“But I wish to be heard on behalf of my client,” persisted Shortridge.
“Take your seat, Mr. Shortridge, or I will order the Sheriff to cause you to do so or remove you from the court room,” declared Judge Dunne.
“Am I to understand that I am not to be heard in this court?” demanded Shortridge with play of great indignation.
“Mr. Shortridge, your conduct is boisterous and offensive and tends to interfere with the orderly conduct of the court. I declare you guilty of contempt and sentence you to be confined in the County Jail for twenty-four hours. Mr. Sheriff, take him into custody.”
The two principal points on which the defense based their applications for writs of habeas corpus and of prohibition were:
(1) That Juror Wise, having sat on a petty jury within a year, was disqualified to act as a Grand Juror, and hence the indictments were fatally defective.
(2) That the matter was before the Supreme Court of the United States on a writ of error.
Heney, in his affidavit in contention that an Elisor should be appointed to bring Ruef into court, indicated the conditions which were handicapping the prosecution.