Attorneys Clash Over Alleged Unmasking of Defendant’s Wife as Former Woman of Demi Monde; White Slavery
After being out three hours and a half, the jury in the case of J. C. Traut, charged with violating the Mann white slave act by bringing Puss Hall, a prostitute, from Needles, Cal., to Kingman, Ariz., for immoral purposes, brought in a verdict of guilty yesterday afternoon at 6 o’clock.
Trout was only found guilty on the second count, which charged him with inducing her to come from Needles to Kingman, but not with transporting her, which was charged in the first count.
The jury returned once for instructions from Judge Sawtelle in regard to the use of the words “persuade,” “induce,” etc., in the indictment.
The case was featured by the hard legal fight made by Attorney B. E. Marks representing Traut ending in an eloquent plea before the jury yesterday morning. The feature in the work of the prosecution, represented by United States Attorney Flynn and his assistant, William J. Bryan, Jr., was the rushing of rebuttal witnesses from Winslow and Gallup Sunday and Monday to combat the testimony of Mrs. Traut that she had never been in Winslow as a resident of the restricted district and had never been a woman of the underworld.
People are also reading…
The opening address for the government was made by William J. Bryan, Jr., assistant United States attorney, who reviewed the evidence in the case from the standpoint of the prosecution.
Juror Hypothetical Victim.
Attorney B. E. Marks, representing the defense, then made his address to the jury on behalf of Traut. In an effort to show the far-reaching effects of the Mann white slave act and how it might affect innocent persons if applied in the present case. Mr. Marks selected a member of the jury to serve in a hypothetical case of meeting a strange woman in Kansas City and telling her what a fine town Tucson was and what a good town to come to it would be. Later, Mr. Marks continued, this woman would come to the city and become a prostitute in the restricted district, and find this juror no longer would notice her, might have him arrested for inducing her to come to Tucson.
He attacked the attitude of United States Attorney Flynn in uncovering the past of Mrs. Traut as a woman of the underworld after she had denied living in the restricted district in Winslow. He declared that Mr. Flynn should have considered the wish of the woman to reform before he introduced evidence attacking her character. In closing he declared that the only real evidence was the testimony of Puss Hall, and that this was unworthy of credence. He paid an eloquent tribute to Mrs. Traut’s devotion in standing by her husband to the “brink of the penitentiary.”
A Lucky Chance.
United States Attorney Flynn in the closing argument spoke briefly, paying special attention to the attack made by Mr. Marks in regard to the unmasking of Mrs. Traut. He declared that it was his sworn duty to see that witnesses did not mislead judge, jury and attorneys, and he states that it was the lucky chance of a two-day intermission that gave him the chance to bring witnesses to Tucson from Winslow to show that Mrs. Traut had lived in Winslow as “Jessie Brown” or “Virginia Lee,” in the restricted district. He referred to Mrs. Traut as an “alleged wife,” which brought forth an objection from Attorney Marks. Mr. Flynn stated that he would refuse to base his argument on a personal attack on Traut’s character. He stated that he thought less of Traut, not on account of his past life as a character among prostitutes, but because he had lied on the witness stand. He closed with a plea to the jury to rely in main on the story told by Puss Hall, which he said, had been shown to be a truthful story.
