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Show WIDE LATITUDE IS I mi m STATE ! I Police Station Incident Goes to ii the Jury in the Donald- son Case. iH DEFENSE VIGOROUSLY. j H BUT VAINLY PROTESTS I H H Motion to Dismiss for Lack ot Proof to Be Made by De lend a nl Tuesday. In the trial of James Doualdson, Monday, Judge Armstrong, over tho strenuous protests of the defense, per-milted per-milted the McWhirtcr brothers to do-tail do-tail all that transpired after they left tho Antler rooming-house, where they claim they were bunkood, under the IH escort of W. W. Bell, the bogus po-' licctuan, until they took the traiu lato jH that night for Los Angeles. This in- IH eluded their visit to the police station, jH accompanied by Bell, nnd tho alleged' refunding to them there, in Chief Sheet's presence, of $1000 of their The defense objected to all of this testimony on tho ground that Donaldson wns not present when' the events dc- jH scribed occurred, and that he could nor, be bound by acts which transpired in Ins absence; also on tho ground that. the robbery and grand larceny, with which Donaldson is charged, w'as con-summated con-summated in the room, if consummated at. all, and that subsequent ovents were immaterial as tending to show Donald-son's Donald-son's guilt or connect him with tho The State, while admitting that the-eveuts the-eveuts in question were not proper tcs-liinouy tcs-liinouy when the MeWhirfcrs were first on the stand, contended that subse-qucnt subse-qucnt evidence had established or tend-ed tend-ed to establish a conspiracy to which Bell and Doualdson were both parties, and that the acts of Bell as a co-conspirator co-conspirator could be shown, whethor Donaldson was present when those acts were committed or not. Judgo Arm- IH strong apparently took this view of the case, for he overruled all the ob.jcc-tions ob.jcc-tions raised by Attorney Samuel A. King, representing the defendant.. Shoots Is Not Called. It was a. lop-sided version of tho in-cidents in-cidents in Chief Sheets' oflico which tho State presented to the jury. .Chief Shoots, whose knowledge is as full and comprehensive, touching what trims-pired trims-pired in his presence, and who was not as excited as the lie Whirl crs were, was not called by the Stato, and. evi-dcntlv, evi-dcntlv, will not be called. At the con-elusio'n con-elusio'n of the lay's proceedings Dis-trict Dis-trict Aitornev Loofbourow aunouueed to tho court that the State would havo but one more witness, nnd that his ity-timony, ity-timony, which would be very brioi, would' conclude tho State's case. The Slate, therefore, v.-ill rest.Tncs-day rest.Tncs-day forenoon. .Mr. King will then move u dismissal on the broad gene raj IH ground that the prosecution has failefi to prove Donaldson guilty of cithor robberv or grand larceny. It, will be contended, first of all. that the grand larceny charge has fallen tlat because EH no effort has been made by the Stato jB to sho.y that the poker gamo in which Donaldson won I he monoy was other than a square game: also that tho tea- BV timony of the McWhirters that Don-, aldson snatched the .?20.r)0 before tho game was concluded is contradictod by BVJ W. . Parrcnt, also a witness for tho' State, who has said that "Sandy Mc- Whirl t-r told him, when he entered the romn in the guise of a policeman, that BV he had lost the money in a card game. HHH It. will also be contended by tho de- fonsc that, no element of robbery HHJ cither by force or by putting in fear IHHJ has been proved against Donaldson;' HHJ that he look no part in the taking of the $5373 from McWhirtcr by tho two bogus policemen; that, nccording HI to the State's own testimony, he was not acquainted with them until they, entered the room, and that consequent-, lv he could not havo conspired with them cMlIer to steal from or rob tho McWhirters. If the defense's motion fo dismiss is granted, it will end the case against Donaldtjon; if it is denied, tho defense will' then proceed with ils opening statement and tho introduction of ori- Parrcnt Aidn Donaldson. ' W. Jf. r'arront, arch-crook and-star witness for tho Stale, resumed the Ptaud when' court opened Monday morninc. and was again taken in hand for cross-examination by Mr. King. The general tenor of Parrcnt. 