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PACE EIGHTEEN• LONQ BEACH INDEPENDENTMoonshine in Flynn TrialPeggy’s Sister, Mother and Father(Continued rrom Pace 1)two very nice answers on the record which took much of the wind out of the states rebuttal attempts.Astronomer Takes Stand C. H. Cleminshaw. astronomer and acting director of the Griffith Park Observatory, was called to the stand by the state.Astronomer Cleminshaw lent an impressive air to the court as he took the stand. He had with him a celestial globe and he came fully prepared to give the proven data of science as to the position of Luna, or the moon, on the night the yacht Sirocco sailed for the mainland from Catalina Island.Of course, everyone knew that the moon must have been making its accustomed rounds in space with its customary perturbations on that significant night and perhaps the moon could tell a lot more about this thing than it admits but you can hardly subpoena the moon as it as long been a part of celestial ethics for the moon to keep particularly mum about what it might see as it goes poking through the sky.Where Was Moon?Where did the moon hang inERROL FLYNN is shown here looking over some trial notes as the sensational case involving him neared presentation to the jury which will decide his guilt or innocence.the sky on this night or nights? Did Peggy Satterlee see it through the porthole as she inferred when she testified that Flynn used the device of asking her to see the moon through this porthole in his cabin to lure her into an illicit rendezvous?Astronomer Cleminshaw didn't seem to care whether Peggy saw it or not. The only thing he knew and knew well was that on that night the moon hung in the sky at a certain place and it could be in no other place.MAt 10 p.m., August 23, the moon reached its highest point in the sky at 37 degrees or about one-third of the way to the zenith,** said star expert Clemin-shawr.Moon Was ThereThe defense had maintained: earlier that the moon was almost directly overhead and that Peggy couldn’t have seen it through the porthole. The state scenting that Cleminshaw would neatly dynamite this point, seemed to be particularly self-satisfied and Deputy District Attorneys J o h n j Hopkins and Tom Cohran rubbed J their hands and looked like they had eaten a dozen canaries. Their j satisfaction, however, was short lived as the imperturable Gieskr rose to the occasion and in a most technical exchange of star gazing lore pinned Cleminshaw down to this admission:That if the boat in question had been traveling north as the Sirocco was on that night the moon would have been directly astern in the Southern sky and in that event would not have been visible through the porthole.Then came the police chemist, Leland B. Jones, and with him came a door—a* chaste, ivory' white door; a door with a reputation; to be specific, none other than the door to the “Blue Bedroom” of Mr. McEvoy's palatial home.A Mute WitnessThis mute witness was Introduced into evidence and Policeman Jones was asked to tell what he had discovered about Ihis door and its mechanism. Although love laughs at locksmiths as everybody well knows, Jones was no ordinary locksmith but a scientific sleuth and the state perked up when he went on the stand. Gies-ler, however, looked as benign as an old Buddha and complacentlyAbove is Mickey June Norris, sister of Peggy Satterlee and Mrs. and Mr. Satterlee, mother and father of the minor girl who claims Flynn misconducted himself wtih her twice.Defense Workers—Your Credit Is GoodPoor sight tires you and impairs your work. For better, easier eyesight . . .SEE DR. J. M.v*ho h( unininn )ul«K NTwIrrn in* I hr hraltli-lM, it* I*. leg |ain«. rfcrwatalfe Mia«.r*Jt. ^ *TVT'r’ r'« op •••lire «i»klr». p»ilU imdrr c«,brate.hr. ard du,.r.r-—kUat |*» and IfTdigrr liaaWhr» rwrjMir tlw Mh, try !». N, »«|l« what ail* .«. we rad brlp jm. Ow (rim a ad unite art aarlt;(u.-illrd.2-DAT THOROUGHEXAMINATIONACHES AND PAINS ARE DANGER SIGNALSCONSULTATIONrubbed his vanishing hair as he* reclined at case while the state talked with Mr. Jones on the stand. It was this door that the state claims was locked while Flynn was allegedly in the bedroom with Betty Hansen. Three defense witnesses stated it couldn't be locked.Jones testified that when he removed the door as a trial ex-1 hibit last Wednesday, he made! a microscopic examination after! he found the lock wouldn't work, j His examination disclosed what he believed to be file marks as pictures of the look or as he called them — photomicrographs, showed scratches and that the shank was one-eighth inch too j short to connect with the catch | on the door jamb.Metal Fragments Furthermore, exploration of the! carpet beneath the lock showed, with the help of a spatula and a vacuum cleaner metal fragments similar to the metal of the lock.Giesler cross examined the wit-1 ness.Jones admitted that he couldn’t tell how the metal got where it was or if it had been filed off. Furl hermmore, when asked by Giesler if he knew’ when the lock r had been filed if ever, Jones couldn't state. Giesler then gent-' ly threw’ this at the witness:“And thw marks on the holt; do you think. Mr. Jones, that they might have been made by me? 1 was out at the house Monday night myself and spun that lock about 30 times.**“You might very well have made them,” Jones obliged.“And would you say, Mr. Jones, that there was tampering with this lock yesterday or last year or 10 years ago?”“I have no idea,” Jones answered.Again, Messrs. Hopkins and Cochran didn't look happy over! iheir witness’ testimony.Mickey June RackMickey June, Peggy's pretty! brunette sister, was recalled to! the stand as a rebuttal witness, j It was Buster Wiles, Errol's pal who asked her to see if she could! get a girl friend to go along on a trip to Balboa the following Sunday (the Sunday before the trip to Catalina Island.)She said that Wiles also asked her if she couldn't get her little sifter.that she was wearing her hair in pigtails again. It was Giesler’s way of cunningly calling the jury’s attention to the chameleon changes of costume of the Satterlee sisters in their various appearances in the court; one day as sophisticated young ladies ami the next as naive youngsters filled with dewy-eyed wonder at the so-puzziing world in which they lived.Oh, yes, there was another scientist on the stand and he was W. If. Douglas. U. S. weather observer. The state called him to substantiate its wind velocity testimony but Giesler punctured this too when the witness admitted that although the wind at San Pedro would be of low’ velocity, a mile out in the channel its force might be much greater. The state sought to show that Flynn was prevaricating when he said there was a stiff breeze blowing on the fateful day as the yacht sailed homeward. Loral yachtsmen aver a stiff breeze is customary in the channel.To Jury SoonAlthough there were no bets1 the case might get to the jury sometime in mid-week, possibly Tuesday, but more likely Wednesday or Thursday.Judge Leslie Still, of Long Beach, who is presiding over the case, has won the praise of counsel for both sides for the manner in which he has kept things flowing speedily in the cumbersome case. To the members of the working press Judge Still is a “sw’ell guy, who has preserved a happy medium of stern judicial dignity and good humored common sense.Big results, small cost,” Is the slogan of Independent classified ads. Phone your ad now ! 696-41. *RE-COVERED(Nominal Price*)FREE Estimate* in Your HornetMODERNIZE VOI R FI RM! It ITH nm tin lt;niPRs i ..I
Newspaper Details
Long Beach Independent
Long Beach, California, US
Sun, Jan 31, 1943
Page 19
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 28 Aug 2023
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