max audio

0:00

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Max Naaman is still practicing law.

0:03

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He's in his 70s,

0:04

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though he looks some 20 years younger.

0:06

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And he recalls as being a lawyer for the

0:10

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unemployed councils at the time.

0:12

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Weren't the people in those days being evicted?

0:15

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Oh,

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yes, they sure were.

0:17

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Until

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some later years,

0:24

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when the Relief Administration began to pay the rents.

0:29

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welfare victims there

0:34

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was quite a bit of evictions taking

0:38

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place where the bailiff or the sheriff whichever whatever

0:43

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the case may have been went into people's homes and

0:48

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to put their furniture out on the streets and

0:52

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there they would be homeless

0:59

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in great anxiety,

1:01

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in despair,

1:03

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and as good fortune would have it,

1:06

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they developed an organization called

1:10

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the Unemployed Council.

1:11

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And this Unemployed Council,

1:14

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dramatically speaking,

1:17

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were made up of people who were a bunch of Robin Hoods.

1:22

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And what they would do in an organized fashion is wait until

1:26

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the bailiff completed his job of putting out the furniture in the street.

1:30

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And the members of this organization

1:34

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then would take the furniture and put it right back in

1:38

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where it came from.

1:39

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And if there was a little padlock in the way or a good lock in the way,

1:43

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well, that was removed,

1:44

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you see.

1:45

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And then the people were placed back in naturally to the despair

1:49

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of the landlord.

1:51

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And sometimes this Robin Hood group was

1:55

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so militant and so forthright

2:00

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and brazen about it that they'd even put up a label,

2:04

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stick it up on the door or on the wall someplace,

2:06

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and say that this furniture was moved back by local,

2:11

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let's say,

2:12

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23 of the unemployed council.

2:15

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And now...

2:22

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And at the same time,

2:24

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the unemployed council,

2:25

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the members of them,

2:26

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did not only limit themselves to putting furniture back,

2:29

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but where people had their gas shut off and

2:33

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their electricity shut off because their bills weren't paid,

2:36

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they would come to the aid and assistance of the

2:40

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victim family.

2:41

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They would find

2:46

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among their members experts in the various fields of plumbing and

2:50

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electricity.

2:52

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And they apparently,

2:54

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now all of this I've learned from the prosecution.

2:56

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I myself didn't gather it myself,

2:58

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but I learned it in the evidence that came out in various trials.

3:02

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They would go to work and manipulate

3:06

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the meter of the gas and apply what

3:11

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they would call a jumper.

3:14

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And they would also manipulate the electrical wires

3:18

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in such a way that the electricity would

3:22

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still go on,

3:24

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you see.

3:25

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And this way,

3:27

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at least the family got some temporary relief.

3:29

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Now on some occasions,

3:32

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either by the action of the landlord or the action of the gas company

3:36

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through their attorneys,

3:37

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or the electrical company as the case may be,

3:41

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prosecutions were instituted.

3:43

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And they used to get arrested at relief stations.

3:46

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And they would

3:50

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get arrested on the streets.

3:52

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All kinds of,

3:54

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if you don't mind the expression,

3:57

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phony laws were used to prosecute people for distributing

4:01

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leaflets,

4:02

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bringing to the attention their grievances to

4:06

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public officials or,

4:08

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let's say, to the people of the community who support they were seeking for their grievances.

4:15

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I want to point out to you one case that I

4:19

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had handled that I thought was most

4:26

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dramatic.

4:26

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This was a case where

4:31

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the bailiff and his deputies came to move out

4:35

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a Negro family.

4:36

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I believe it was in about the 40 -hundred block on Wabash Avenue.

4:39

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And it seems that the landlord

4:43

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had...

4:44

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gotten to the point where he got what is known as a writ of restitution,

4:48

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which in lay language means a

4:52

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command of the court that the premises should be restored to the landlord.

4:56

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And of course,

4:58

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if that wasn't honored...

5:00

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In a certain space of time,

5:01

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then there would be a writ of execution to

5:06

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put these people out.

5:08

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It seems that on a certain day,

5:11

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a bailiff with his deputies rapped on the

5:15

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door and the family was a little bit on the alert because they were

5:19

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expecting to have some legal action taken against

5:23

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them, not having obeyed the court's order to get out in a certain number

5:27

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of days.

