Capone in Court

The State of Florida last week was acutely conscious of the presence of its most notorious resident, Alphonse ("Scarface") Capone of Chicago, No. 1 gangster of the U. S. Capone had gone to his Palm Island estate at Miami to "rest" (TIME, April 28). Instead, he spent most of his time running back and forth between State and Federal courts to keep himself from being ejected from his home and from Florida.

State's Attorney N. Vernon Hawthorne in Circuit Court sought an order to padlock the Capone estate on the ground that the place was "a public nuisance and a source of annoyance to the community as a harbor for all classes of criminals and desperate characters." Capone, with his wife, son, lawyers, bodyguards, entered a crowded courtroom to defend himself. Exclaimed Fritz Gordon, Capone attorney: "The whole thing is a political scheme hatched up by State's Attorney Hawthorne and James Cox, publisher of the Miami Daily News, in a campaign for Hawthorne's re-election."

Indicating Capone who looked fat, sleek, self-satisfied, State's Attorney Hawthorne told the court: "It's no crime to let a rattlesnake live but if you allow one to roam loose in your backyard where it may bite children, any court in the world will declare it a nuisance and authorize its abatement." Insisted Capone's counsel: "No matter how bad Capone may be, he has a perfect right to reside in this community as long as he is law-abiding." Judge Paul D. Barns took the padlock petition under advisement.

Next Capone heard the Dade County grand jury refer to him as follows: "We endorse, commend and urge all legitimate efforts to exterminate from this community . . . a cancerous growth. The efforts of State's Attorney Hawthorne toward what is nationally recognized as a menace, a public impostor and an enemy to organized government are of paramount importance. . . . We urge all law-abiding citizens to give their unstinted cooperation to the end that 'Scarface Al' Capone, his accomplices and their sinister influences shall not continue to be inflicted upon . . . Florida."

But if Florida was against him, the U. S. Government was still legally friendly to Capone. His lawyers had secured from Federal Judge Halsted L. Ritter at Miami a temporary injunction restraining Florida sheriffs from obeying the orders of Governor Doyle Carlton to toss Capone on sight out of the State. Last week Capone went into Federal Court, stood before Judge Ritter, denied he was operating any illegal business or that he was harboring criminals. Judge Ritter thereupon made permanent his injunction protecting Capone from State molestation, gave him some fatherly advice: "Inasmuch as the law's protecting arm is about you, you should appreciate your citizenship and aid officials in enforcing the law."

Frankie Newton, caretaker of the Capone estate, was fined $500 for possessing liquor there.

P: Capone, when not attending court last week, sat on the deck of his motor cruiser, clad in a dark blue bathrobe with light blue and white stripes and a pair of bedroom slippers, sucked at a big cigar, flicked a fishing line in and out of water. The Union Jack flapped about his feet. He also posed for photographers in his bathing suit.

P: In Chicago, Ralph Capone, brother of Alphonse, was convicted of defrauding the U. S. out of $300,000 income tax, faced a maximum sentence of 22 years in the penitentiary, a $40,000 fine.

P: The Chicago Crime Commission issued a list of 28 "public enemies who should be treated accordingly." No. 1 on the list: Alphonse ("Scarface Al") Capone, alias Al Brown.

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