Show Justice on n a Holiday AFTER 4 FTER four lour years in in n the courts it is discovered discovered j 1 ered cred in n Cleveland that Justice takes takes its holidays holidays holidays holi holi- days on the slightest pretext This time the pretext is a comma At the moment the only slighter pretext we chri can think of would be a period being smaller than a comma by the lack Jack of a tail bout About four fotr r years ago three officials of a de defunct defunct defunct de- de Cl Cleveland veland mortgage company were convicted convicted con con- of fraud The ca case e was appealed to the supreme court and a new trial trial was was ordered ordered on the he ground that the judge erred in in n his charge to the jury Just the oth other r day the retrial was begun Then the defense argued that the tle indictment was faulty faulty because bec aulty-bec because use of a misplaced comma They argued so well that hat the judge was obliged to agree with them and the men were freed Addressing the jury the judge judg remarked that hat this should illustrate the fallacy of making making mak- mak ing ng a criminal case a game game instead of a method of arriving at justice That's putting it mild- mild I. I ly y Here we have a criminal case that had dragged out for four years years and and it is finally disposed of because some typist put a comma comman in n the wrong place Is it any wonder that laymen laymen laymen lay lay- men grow impatient with the technicalities of the he law |