5:29

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And it seems that the head bailiff,

5:31

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when the

5:35

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people began to lock the door on him after they had opened it,

5:39

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shoved his foot in the door and yanked

5:43

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out his pistol to command attention and to also compel

5:50

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the people to open up the door so that he could carry through his process.

5:56

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A struggle developed between the bailiff and the lady of the house,

6:00

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and in the course of the struggle,

6:02

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because the lady was successful partially to

6:06

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manipulate the chain of her door catch,

6:08

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the plank that constitutes the outer edge of the door

6:12

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came off in the struggle.

6:14

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So the woman picks up the plank

6:18

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and,

6:20

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in the language of the street,

6:22

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socked him across the nose and across the wrist and forced him to drop his gun.

6:29

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And in the course of events,

6:31

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with the leader of the deputy staff being

6:36

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thus disabled,

6:38

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they abandoned their attempts to remove the people.

6:41

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But the bailiff carried this matter over to the state's attorney,

6:45

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and naturally,

6:46

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the warrants were issued for the rest of this lady and a male

6:50

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companion, or might have been her husband.

6:53

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I don't recall that.

6:54

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

Well,

6:55

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to make a long story short,

6:57

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the...

6:58

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trial took place,

6:59

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and my client,

7:01

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the lady, and her male companion sat with

7:06

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me at council table,

7:07

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and it was my practice in those days,

7:10

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trusting very few of the judges for justice,

7:12

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to always demand a jury trial.

7:15

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And I always felt that the greatest justice

7:19

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would be received before a jury.

7:20

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It was a long process,

7:22

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as against bench trials,

7:25

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where you stand up and give you a little ditty,

7:27

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and it's over in a matter of minutes.

7:31

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So both of my clients were

7:35

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deeply depressed over what they expected to be the logical

7:40

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outcome because it's common

7:44

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knowledge that when a police officer or somebody in such capacity

7:48

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is a victim of physical harm,

7:51

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then of course a job has to be done on them.

7:55

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Now to make a long story short,

7:58

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we tried the case.

8:00

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And my tactics was to exclude all the witnesses

8:04

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of the other side from sitting in on the trial.

8:07

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And there being a sufficient amount of testimony

8:12

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there to create confusion

8:16

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and the lying that went on,

8:19

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see, as to what took place.

8:21

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Apparently,

8:22

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the prosecution's witnesses were thoroughly discredited,

8:26

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and the jury came out and found my clients not guilty.

8:30

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

A footnote to the event just described and the nature of happy coincidence in

8:35

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

the capturing of voices of the Great Depression.

8:38

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There's drama involved suddenly,

8:41

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unintentionally on my part.

8:42

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The lady described by the attorney was none other than the woman whose voice

8:46

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you heard at the beginning of this program,

8:47

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Mrs. Willie Jeffries.

8:48

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

Well,

8:51

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this is one of the products,

8:53

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cases such as these that ran into the hundreds.

8:57

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And this staff of lawyers...

9:02

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just handled hundreds of such cases.

9:04

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Now,

9:10

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of course, we had cases that arose out

9:15

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of other violations.

9:16

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I recall that I defended a widow once who

9:20

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had about a nine -year -old son.

9:23

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The unemployed counsel went

9:29

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

to work and came

9:34

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into her home after her gas

9:38

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

was shut off.

9:40

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

and of course restored it.

9:41

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

The gas company,

9:45

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through their lawyers,

9:46

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got the state's attorney to issue a warrant

9:50

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against this woman and charged her with a

9:55

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statutory offense of making a connection.

10:00

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with intent to defraud.

10:03

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

Now,

10:06

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this matter came up before Judge Dunn,

10:09

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

who was then a newly elevated

10:14

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judge in municipal courts.

10:15

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And the strangest thing about this case is that

10:20

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my teacher at law school was

10:24

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

the attorney who represented the gas company.

10:27

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

Now,

10:31

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

we were selecting the jury

10:35

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

when suddenly...

10:41

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

when suddenly Dick Austin,

10:45

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

who is now on the federal bench,

10:47

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and who was at that time the assistant prosecutor

10:51

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

at 11th and State,

10:52

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rose and made an objection to a question

10:56

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

that I asked the jury.

