People v. McCann

• Decision Date: 07 December 1910
• Citation: 93 N.E. 100,247 Ill. 130
• Parties: PEOPLE v. McCANN.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

247 Ill. 130

93 N.E. 100

PEOPLE

v.McCANN.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct. 28, 1910.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 7, 1910.

Error to Criminal Court, Cook County; A. C. Barnes, judge.

Edward McCann was convicted of bribery, and he brings error. Affirmed.James Hamilton Lewis, Cornelius Lynde, and Wallace I. Streeter, for plaintiff in error.

W. H. Stead, Atty. Gen., and John E. W. Wayman, State's Atty. (Thomas Marshall, Frederic Burnham, and Clyde Smith, of counsel), for the People.

Edward McCann, plaintiff in error, inspector of police of the city of Chicago, was indicted by the grand jury of Cook county for the crime of bribery. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to an indeterminate term in the penitentiary, and has brought the case here by writ of error for review.

The first count of the indictment charges McCann was an executive officer, to wit, an inspector of police of the city of Chicago, an incorporated city, legally appointed, confirmed, qualigied, and sworn to discharge the duties of that office; that contriving and intending to violate and betray the powers and duties of his said office and the trust and confidence reposed in him, and contriving and intending the powers and duties of his said office to discharge and perform with partiality and favor and contrary to law, he then and there, with the intent aforesaid, unlawfully, knowingly, corruptly, and feloniously did accept and receive from Louis Frank $475 in money as a bribe and pecuniary reward offered and given by the said Louis Frank, and taken, accepted, and received by said Edward McCann with the intent and purpose to induce him, the said Edward McCann to permit, authorize, and allow certain keepers of certain houses of ill fame and places for the practice of prostitution, to wit, Harry Hoffman and several others named in the indictment, to keep, use, and occupy buildings and rooms for the purpose of and devoted to the practice of prostitution and lewdness and to the encouragement of idleness, gaming, drinking, fornication, and other misbehaviors in the corporate limits of said city of Chicago, and to induce and influence him, the said Edward McCann, not to arrest or cause to be arrested the keepers of said houses of ill fame and places for the practice of prostitution, and to keep and protect them from arrest and punishment and from municipal or police molestation or interference while engaged in keeping, using, and occupying buildings and rooms for the purpose of practicing prostitution and lewdness and the encouragement of idleness, gaming, drinking, and fornication.

The second count is in all respects like the first, except that it charges McCann was ‘an officer,’ instead of ‘an executive officer,’ as alleged in the first count.

The third count charges McCann was a member of the police force in and for the city of Chicago, to wit, an inspector of said police force, and that he unlawfully, feloniously, and corruptly, and contrary to his duty as such inspector and member of the police force, did receive and accept as a bribe from Louis Frank $475 lawful money to induce him, said McCann, as such inspector and member of the police force, to refrain from arresting and prosecuting numerous persons named in said indictment for a violation of the laws of the state of Illinois then before committed by them, to wit, the violation of said laws relating to keeping and maintaining houses of ill fame and places for the practice of prostitution; it being then and there the duty of said Edward McCann, as inspector and member of the police force aforesaid, to enforce said laws.

The fourth count is substantially the same as the third, except that it alleges Edward McCann, a member of the police force, accepted a bribe of $475 from Louis Frank for the purpose of inducing him, said McCann, to permit the same persons named in the other counts to continuously violate the laws of the state of Illinois relating to keeping houses of ill fame and places for the practice of prostitution.

