This second episode recounts in great detail the interactions between jurors in the famous trial of Al Capone for income tax evasion.
CAPONE JURORS
NATE C. BROWN, 64, retired, Protestant, SL Charles.
BURR DUGAN, 54, farmer Catholic McClare.
T. HEINRICHS, 52, engineer. Protestant, Thornton.
GEORGE H. LARSEN, 41, breadmaker, Protestant, Thornton
A. G., 65, country store owner, Protestant. Prairie View.
W. F. McCORMICK, 58, receiving clerk. Catholic. Maywood.
M. E. MERCHANT, 30, real estate broker. Catholic, Waukegan.
ARTHUR O. PROCHNO 49, insurance, Protestant, Edison Park
C. SMART, 43, painter, Protestant, Libertyville.
JOHN A. WALTER, 54, abstracter. Protestant.,Yorkville.
LOUIS P. WEIDLING, 62, pointer. Protestant, Wilmington.
LOUIS T., 64, retired, Protestant, Chicago.
“We were taken to quarters in the Great Northern hotel. We had to stay in our rooms. There were three rooms for twelve men. Some of us had to sleep double. We readily saw that we were going to
Capone Jury
be more prisoner than the defendant in the case. We decided we might as get acquainted. We divided into groups which could be broadly and roughly defined as students, gossipers, and jokers. Among us, it developed, were a couple of men who had as jurors in the income tax case of Ralph Capone, Al’s brother, a year or two before. They had convicted him. I was told that these men wanted to get on Al Capone’s case to give him some of the same medicine.
Our guards were Deputies Frank Otto and Ladd Purcha. They telephoned our families that we would not be home. Next all our clothing was minutely examined. Pockets were turned Inside out. Cuffs of trousers were rolled down. Even sleeves were turned inside out. Correspondence was carefully censored. We were not allowed to talk over the phone to our families, even in the presence of a deputy. We were not allowed to see our wives.
Our newspapers were strictly censored. The deputies wielded scissors very expertly, cutting out headlines and stories pertaining to the Ca. pone trial. Once they slipped. We saw a five-line item about Philip D’Andrea, Capone’s bodyguard, who was arrested in court while carrying a gun. This little item was con. in a news column entirely unrelated to the Capone case. This 2 how the deputies missed it. When they learned about it they became greatly excited. I assured them, however, that only a few of LIs had seen the item. I destroyed it. Not only newspapers, but magazines also, were censored. Nor did the radio escape. We wanted to go in a body to either a Protestant or Catholic church. This was denied.
Capone with Defense and Prosecution
It wasn’t long before I clashed with the jury guards. I took notes of the testimony the first. morning. During the recess the guard ordered me to stop taking notes. He said it was not allowed. I told him to ask the judge. He said he could not do this. I pointed out that jurors ought to be permitted to take notes the same as lawyers and others who were more familiar with the trial of cases. I don’t know if the guard asked the judge, but, anyway, I was permitted to take notes. They proved helpful later on.
As the trial progressed I for one got the idea that the government lawyers were making a good case out of nothing and that they did not want Capone’s tax money, which he had offered in compromise, so much as they wanted him and the honor that went with a conviction. We all were impressed with the bearing and evident fairness of Judge Wilkerson and the conduct of the prosecution and defense lawyers. District Attorney George E. Q. Johnson, Dwight N. Green, Samuel Clawson, and Jacob I. Grossman for the prosecution. Michael Ahern and Albert Fink for the defense. We naturally studied Capone considerably and noted that he had a ready smile.
We were highly concerned with every bit of evidence, every exhibit, every witness. We were particular- ly interested in the grandiose things that we had read about Capone, some of which now were being un- folded to us .
CAPONE JURORS
NATE C. BROWN, 64, retired, Protestant, SL Charles.
BURR DUGAN, 54, farmer Catholic McClare.
T. HEINRICHS, 52, engineer. Protestant, Thornton.
GEORGE H. LARSEN, 41, breadmaker, Protestant, Thornton
A. G., 65, country store owner, Protestant. Prairie View.
W. F. McCORMICK, 58, receiving clerk. Catholic. Maywood.
M. E. MERCHANT, 30, real estate broker. Catholic, Waukegan.
ARTHUR O. PROCHNO 49, insurance, Protestant, Edison Park
C. SMART, 43, painter, Protestant, Libertyville.
JOHN A. WALTER, 54, abstracter. Protestant.,Yorkville.
LOUIS P. WEIDLING, 62, pointer. Protestant, Wilmington.
LOUIS T., 64, retired, Protestant, Chicago.
“We were taken to quarters in the Great Northern hotel. We had to stay in our rooms. There were three rooms for twelve men. Some of us had to sleep double. We readily saw that we were going to
Capone Jury
be more prisoner than the defendant in the case. We decided we might as get acquainted. We divided into groups which could be broadly and roughly defined as students, gossipers, and jokers. Among us, it developed, were a couple of men who had as jurors in the income tax case of Ralph Capone, Al’s brother, a year or two before. They had convicted him. I was told that these men wanted to get on Al Capone’s case to give him some of the same medicine.
Our guards were Deputies Frank Otto and Ladd Purcha. They telephoned our families that we would not be home. Next all our clothing was minutely examined. Pockets were turned Inside out. Cuffs of trousers were rolled down. Even sleeves were turned inside out. Correspondence was carefully censored. We were not allowed to talk over the phone to our families, even in the presence of a deputy. We were not allowed to see our wives.
Our newspapers were strictly censored. The deputies wielded scissors very expertly, cutting out headlines and stories pertaining to the Ca. pone trial. Once they slipped. We saw a five-line item about Philip D’Andrea, Capone’s bodyguard, who was arrested in court while carrying a gun. This little item was con. in a news column entirely unrelated to the Capone case. This 2 how the deputies missed it. When they learned about it they became greatly excited. I assured them, however, that only a few of LIs had seen the item. I destroyed it. Not only newspapers, but magazines also, were censored. Nor did the radio escape. We wanted to go in a body to either a Protestant or Catholic church. This was denied.
Capone with Defense and Prosecution
It wasn’t long before I clashed with the jury guards. I took notes of the testimony the first. morning. During the recess the guard ordered me to stop taking notes. He said it was not allowed. I told him to ask the judge. He said he could not do this. I pointed out that jurors ought to be permitted to take notes the same as lawyers and others who were more familiar with the trial of cases. I don’t know if the guard asked the judge, but, anyway, I was permitted to take notes. They proved helpful later on.
As the trial progressed I for one got the idea that the government lawyers were making a good case out of nothing and that they did not want Capone’s tax money, which he had offered in compromise, so much as they wanted him and the honor that went with a conviction. We all were impressed with the bearing and evident fairness of Judge Wilkerson and the conduct of the prosecution and defense lawyers. District Attorney George E. Q. Johnson, Dwight N. Green, Samuel Clawson, and Jacob I. Grossman for the prosecution. Michael Ahern and Albert Fink for the defense. We naturally studied Capone considerably and noted that he had a ready smile.
We were highly concerned with every bit of evidence, every exhibit, every witness. We were particular- ly interested in the grandiose things that we had read about Capone, some of which now were being un- folded to us .
Activity