10:57

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

I

11:01

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

pointed out to the jury that it would

11:05

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be necessary for the state in order to prevail

11:10

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

on their charge.

11:12

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that they would have to make proof that my client was the one who made the connection.

11:16

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The connection actually having been

11:20

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made by the unemployed counsel while she went out to the grocery store.

11:25

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

So presumably she knew nothing about it.

11:28

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

So as a result,

11:32

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

a legal argument ensued.

11:34

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

The judge called us back in chambers,

11:37

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

Judge Dunn did,

11:40

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and listened to our respective arguments.

11:42

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And when the arguments were over,

11:48

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

He announced that he will overrule

11:52

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the objection to question

11:56

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

the jury on this point.

11:57

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He says,

11:58

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that is the law.

11:59

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

In other words,

12:01

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

the stand that I took,

12:02

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that they would have to make that kind of proof.

12:04

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

And,

12:06

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

well,

12:08

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

as a result of that,

12:11

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

they,

12:13

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in my absence,

12:14

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called a woman up to the bar while I was in another court and

12:19

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persuaded her.

12:20

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

to take a little bit of a fine that she wouldn't have to pay.

12:24

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

And this was obviously to protect

12:30

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

the gas company from a possible lawsuit for false imprisonment

12:35

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

and false arrest.

12:35

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And so she took it because she

12:39

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

was very,

12:41

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

very worried about the outcome of the trial.

12:45

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She was a highly religious woman.

12:50

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

Except for what was done,

12:51

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

she probably was

12:56

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one with tremendously high morals.

12:58

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But she was apparently glad

13:04

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

to be the recipient of the work of the unemployed counsel and

13:09

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

was, of course,

13:09

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

ill at ease when she had to face a prosecution.

13:13

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

So...

13:15

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

This is another example where a

13:19

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

gas company is involved.

13:20

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

A third

13:24

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

type of arrest that used to take place was where

13:28

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

relief clients would sit at the relief stations

13:32

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

and have to sit and wait all day in distress.

13:37

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

So the stress could be babies that were left at home.

13:40

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

It could be meeting other obligations that they have

13:44

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

to be present.

13:46

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

Or it could simply be the long delay in the red tape that was

13:50

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

involved in getting somebody processed.

13:53

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

I had a woman who came down to the relief station to ask

13:57

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

for an increase in the supply of milk for her children.

14:00

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

She had a large number of children.

14:02

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

And on this occasion,

14:05

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

she became very impatient,

14:09

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

apparently,

14:10

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

and began to...

14:15

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

remonstrate,

14:16

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

you know, with the relief station

14:21

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

attendants and personnel.

14:23

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

As a result of it,

14:26

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

she was arrested.

14:28

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

But this time there

14:32

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

seemed to be a new development in relief administration

14:37

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

legal tactics.

14:38

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

At this time she was brought over to the psychopathic hospital.

14:43

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

Up to this time,

14:44

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

it was just straight out and out prosecution,

14:46

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

subjecting you to fine or imprisonment for whatever you did.

14:50

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

Well,

14:52

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

this is a new technique,

14:53

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

and this is a technique when the late Raymond Hilliard became

14:57

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

the head of the investigation department.

15:01

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

He was not then the director of relief,

15:04

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

as he later became.

15:05

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

And on that occasion...

15:11

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

The practice over at the psychiatric branch of the court is

15:16

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

a little different,

15:17

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

you understand.

15:17

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

There the judge and jury consists of a judge

15:21

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

and two psychiatrists.

15:24

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

That's the way it is today.

15:25

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

That's the way it is today.

15:26

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

Isn't it called the psychiatric court?

15:30

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

Yes,

15:31

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

psychiatric court.

15:32

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

Now,

15:33

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

on that occasion,

15:35

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

Hilliard,

15:37

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

who by that time...

15:40

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

was well known to me and I to him because

15:45

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

we had many cases before when he

15:50

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

was legal counsel for the administration.

15:53

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

So on this occasion,

15:56

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

having had a

16:00

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

sort of a little struggle with him in a previous case,

16:03

S… Speaker 1 (max audio)

he apparently took a very hostile attitude

16:07

S… Speaker 2 (max audio)

towards me.

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