's roplie IH was favorable, rather than uufavora-' blc. to Donaldson. For example, he jH admitted he did not know of his own ' knowledge thut Donaldson received a cent of tne McWhirtcr's money other than the i-JOoO which changed hands JH in tip! poker game. jH "You don t know that Donaldson got a fivo-ccnt piece of the Me Whir- tcr money, do you?" nsked .Mr. King, IH referring' to the ?S370 which Parrout and Roll took from the Scotchman. "No, sir." declared Parrcnt. "When you were in the saloon after you left t'ho Antler rooming house," . continued the attorney, "did Donald-son Donald-son make any claim to the moucy you had taken from McWhirtcrl" "No, "Did Donaldson ever say anything in your hearing regarding holding out 20 por cent of any monoy for George. IH Sheets?" was asked. "No, sir; it wa .lack O'Brien who said that," said Parrcnt. "Bell and T told him we. had our own arrange- mcnt with George Sheets." at Made Trip to Chicago. Mr. King elicited from Parrcnt the interesting and hitherto suppressed in- , formation that he had made a trip to Chicago since his arrest last February j and Ins subsequent release upon his own j recognizance. Ho brought it out by , iisking him how long he had been in I '"sioily, and P?trcm. iaid ever sinco j HJ 'lis arrest, except for two weks, when 1 So was on a trip to Olucaco. While tj the testimony did not- dovolop it. it is tf probably true that Parrent was sent to 'If Chicago at county cxpenso in an effort to locate .Tohu and Larry O'Bnon. Hj "You have never had a. preliminary j hearing-, havo you?" queried Mr. King, l "No. sir." , 1 "Yoii know you are not to have any, do you not?" , , . , . ..r Mr. Loofbourow objected, and Mr. Hl Kine chanced his question, and asked jjj Parront if he oxpected to havo a pro- HjD liminary hearing. "Well, T don't know," responded the Hil witness naively. "You sec, T don't know anything about the laws m 1 . Utah," and there were- smiles all over Hj the courtroom. Parrent, in response to further quesLions, denied positively that HBI . ho had been promised any immunity from prosecution in return JLor his lesli- niony against Chief of Police Sheets, or against Donaldson. Acting on Hilton's Advice. Hjj "Then you are relying entirely up- on tho good offices of tho prosecutors of this county and district, are you?" Hf demanded Mr. King. "I am relying upon the advice or 1 my counsel, ? was Parrent s answer. f '"And that is Judge Hilton, of Den- Ht ver the same man who acted as spo- cial counsel for tho State in the prosc- H; cution for the State in tho last prc- j liminary examination of Chief Sheets? Mr. Loofbourow objected to this question, but Judge Armstrong over-ruled over-ruled tho objection, and Parront an-swered an-swered in the affirmative. Continuing the examination. Mr. King asked Par- fl rent if he had not expected to keep the McWhirter'H money, when, by pre-tending pre-tending to be a policeman, he had taken it from them. Parront said he had so intended. "You havo been iiuthe habit of ex-trading ex-trading money from people in this wav?" insinua'tcd Mr. King genll.y. H; '''Not in this way?" replied the wit- j "You have been arrested often?" "Yes. sir." H. Parrent. admitted that, he had been arrested in Kansas City, Denver and Dallas, Tex. II is arrest in Dallas, he declared, was for disturbing tbopeace. Parront further acknowledged that afl-or afl-or tho last preliminary examination of Chief Sheets he had been furnished with a transcript of the evidence lakeu in that case, including his own l est i-monv i-monv and thai of the McWhiriors. "So you had a eojiy of your own testimony io read betore you testified m in this rase?". Mr. King demanded. Parront admitted that he had, but denied that he had read it to any cx-tent, cx-tent, lie denied that ho had received j a copy of the McWhirter testimony given "in the first Sheets caso before ho himself testified in the second Sheets case. Is Stud Poker Expert. On redirect examination Mr. Loof-bourow Loof-bourow qualified Parrent, an ex-pert on the game of stud poker, and Parrent denied that he