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Show i i I I ' r. Spencer, cnivcrscl Microfilm 141 Piorpent Aveicue A JUDGE WHO JUST WONT FIX THOSE TICKETS HARD-NOSE- D by Jim Baldwin Utahs municipal court judicial system crawls at a heel --dragging pace . . . and some of the reasons for that pace were brought into focus this week by an investigation of complaints of a hard-nosSalt Lake City judge with a bad driving record. True? The judge, Maurice D. Jones, d, said the admits it 1 am traffic court magistrate, And I have a bad driving record. the reputation The record is fact stems from Judge of being hard-nosJones' initiation of firm judgement . most of them based on a series of widely accepted beliefs: 1 That anyone sentenced for an offense should be brought to court to explain why the sentence hasnt been carried out: 2 That anyone who fails to appear in court in response to a citation or a should stand before the summons . court, if possible, to mitigate prima facie contempt. 3. That compulsory appearance in court on a second moving violation will benefit if only to the violator and the public make sure the culprit understands what ed hard-nose- ... ed ... . . ... he's done wrong; and, 4. That a person sentenced for a traffic offense should carry out terms of the if the penalty sentence within 30 days is to mean anything more than a bi ... monthly power bill. Court records show ust how grateful some defendents are for attitudes. They seek any possible delay, with a maximum number of continuances; by demanding costly Jury trials - often with no intent of going before a Jury; ty filing appeal for a new trial before a district judge, even after pleading guilty in city court Floyd H. Gowans, city prosecutor, said d. of Judge Jones: Yes, 1 think hes On the other hand, his court trials result in as great a proportion of dismissals as do those of other judges. The city prosecutor concurred with Judge Jones that his oroeram is motivated by, and conforms witli, the national programs of the Presidents Traffic Safety Committee and the An erican Bar Association Committee on Traffic Court Programs. 1 like him, said court secretary Mrs. Jeanne Jones (no kin of the judge) 'We hear people all the time saying theyre going to get Judge Jones You know why? Because he won't fix tickets for their kids. Mr. Gowans emphasized that there is no implication here that any of the city judges will "fix tickets for their kids. Rather all of the city judges experience the same pressures for leniency to greater or lesser degree. The Reviews study exposed an apparent hard-nose- direct relationship between the title hard-nosand court policies; but the reference to the judge's driving record appears to be no more than proof that hes hard-nostoday and proof that he once was a softie Police officers and court personnel confirmed that the judge regularly cites his driving record in court He emphasizes that, although two of 11 citations were resolved in his favor in the courts, all of the nations were resolved in his favor in the courts, all of the citations which led to three months suspension of his license were issued by officers conscientious in their duty. The judge, who noted that half of those who come before him are Salt Lake County residents, was appointed to the bench in November, 1958 He was assigned to the traffic court in January, 1961. In the first nine months in that court, he gained a reputation among city police of being a softie among city judges. Salt Lake Police, at the time, severely criticized the judge who, they believed, dismissed cases too readily and suspended sentences too leniently. In their effort to nudge the judge into line with their own objectives, police traffic officers in 1962 were the first to acquire and openly discuss the judges driving record as it appeared in the files of the State Drivers License Division I Continued or. pit ( e" ec General Office, News, Business WASATCH 487-740- 1 Action Ads EDITION 487-227- 8 Circulation 487-181- 9 VolA The Weekly Newspaper WASATCH EDITION No. 45 ffits MtfB,Gay9 Salt Lake County Attorney GroverA. Giles cited Inherent weaknesses in the county attorney system Tuesday as being responsible in part for a series of complaints voiced by law enforcement officers about the service officers receive from the prosecuting agency. A meeting of Mr. Giles and executive officers of the Salt Lake Police Department was held Wednesday in an effort to resolve some of the more serious problems involving inadequate preparation of cases set for preliminary hearing. Mr. Giles said that he invited representatives of die Salt Lake County Sheriffs Department to attend the Thursday talks AFTER THE MORNING Just 200 Lousy Bucks... For Human Life A The guy was a dropout after the ninth grade. He missed something important when he was six they didnt teach him the alphabet. In some subjects he did well, over the course of those nine grades. He learned all be could understand from listening. What he learned from books, though, was limited to what he could read without two of the vowels and five of the consonants. Most of his education came from his buddies, who were blessed with the same qualification - Ignorance. Today he's at Trade Tech, but the route there wasnt easy. A product of the Dewey system of social promotions, according to his defense counsel, Galen Ross, every grade this boy passed through without use of the alphabet separated him apart with his illiterate friends Hes blond, average build and