(2) To give the general nature of the offenses in which the various accomplices were involved.
(3) To be prepared to assure Heney that Ruef’s evidence against his accomplices could be corroborated, and was sufficient to sustain a conviction.
Ruef at first appeared to be well satisfied with the plan. He sent for a list of San Francisco attorneys, and set himself enthusiastically to the work of selecting a list of the names of attorneys to be submitted to Heney. But he failed to make a selection, urging all the time to Burns that Heney accept Henry Ach. Ruef’s insistence that he deal with Ach convinced Heney that Ruef was not acting in good faith, and he refused to yield to Burns’s urging that he give way to Ruef in this particular and accept Ach as Ruef’s representative.[213]
Under Ruef’s temporizing, negotiations dragged until April 2, the day that, Ruef’s technical obstructions in the main set aside, his trial was to be resumed before Judge Dunne.
On that day, a new actor appeared in the person of Dr. Jacob Nieto, a Jewish Rabbi of some prominence in San Francisco.
Nieto, according to Burns’s statement to Heney, asked the detective if he had any objection to his (Nieto’s) calling upon Ruef. Nieto stated further that he believed that he could get Ruef to confess, and volunteered the theory that the “higher-ups” were endeavoring to make Ruef a scapegoat for all the boodling that had been committed.
Burns reported to Heney that he not only replied to Nieto that he had no objection to Nieto’s visiting Ruef, but would be glad to have the Rabbi endeavor to get Ruef to tell the truth.
When Burns told Heney of this conversation, Heney did not show himself so well pleased with the arrangements as Burns might have expected. The prosecutor took occasion to warn Burns against Nieto. Heney had already had unpleasant experience with Rabbi Nieto.[214] Nevertheless, Nieto visited Ruef. Members of Ruef’s family were called into consultation. Conferences were held between Ach, Ruef and Burns. Heney states in his affidavit that he did not attend these meetings. Finally Burns brought Heney word that Ach and Ruef wanted citations to show that the District Attorney had authority to grant immunity. Heney sent back word that he was confident that the District Attorney had no such power, but with the further statement that if the terms of the immunity agreement were reasonable and in the interest of justice, that the Court, provided it had confidence in the District Attorney, would unquestionably follow such recommendation as that official might make.
Burns brought back word to Heney that Ruef and Ach continued to insist upon complete immunity.
Heney sent back an ultimatum to the effect that Ruef must plead guilty to the extortion case then on trial before Judge Dunne[215] and take his chances with the sentence that would be given him; that if Ruef did this, Heney was willing to arrange for complete immunity in all the other cases, provided Ruef showed to Heney’s satisfaction that his testimony could be sufficiently corroborated and would sustain a conviction of his accomplices other than Supervisors, in cases where members of the Board of Supervisors had been bribed.