CRIMINAL LAWYERS.

Evening Star, Volume 11221, Issue 11221, 21 April 1900, Page 2

CRIMINAL LAWYERS.

, TRICKS THAT ARE SOMETIMES RESORTED TO. The typical criminal’s faith in a “mouthpiece ” (thepofesstonal term for a solicitor) is most touching. He would (says a writer in ‘ Cassell’s Saturday Journal hone cession engage one, even if he*ltf|brfs ing guilty. Only a Jew months ago a: woman, Urged on by her-husband, who had “fallen,” • and was 'awaiting trial, spent 'three or four:days in collecting money for the purpose-of defending him. Yet the oase against the.-man . wasvas clear as daylight; he hod resolved tovl'pwn.up,” and all that he could hope for wag that a “ mouthpiece”* might be the means.of obtaining him a comparatively light sentence. But irthe criminal trusts the limb of the law it is not because ; that,-gentleman-is always, a model of probity |apd professional ceotitude. Frequently .ho is just the reverse,- and must laugh up his sleeve at his client’s gullibility. . Very often he has a number of touts, who, by virtue of their position, bring him in a lot of business. The writer knows a police court where a constable,-.with a fine show of sympathy, advises nearly every “ remand ” to engage So-and-so (a well known legal leech) to defend him, and even offers to tell that gentleman- that the unhappy prisoner requires his aid. Kindness brings its own reward. In this case it brings a commission also. It has happened, too, in -this very court that a lawyer has, in order to get some sort of a fooling in it, handed over to a constable; the whole of the fees for the first few cases he has obtained for him.

Similar touting is carried on even in prisons. An acquaintance of the writer’s was ‘recently commited for trial at the assizes. No sooner had he entered tho local bastille than a warder counselled him to “ have Jawkins,” who would “ get him off to a dead cert.” The prisoner knew only one man in the city who might advancehitn any money, all his friends and acquaintances being at a distance, and he could not communicate with him owing to his inability to write. In the end the “friendly” warder himself entered into correspondence with the man’s relations, who sent'him not only money to brief the “ mouthpiece ” whom he so strongly recommended, but a few shillings in addition for his “ kindness.” So Jawkins was engaged, and for once he realised his interested eulogiset’s prediction, for he secured a verdict of not guilty. Sometimes cases are taken up for advertisement and for indirect emoluments. An “interesting” murderer, for instance, can always obtain legal assistance, however poor he and his connections may be. A solicitor will champion his cause if only for the sake of obtaining publicity. ' Should the man make a confession, and particularly a sensational confession, the advocate stands a chance of netting a respectable sum. He can hawk it round the newspapers, and sell it to the highest bidder. More than once £2O has been paid for such a document even in the provinces, while in London still larger sums have been given for so sensational and exclusive an item of news.

If some “ mouthpieces ” defend criminals for nothing or next to nothing, others are disgraceful extortionists. Some of ’ these gentry l —men whp, although they have made a reputation, are merely police court attorneys—require heavy fees for their services. One, whose only clients are members of the predatory fraternity, will not take up a case for less than five guineas’, even when he knows that the honorarium has to be scraped together by means of collections, pledging goods, disposing of furniture, etc. What is more, he often takes a fee and does nothing in return for it. Sometimes he is retained to appear at a certain court the following morning, and is paid beforehand. ’Ho accepts tne money, and knows at the same tuna that he cannot fulfil the engagement, as he has to be’ at another court at the same hour. • ’’ ; •

But in this’respect ho sins in plenty of company. There are many, fee snatchers whose .praClicfe Ties among .criminals. . Jk solicitor notorious for this forth of robbery, when tackled oh tine occasion by a man whom hehad wronged, Coolly offered to return half the money he had ’received in respect of his defence.'. “ AH' hr none,” rejoined the thief. ‘‘Very well, thep—none,” calmly rejoined theTayvyer. The two men then separated. Night after night' subsequently, the, aggrieved criminal who had been careful not lb"bWany threats—dogged the solidiot’a footsteps: as he wended his erratic way from his club or the theatre to. the railway’.’station..,. But for’nearly a fortnight nothing Of any consequence happened. .-C vc'btailly, however, the “mouthpiece” i cached home minus his watch aud ehain, his diamond pin, and all the loose cash ho had had ,6u-starting,from hia club. When he discovcied hia Ipsa he could not have suspected who ''had' robbed iiimV' At all events he gave’ the’ police ho clue in informing them cf liio circa ust ihcs. Nor did they find the right one themselves. The criminal not only tn.singed, as he said, “ to get back’his own,” but lie also kept it.