
which he successfully defended. |
The former Communist
leader wrote later that Mr..
Robb displayed such a pride
OF his profession and what may
be called a spirit of sportsman
ship" that, despite his pro-
nounced political opinions
which 1 would call reactionary,
he proved of substantial, not
merely formal. assistance"
Mr.. Robb's father. the late
Charles H. Robb. was for many
years a judge in the United
States Court of Appeals here.
Roger Robb has a son, Charles
c. Robb. attending Boston Uni
versity. The family lives at
100 Hoban road NV.
An admitted gun bug" Mr..
Robb received a Colt Cobra re-
volver from Chief Murray on
behalf of the Policemen's Asso-
citation in appreciation for his
services.
The association also has
taken a table in honor of Mr..
Robb for the banquet of the
7th annual conference Of the
National Association of Citi-
zens Crime Commissions next
Wednesday at the Sheraton
Park Hotel. Mrs. Robb will be
there without her husband,
however. since he will have to
be in Cleveland trying a case. |
If the presentation of the
police case seemed somewhat
underplayed during the hear
ings. it was with reason.
In the first place. Mr.. Robb
took the view that the nearly
million residents Of Washing
ton were "a party in this thing"
1T wasn't just a lawsuit be-
tween two individuals" he
points out. The public and
the Commissioners were en-
titled to all the facts.
II felt there should be an
absence of technicalities raised.
Our objective should be to get
the facts over to the Commits
sioners and the public.
AT the same time, it seemed
to me that we had to be very
careful not to do or say any,
thing that would aggravate