100 years ago in Spokane: A fed-up judge laid down the law for bickering attorneys in the Maurice Codd perjury trial, yet again

For the third time, an increasingly exasperated Judge W.D. Askren sent the jurors out of the courtroom in the Maurice Codd subornation of perjury trial so that he could lecture the attorneys.

His lecture was prompted by a number of personal, carping comments by the attorneys in open court. One defense lawyer told the prosecutor that he “wished you knew what people on the street were saying about you.” The prosecutor retorted that he wished the defense attorney knew what people were saying about him. When the people in the gallery laughed at this remark, the defense attorney replied, “That’s some of your packed courtroom. No wonder you didn’t want to go to a large courtroom.”

“This sort of thing positively must cease,” the judge said. “… The trouble all along has come from the side of the defense than from the state. Whenever Mr. Fulton (the prosecutor) says anything, two or three of you jump up. He can’t sit mute. I’m not excusing his conduct, but this trial has not been a one-sided affair. Mr. Fulton has said many things that ought not to have been said. I have allowed latitude the last two days because the remarks were good-natured and said with a smile.”

The judge warned them against any further such comments. When the judge finished his lecture, lawyers on both sides apologized and said they would conduct themselves “in a more seemly manner.” When one of the defense attorneys said he would break in “with only an occasional remark,” the courtroom crowd burst into laughter – and the judge joined in.

From the weather beat: Spokane was digging out from under 23 inches of snow that had fallen so far in December, nearly breaking the record to that point.

City streets were a “pasty mess that rose to the axles of many automobiles.” Stage (bus) routes to Coeur d’Alene, Latah and Davenport were shut down.