The fifth count is as follows: ‘The grand jurors aforesaid, chosen, selected, and sworn in and for the county of Cook, in the state of Illinois, in the name and by the authority of the people of the state of Illinois, upon their oaths aforesaid do further present: That one Edward McCann, late of the county of Cook, on the 1st day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nine, in said county of Cook, in the state of Illinois aforesaid, was a member of the police force, and an inspector thereof, of the city of Chicago, an incorporated city there situate, the said Edward McCann being then and there duly appointed, qualified, and acting as such inspector and member of the police force of said city of Chicago. That the said Edward McCann theretofore was appointed as such member of the police force, as aforesaid, under and by virtue of the laws of the said state of Illinois and the ordinance of said city of Chicago relating to the appointment and qualification of members and inspectors of the police force, which said ordinance of said city of Chicago relating to the appointment and qualification of members and inspectors of the police force of said city of Chicago is in words and figures as follows, to wit:

“1731. Department established.-There is hereby established an executive department of the municipal government of the city which shall be known as the department of police, and shall embrace the general superintendent of police, an assistant general superintendent of police, a secretary of the department of police, a private secretary to said general superintendent, one inspector of police for each police division, one captain of police for each police district, and such number of lieutenants, detective sergeants, patrol sergeants, desk sergeants, patrelmen and other employees as may be provided by ordinance.

“1732. General superintendent-office created-appointment.-There is hereby created the office of general superintendent of police. He shall be appointed by the mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the city council.”

“1734. Management of department-appointment of members.-The general superintendent shall have the management and control of all matters relating to the department, its officers and members. He shall appoint, according to law, all officers and members of said department.'

‘Which said ordinance relating to the appointment and qualification of police officers were before then duly passed, adopted, and promulgated, according to law, as ordinances of said city of Chicago by the city council and mayor of said city of Chicago, and was then and there a part of the laws in force in the said city of Chicago. That said ordinance so passed, adopted, and promulgated also prescribed in and by another section thereof the duties of the police officers and inspectors of said city of Chicago, which said section thereof is in words and figures as follows, to wit:

“1760. Police duties-power of arrest.-The several members of the police force of the city of Chicago, when on duty, shall devote their time and attention to the discharge of the duties of their stations according to the laws and ordinances of the city and the rules and regulations of the department, to preserve order, peace and quiet and enforce the laws and ordinances throughout the city. They shall have power to arrest all persons in the city found in the act of violating any law or ordinance or aiding or abetting in any such violation, and shall arrest any person found under circumstances which would warrant a reasonable man in believing that such person had committed or is about to commit a crime.'

‘Which said section of said ordinance was then and there a part of the laws in force in said city of Chicago. That it was then and there the duty of said Edward McCann to enforce a certain ordinance of the city of Chicago relating to houses of ill fame and assignation, which said ordinance of said city of Chicago relating to houses of ill fame and assignation is in words and figures as follows, to wit:

“1456. No person shall keep or maintain a house of ill fame or assignation, or place for the practice of fornication or prostitution or lewdness, under a penalty of not to exceed $200 for every twenty-four hours such house or place shall be kept or maintained for such purpose.'

‘Which said ordinance relating to houses of ill fame and assignation was before then duly passed, adopted, and promulgated, according to law, as an ordinance of said city of Chicago by the city council and mayor of said city of Chicago and was then and there a part of the laws in force in said city of Chicago, and it was the duty of said Edward McCann then and there to arrest, complain against, summon, prosecute, and appear as a witness against the violators of said ordinance and law. That Harry Hoffman, Bertha Gordon, Sarah Gordon, Sam Cooperman, Louis Levine, Charles Yanker, Louis London, Mrs. Schwartz (whose first name is to the said jurors unknown), Max Yanker, Sam Arnstein, Max Plummer, Louis Sutta, Dutch Heitler, and one Weiss (whose first name is to the said jurors unknown), each then kept and maintained a certain house of ill fame and place for the practice of prostitution in said city of Chicago, county and state aforesaid, contrary to the statutes of the state of Illinois and the said ordinances of said city of Chicago, and thereby each of them became indebted to the said city of Chicago in a sum of money not to exceed $200, and each of them then and there rendered themselves liable, by reason thereof, to pay the fines provided by law in that regard; and said EdwardMcCann then and there contriving and intending the powers and duties of his said office and the trust and confidence thereby reposed in him to violate, prostitute, and betray, and contriving and intending then and there the powers and duties of his said office to discharge and perform contrary to law and with the intent and for the purpose of...