li3d ever heard it called l by the name of "hoky-poky' or heard of its being played in the fasli-ion fasli-ion that McWhirter testified lie played it with Donaldson and John O'Brien. M- When he entered the room, he said, O'Brien told him that, they that is H' "Donaldson, 0JBrien and McWhirter been playing stud poker. The hands held by each were lying faco upward on tho table, and Parrent ex- Hj amined them. H! Oonaklfou, I12 said, held four trays, O'Brien a pair of queens and Mc-Whirter. Mc-Whirter. to the best, of his recollcc-tinii, recollcc-tinii, three aces and a pair' of kings. "What kind of; a hand Js that knov.'n as among confidence men?" asked M. Loofbourow. "It is known as flic 'big mit,' " 1 replied tlie expert. "The 'big mit,' " 1 he declared, "was usuallv the third hand dealt. By 'big mit ''he meant," he said, "that" the cards were stacked before they were dealt. Subsequently, however, Parrent admitted to Mr. King that whero three sit in a bunko game of this description it is known as the "single mit," while, when four participate, it is known as tho "big mitt.'"" lie admitted, without the quiver of an eyelash, that he and Bell had been playing tho "singlo mitt" around Salt Lako for some time bo- HJ fore tho McWhirter incident. This practically ended Parrent 's lestiinonv. The next witness was Walter M. Heath, a letter-earner, who declared that on the day of (.he robbery he was accosted by McWhirter at the postoflice, in the presence of Bell and Parrent. McWhirter asked him if Bell was a police officer. Tic' replied that he did not know, whereupon Mc-.Whirter Mc-.Whirter - declared that the two men had robbed him of $10100. As thev walked away, Heath said, Bell airily waved his hand at him (the witness.) A few minutes later, ho said, he came out of tho postoflice and saw McWhir-ter McWhir-ter and Bell together. He followed ! lhi-m until they reached tho back en-trance en-trance of the police station and turned in th.?rc. -,r"F!'' yu follow them?" asked Mr. King. "Because I thought it was my duty 1 as i citizen to do so," replied tlie witness, who was then excused from tho stand. Court took a recess until 0 eloclr. More Witnesses for State. "W- L Casey, a iioolroom man, was the first, witness called after luncheon 'He testified to having; changed a $1000 bill for Donaldson 111 September, but could not fix the dato. , William P. Hodigkeit, commonly known as "Dutch," night manager at the Vienna cafe, was the' next. Avit- ness. He declared that early on the morning of Soptember 20 the next morning after the alleged McWhirter robbery Donaldson, with whom ho was and is well acquainted, came into the Vienna to cat, aud showed tho witness a ."SIOOO .bill, which, ho said, ho had won in a poker game. Tho follows who lost it, Donaldson told tho witness, wit-ness, had $10,000 on thorn, and Donaldson Donald-son asked tho witness what he thought about men who would carrj- that much money around with them. Afterward, about ten days later, Rodigkoit saw Donaldson in Denver, and talked with him. Judge Armstrong, howovor, excluded ex-cluded the conversation, and the ;jury did not get the benefit of it. Rodigk'cit 's testimony was admittedly admitted-ly disappointing to the State. Ho had boon expected to swonr that .Donaldson had admitted to him that tho two Scotchmen had been separated from $10,000 in a noker game, but ho sworo to nothiug ov tho sort, but in general his testimony was not so strong as the State had expected it to be. Tho cross-examination cross-examination of tlie witness was unimportant. un-important. William J. Cardwoll, who sells cigars at tho stand next tho Chesapeake restaurant, res-taurant, was then called and testified that McWhirter and Bell came into his placo of business September 10, and that Boll bought a cigar. Ho identified identi-fied both McWhirter and Bell, and said that McWhirter asked him there if Bell was connected with (ho police force. He did not know aud so informed in-formed McWhirter. He admitted on cross-examination that, in fixing tho dale of tho incident, he was rob'ing largely upon what McWhirter had sinco told him. Druggist Gets Rattled. Fred Ansteo, ono of the proprietors