Show THE CRAWFORD CASE It seems after all that the telegraphic report of the Surgeon Crawford fornication fornica-tion case in Washington was correct the Washington papers at hand confirming con-firming the account sent over the wires The doctor was declared guilty by the police justice Harper and sentenced to twelve months Imprisonment The law provides for six months imprisonment imprison-ment but there were two informations against the doctor alleging the commission commis-sion of the offense on different days and the justice held him to be guilty and sentenced him under both convictions convic-tions It was a most remarkable case in some respects being as irregular and outrageous as certain of the prosecutions which characterized the district courts of Utah before our tribunals were brought up standing as it were by the United States Supreme Court and by the removal of some of the officials Fornication being a mis dBmeanor the justices of the peace in the District of Columbia being United States officers have original and complete com-plete jurisdiction and it is Unnecessary to proceed by indictment as in the Territories Ter-ritories Surgeon Crawford was arrested ar-rested and at once placed on trial before Harper and such a trial has rarely been conducted to such a termination ter-mination We have carefully read the evidence as the case proceeded and while impression conveyed by the perusal per-usal was that the defendant was guilty there was no testimony which would have been accepted by a fair court as being conclusive of guilt The girl was not produced nor was there a witness who had ever seen any conduct between the parties which was even suspicious had it not been for the girls youth 14 years The justice however assumed that the defendant was guilty and so announced his decision the moment the arguments were closed then and there sentencing the accused to the maximum penalty An appeal was immediately noted and Dr Crawford was released on 1000 bail Neither the defendant nor his attorneys seem at all alarmed being confident that in a higher tribunal the judgment will be reversed Unless the Washington Washing-ton courts are peculiar Crawford will escape without punishment and Justice Harper will be rebuked as he deserves |