The
Government has sought by inference, by presentation and by
circumstantial evidence to prove this defendant guilty.
It has
sought to free itself from the law, to convict merely
because his name is Alphonse Capone.
Why does it
seek to convict him on such meager evidence? Because
Capone has grown into a mythical Robin Hood, whose name is bandied all
over the
nation.
In Rome
during the Punic Wars there lived a Sergeant named Cato. Cato passed
upon the
morals of the peasants and he decided what they should eat, what they
should
drink and what they should think.
Carthage fell
twice, but Carthage
grew again and was once more powerful. Cato
concluded every speech he read in the Senate
building by
thundering, "Carthage
must be destroyed.
These
censors of ours, these prosecutors, the newspapers all
cry, "Capone must be destroyed!"
The
evidence in this case shows only one thing against Capone -
that he was a spendthrift. The Government, is guilty of profligacy by
bringing
these witnesses here to recite their inferences.
It is
spending thousands of dollars for that purpose, and in
these depressed times this money could be better spent on soup kitchens.
A witness
came from Florida to
tell of a conversation he had with Capone wherein Capone said he began
work as
a bartender at Coney Island.
This was
done so that it might prejudice you gentlemen, but
Grossman said, when we objected, that he sought to show the "humble
beginnings" of the defendant.
Actually he
wished to show that Capone had not inherited money.
If you
convict on this sort of evidence, every spendthrift in
the country should be imprisoned....
Be
careful of taking liberty from
this defendant, Alphonse Capone. You, gentlemen, are the last barrier
between
the defendant and the encroachment and perversion of the government and
the law
in this case....
By the same token, when the
United States Government reaches to all parts of the country for
witnesses,
spending large sums in this manner, the government is guilty of acts of
profligacy.
Far better for the government in these hard times to spend this money
for soup
kitchens!
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