handsome, and after the ninth grade dropout and a few (Continued itt page 4) No Garage , OK Cant Use It A nyivay el drive They've purchased a pickup truck for the Midvale Fire Department, but they dont have a place to store it. But, thats all right. They can't use it Serving Sugar House, East Mill Creek, but was told the sheriffs had no complaints. Several deputies, nevertheless, have complained to a representative of The Review of unsatisfactory service from the county attorneys staff. The Review determined that the complaints accumulated, apparently, because of failure of law enforcement agencies to establish effective lines of communication directly with Mr. Giles when communications with the lower escbelon failed. QD raG3i? places where regular fire department So, equipment cant serve satisfactorily he truck, unused, is out of date before it :ould be put to use The truck, already accepted by the city jouncil, will not go to waste, however tfidvale City will put he vehicle to use in mother department, it was determined at i meetihg oI city officials. , Cottonwood the failure of deputy county attorneys to be properly prepared for court or jury Departments have expressed Irritation trials in the Justice of the Peace Courts. when cases are reassigned to an attorney Some sheriffs officers h.v'i complained to handle the prosecution in preliminary that a deputy county attorhey might arrivi hearing as little as 15 minutes before the lor trial without having heard details of hearing is scheduled to begin. Mr. Giles the case, sometimes holding up the court said that this is a result of Inherent and jury while officers and complaining weakness of the county attorney system witnesses are taken aside to review the he inherited. ( Continued on page 4 ) Also inherent In the system, be said, ic For some time, officers of salt Lake y me This makes the 13 consecutive year in which the number of cases filed exceed the total for the previous year. There Officials To Urge Annex Of Islands were 16,910 business filings in 1965 compared to 16,510 in 1964. However, nonbusiness cases constituted more than 90 percent of all cases filed. Mr. Fowler pointed out that in Utah the situation is similiar-- - Fully 90 percen of these filings are wage earners or persons whose financial dtstrecs is unrelated to any business He noted further that more frequently, serious family illness causes uninsured medical and hospital expenses which cannot reasonable be met by the debtor. There is the case of a draftsman living in South Salt Lake who earned $3,672 in 1963 and $2,935 In 1964. Besides the usual run-- of debts includingacar TV, refrigerator, and furniture payments, he borrowed $11,000 and $2,647 respectively for home improvements and debt payments. In addition he owes $120 for labor and materials furnished upon account, $50 in plumbing fees in December, $35 In plumbing fees in June, $265 for electrical services in June, $75 for legal services, $197 for labor furnished for moving teleand $3,000 in phone and power lines a personal loan contracted with his wife. All of his debts could not be mentioned howhere due to sjjace requirements ever at the time he took out bankruptcy, proceedings, he had debts of $26,595 and ed city, were so distant that adequate pressure could not be achieved once lines were laid from hydrant to fire. The fire virtually demolished premises and stock of Dhrco Distributing Co., 1761 So. 8th West, one of several properties located In a county island surrounded by Saoutb Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. ... assest of $2,987. (Continued on pace 4) Hendricks claims that Mr. La Jeunesse didnt want Dolty and turned her over to the county of his own free will. Dog-catc- Mrs. Marian Wise, who lives with My s, er, The ironical part of this story is that Dolty was originally bought from the dog pound when she was a pup six months old. Mr. La Jeunesse noted that the reason they named her Dolty was because she was so dumb. "Thats one reason we loved her so much she was also so timid, if we said boo she would run and hide, Mr. La Jeunesse said. He dog-catch- er takes issue with the way the handled his sons dog. They chased Dolty down with a pole which contained a rope at the end of it. ...when they caught her, the slipped the noose around Dolty s neck and jerked her up into the truck, he said. dog-catch- ers According to the county dog pound when anyone signs a release, the county can do anything with the dog... most .of the time they are killed. Dolty wouldnt have let anyone come and drag me away, Mr. La Jeunesse said. 3' . about 4050 West 5115 South The old building from World War n, converted into a shopping center that is now the of Camp Kearns in the community, was a raging inferno notbefore an passer-b- y iced the blaze and reported it to the Kearns fire station at 2:52 A M The fire was really going when we got there, said county fire chief Frank P Three 1000 gallon pumpers were Jones dispatched from Kearns. Granger and headquarters, each hooked onto hydrants in the vicinity Eight one and one-ha- lf inch lines were concentrated on the fire, the chief said Investigation later Monday traced the origin of the fire to faulty wiring in a room behind Brandshaw Auto Parts Company, 4078 West 5415 South The blaze spread through the attic of the old w ,jd building. but its further progress was halted early-morni- weekend beginning with (Continued on page County dog catcher Ron Hendricks that he was chasing a stray dog in Mr. La