Groholski Liquor Case01

Waupaca Record Leader

May 7, 1925

EVIDENCE IS LEGAL

ATTORNEY GENERAL EKERN MAKES RULING TUESDAY

IN THE GROHOLSKI CASE

Unlawful Sale of Liquor by Inducing Sale From Bootleggers In Order to

Get Evidence Is Admissible in Court Against Defendant

Evidence obtained against a bootlegger by an officer who arranges for the purchase of liquor from the defendant is lawful, Attorney General Ekern ruled Tuesday in an opinion sent to Otto L. Olen, district attorney of Waupaca County.

Unlawful sale of liquor by inducing a detective to buy liquor from the bootlegger and the evidence of the detective is admissible against the defendant, the opinion held.

The district attorney cites a case in which a man went to a chief of police and told him he wished to produce evidence against a certain person for unlawful sale of liquor. The chief and the informant went to the sheriff and obtained $2 and a marked empty bottle. They next went to the defendant’s home and the informant bought a bottle of moonshine, giving the $2 in payment and receiving 50 cents in change.

The chief police remained in a shadow during the transaction after which he arrested the bootlegger, who was bound over to trial in circuit court. The opinion held that the man who accompanied the officer was acting as a detective.

The case the ruling was made in is the Ed Groholski case of Waupaca in regard as to the manner Chief of Police Ware made the seizure of evidence.