Chronicle Reports Not Guilty Verdict in Trial
Dublin Core
Title
Chronicle Reports Not Guilty Verdict in Trial
Description
San Francisco Chronicle, February 12, 1965, page 3.
Source
Repository: San Francisco Public Library
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Homosexual Dance
Trial Halted on Technicality
Municipal Judge Leo Friedman directed a jury of eight men and four women yesterday to return a not guilty verdict against three lawyers and a woman ticket taker, charged with blocking the entry of police at a homosexual ball New Year's eve.
Complaining officers sat with mouths agape as Judge Friedman halted the trial at conclusion of the State's case and snapped: "It's useless to waste everybody's time following this to its finale."
The judge ordered the not guilty verdict, he said later, because police had claimed they were halted when they sought to enter California Hall, scene of the function.
"You can't charge people with one thing and prove another," Judge Friedman said.
"All the officers—and there were 15 of them—entered the hall without anyone's trying to stop them."
The interference came later, when police sought to enter the ballroom where the party was under way, but this was not charged in the complaint.
Judge Friedman said police had a legal right to inspect the hall for proper permits for the hall, but interference with their function in this regard was not charged, either.
The technical victory for Attorneys Herbert Donaldson, 37, Evander Smith, 42, and Eliot Leighton, 34, and for ticket taker Nancy May, 28, was won by Marshall Krause of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The New Year's function was sponsored by the Council for Religion and the Homosexual.
Trial Halted on Technicality
Municipal Judge Leo Friedman directed a jury of eight men and four women yesterday to return a not guilty verdict against three lawyers and a woman ticket taker, charged with blocking the entry of police at a homosexual ball New Year's eve.
Complaining officers sat with mouths agape as Judge Friedman halted the trial at conclusion of the State's case and snapped: "It's useless to waste everybody's time following this to its finale."
The judge ordered the not guilty verdict, he said later, because police had claimed they were halted when they sought to enter California Hall, scene of the function.
"You can't charge people with one thing and prove another," Judge Friedman said.
"All the officers—and there were 15 of them—entered the hall without anyone's trying to stop them."
The interference came later, when police sought to enter the ballroom where the party was under way, but this was not charged in the complaint.
Judge Friedman said police had a legal right to inspect the hall for proper permits for the hall, but interference with their function in this regard was not charged, either.
The technical victory for Attorneys Herbert Donaldson, 37, Evander Smith, 42, and Eliot Leighton, 34, and for ticket taker Nancy May, 28, was won by Marshall Krause of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The New Year's function was sponsored by the Council for Religion and the Homosexual.
Citation
“Chronicle Reports Not Guilty Verdict in Trial”, The Council on Religion and the Homosexual, LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, accessed December 23, 2024, https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/exhibits/show/crh/item/1792.