Jeunesses open field. Supposedly he stopped to ask Mr. La Jeunesse if he knew who owned the stray dog. Mr. Hendricks noticed that Dolty had no license and told Mr. La Jeunesse that she needed one. From here on there are two different stories. Mr La Jeunesse said he gave Mr. Hendricks the dog with the understanding that be had five days in which to pay the license fee on Dolty. Upon this promise, he signed the release giving Dolty to the county pound. . said kids broke open their scraped up the $7.50 and we took them down to the doc- they told pound to bail xut Dolty us that no dog matching that description was in the pound. The Mr. Hendricks denied even being out in our area that day finally a woman came out and told me that Dolty was put to sleep about 2 p.m. Monday afternoon. We were shocked. Mrs. Wise said. plight piggy-bank- Skill and efficiency of Salt Lake County firemen was evidence Monday morning too early for most to observe the process But the results are still standing in the form of the Kearns Shopping Center at The Salt Lake County Commission took action Wednesday to save county employees the embarrassment of explaining why they are given so much time off. The commission refused to act on the request of Dale Holt, president. Salt Lake County Employees Association, that half of all county employees be given a four day weekend beginning with Veterans Day The other half of the employees would be Thanksgiving Day Commissioner John Preston Creerex-plaine- d to Mr Holt that he, personally, y Is now dead. She was gassed the county dog pound. Mr. La Jeunesse was keeping the brown-haire- d dog for his son and family who are almost 12,000 miles apart. His son, Dave, is an Army Staff Sgt. fighting the jungle war in South Viet Nam. Daves wife, Gudrun took their three daughters, aged 4, 5 and 6 back to Germany to stay with her parents until their dads" tour of duty ends sometime in May. last Monday at her husband in the rear of Mr. La Jeunesses house, heard of Dottys Vestige of WW II Camp Kearns Days Day Off! four-l- ay 1965 Converted Shopping Center Burns , Last Another given a translated from German to and until English means dolt last Monday, a brown-hairdog named Dolty romped with neighborhood children in an open field owned by Lynd&ll U Jruneist, 1501 East Spring Lane. Do -t- he-mill Residents and businessmen residing in island areas of Salt Lake County, poorly or not at all protected by county facilities, will be invited to bear public officials explain the benefits of annexation to Salt Lake City The Salt Lake County Commission Wednesday authorized Commissioner John Preston Creer to arrange a meeting at which city and county fire chiefs, the heads of city and county police agencies, and representatives of the City and County Commissions could explain In detail the advantages to residents in areas where the city could more readily improve services The commissioners agreed that such a meeting might stimulate property owners to initiate a petition for annexation. The annexation proposal developed from a fire two weeks ago in which fire damage estimated at $250,000 resulted becaus of lack of nearby water supply Nearest hydrants, located two blocks away in the BY Gene Townsend Dolty ed peak. 11, Trip To The Pound ... Too Late County Sheriffs and Salt Lake City Police Threat to employment orougnt about by vigorous enlorcement of Judgements by garnishment can be cited as the greatest single Impetus to the primrose path of bankruptcy. This thing is nation-wid- e. According to a report submitted by the Director of the Administrative office of the United States Courts, the number of bankruptcy cases filed In the United States from July 1, 1964 to June 30, 1965 reached an all-ti- November IOC A Fast Bankruptcies Way Up Business is good especially for lawyers handling bankruptcy cases which have Increased from 353 In 1954 to 1,466 in 1964. Easy credit, low downpayments and secured loans upon security of dubious value all help set up the unwary for the snare of future financial distress. However, William G. Fowler, Salt Lake Attorney, believes that these factors might more properly be considered secondary in the light of Utahs archaic exemption a personal and real laws relating to property. In an article written in 1963 for the Utah Bar Buttetin," Mr. Fowler said: 4 Cottonwood Heights of I? four-whe- anyway. The new (but used) truck was purchased recently from the Forest Service, apparently in response to a request made by Fire Chief Armond Bosch " a number of years ago for such a truck At the time of the request, there were places that regular fire department trucks couldn't reach But times have changed. Due to construction of the freeway, new buildings on previously vacant lots, and general additional development of Midvale city, there is Just no need for this special four wheel drive pickup Thanks to progress, there arent any Holladay-- A MESS, to be sure, centered in Bradshaw Auto Parts Company Monday after fire damagef the attic of the Kearns Shopping Center Surveying the charcoal debris is Artie J Henderson, manager of the store ng (Continued on page 4) UP OPERATIONS followed the early Monday morning fire at the Kearns Shopping Center which was halted through the efficient work of the Salt Lake County Fire Department Wielding the shovel is Captain A T. Nelson, while Dean Hunt and Mel Stewart watch County Fire Chief Frank P Jone said.- - If we are notified in time and have water available, w can do the job. .CLEAN |
