Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-05-26
Duty Requires
Follow-Up.
Officials Soy
BY MIRIAM GUTENBERG
star stan writer


duty II they failed 10 follow
up anonymous tips leading to
the solution Of crimes.
In fact. police recalled, sew
eral important murder cases
Including the l945 trailer mur-
der Of Edward +. Barker and
Pany Casbarian-have been
broken by anonymous calls and
letters.
Their comments followed the
District Court action late last
week in which three confessed
robbers were freed because the
Judge ruled that an anonymous
tip did not give police probable
cause on which to base an
arrest.
Probable Cause Required Z
Where police arrest without
Q warrant, as they did in this
case. they must have probable
cause to believe the suspect
has committed a felony.
Police and Prosecutor Arthur
Mclaughlin commended they had
the probable cause before the
men were actually put under
arrest. but District Court Judge
Joseph C. McGarraghy ruled
otherwise.
Judge McGarraghy based his
directed verdict of aquital on
the 1855 Court Of Appeals de-
cision in the case of Samuel
Wrightson. a convicted robber.
The court. in a split decision
In that case, deplored the
tendency of police to arrest
without warrants and without
probable cause.
When the Wrightson case
was retired, the circumstances
that led to the arrest were
fully explored. The trial Judge
then ruled there had been
probable cause for the arrest,
and the Court of Appeals
affirmed the conviction.
Two Opinions Cited
In trying to save his triple
robbery case, Mr.. Mclaughlin
unsuccessfully cited two recent
opinions.
In one of them, Appellate
Judge David L. Bazelon said,
in the Trilling case, that "the
rule that excludes confessions
obtained by questioning an ar
rested person before arraign-
ment does not, of course, pre-
vent either the prosecutor or
the police from putting ques-
lions to a suspect before they
arrest him. Nor, if ne is will
ing, are they forbidden to
question him in jail after he
has been committed, or in his
home if he has been released
on bail"
In the other recent opinion,
Judge Walter Bastian wrote in
the Smith case that I'VE be-
lieve the rule to be that con-
LESSONS made while a Defend
ant is under arrest are admis-
Sible in evidence if voluntarily
made and if Rule S, Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure,
is not violated. whether the
arrest was legal or illegal"
Judge McGarraghy said the
latter statement did not apply
because it was "dicta"-that
n, not an element on which the
court based its conclusions in
the Smith case.
Mr.. Mclaughlin brought out
these two statements for these
reasons:
Sought Wounded Man
1t was testified in last weeks
case that, when the police dis
lpatcher received an anonymous
call that a man was being
treated for a gunshot wound in
a house on I street Sc, rob-
berry squad detectives immedi-
ately went to the house because
they were looking for a man
they knew had been shot in q
robbery only IL hours earlier.
When they arrived at the
house, Capt. Nunzie Bonac-
corsy promptly saw man he
recognized as an informer in
AN earlier case and knew the
identity of the anonymous
caller.
Meanwhile. however, several
detectives had gone to another
room where they heard a man
complaining about the pain
from a wound.
The detectives then told the
wounded man to drop his pants
so they could see If he was
wounded. Capt. Bonaccorcy, on
his way to the room with the
identifying information, heard
a detective shout that they had
the right man. The captain
then formally put the trio Il
men under arrest. The question
raised in court was whether or
mot the men were already un-
der arrest when the detective
told the man to drop his pants.
Usual Procedure
Police said they we're follow
ing the procedure Of question:
ling before arrest-as Judge
Bazelon said was permissible in
the Trilling case.
Police Chief Robert ". MUIR
ray and Deputy Chief E. z.
Scott, questioned today about
where they could cease follow
ing out anonymous tips. both
said, I'VE have no alternative
but to go anead with them"
I'VE have every reason to be-
lieve the tip was reliable in
this case" Deputy Chief Scott
said. I'VE can usually tell by
the earnestneSs of the speaker
and the extent Of his informa-