of fho Sun drug store at Market and West Templo streets, was tho next witness, wit-ness, and he was badlv rattled before ho loft tho stand. He told of Bell and McWhirter coming into his store on Soptember 1U in a considerable hurry. Bell, he said, asked permission lo uso t ho phono, and did so, calling up "Main 7o, " and asking first for Chief Sheets and then for Detective Raleigh. When Bell had finished. McWhirter asked the witness if Boll wan a police officer, and when tho witness was unable to inform him. McWhirter said that Bell had robbed him of $10,000. "You have never testified to anything any-thing different than this?" demanded Mr. King. . "No, sir.' "Why did vou testify in the Sheels case then that McWhirter said: 'Ho has $S000 of my money in his pocket, and 1 laughed at him'." " "1 must have been rattled,-! guess," acknowledged the witness, who was apparently ap-parently much confused at that moment. mo-ment. "Isn't it because 3011 havo. heard ot $10,000 so much since you testified to $S00O that you havo- added tho other $2000 to it.?'" "It might ha.vo boen, because T read it in the papers." said Anstce. "You'vo now changed your testimony?" testi-mony?" "Yes. sir." Witness denied that ho had changed his testimony at the suggestion of anybody any-body connected with the nrosecuUon, and gave it as his practicnlly positivo belief that the sum mentioned by McWhirter Mc-Whirter was $.10,000 instead of $S000. "Your positivoness is duo to tho fact that 3'ou have talked to somebody since this case started?" asked Mr. King, "It may be," admitted Ansteo. .Mrs. Mattie Ventrico, proprietress of tho Salt Lako lodging house on West Second South street, testified that Bell and Donaldson camo to her placo one evening last September and asked to use tho telephone. She identified both of them. Major Brccdeu Gets Busy. Then tho first timo since the case started Attorney-General M. A. Breeden look charge of" examining tho State's witnesses. Ho called -"-Sandy" McWhirter Mc-Whirter to tho stand, and started to interrogate him about how ho was steered into tho Antler rooming-houso by Larry O 'Brien. Mr. King fired in objections so, thick and fast that the learned attornej'-general was soon gasping gasp-ing for breath and ready to take tho count. Mr. Loofbourow, seeing that his associate was in deep water, came to his rescue and made the argument for him as to why tho tcstimoii- was admissible ad-missible according to tho views of the State. After much arguing on both sides, Judge Armstrong excluded the testimony testi-mony as to the steering of tho Mc-Whirters Mc-Whirters into the room by Larry O'Brien, but permitted "Sandy" and his brother "Willio," who followed, to relate their perambulations around town with Bell and Parront after the game was over. This talo included theiv visit to tho police station, the restoration of $1000 of their montjy by Bell, and their departure for Los Angek-s that night after Bell had put thoiu on tiio train. Tlxceptinr, to all this evidence, Mr. King, on cross-examination, merely asked tho two Scotchmen if Donaldson Donald-son had been present at any of these times and they said ho had not. Donaldson Born in Scotland. Mrs. Mary King, tho widowed sister of Donaldson, who lives in tho Now England addition, was tho next witness, wit-ness, and her examination developed tho fact that Donaldson, like the men whom he is' accused of victimizing, was born in Scotland, and came .to Utah in 1S7J. Mrs. King was' interrogated inter-rogated as to the allegod dinner party given by Donaldson at her houso on the night of the McWhirtor incident. She admitted that Donaldson took dinner din-ner at her house, but was unable lo say'wiio the three men wero who accompanied ac-companied him. She was not introduced intro-duced to them. It was nothing uncommon, un-common, sho said, for Donaldson to bring his friends out to her place for a home-cooked dinner, and he usually brought tho provisions along with him to be cooked. Her daughter, Grace King, a girl of about 17 years, was also called by the State, and testified to practically tho same facts as hor mother. Court then took a recess until Tuesday morning. |
