(1) Sacco and Vanzetti, as we have seen, were two of the four Italians who called for Boda’s car at Johnson’s garage, on the evening of May 5th. Following a prearranged plan, Mrs. Johnson went to a neighbor’s (Bartlett’s) house to telephone the police. She testified that the two defendants followed her back to the garage. Thereafter, the men, having been advised by Mr. Johnson not to run the car without the current year’s number plate, left without it.
Q. “Now, Boda came there to get his car, didn’t he?” A. “Yes, sir.” Q. “There were no 1920 number plates on it.” A. “No.” Q. “You advised him not to take the car and run it without 1920 plates, didn’t you?” A. “Yes.” Q. “And he accepted your view?” A. “He seemed to.” Q. “He seemed to. And after some conversation, went away?” A. “Yes.”
This was the whole of the testimony on the strength of which Judge Thayer put the following question to the jury:
“Did the defendants, in company with Orciani and Boda, leave the Johnson house because the automobile had no 1920 number plate on it, or because they were conscious of or becoming suspicious of what Mrs. Johnson did in the Bartlett house? If they left because they had no 1920 number plates on the automobile, then you may say there was no consciousness of guilt in consequence of the sudden departure; but if they left because they were consciously guilty[2] of what was being done by Mrs. Johnson in the Bartlett house, then you may say that it is evidence tending to prove consciousness of guilt on their part.”
(2) Following their departure from the Johnson House, Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested by policemen who boarded their street-car as it was coming into Brockton.
Three policemen testified as to their behavior after being taken into custody. The testimony of the police that Sacco and Vanzetti were about to draw pistols was emphatically denied by them.
(3) In statements made to the District Attorney and the chief of police, at the police station after their arrest, both Sacco and Vanzetti lied. By mis-statements they tried to conceal their movements on the day of their arrest, the friends they had been to see, the places they had visited. For instance, Vanzetti denied that he knew Boda.
The other evidence from which the “consciousness of guilt” was drawn Sacco and Vanzetti admitted. They acknowledged that they behaved in the way described by Mrs. Johnson, and freely stated that when questioned at the police station they told lies. What is the explanation of this conduct?
Plainly, their arrest meant to Sacco and Vanzetti arrest for radicalism, for when apprehended they were not confronted with the charge of murder. They were told they were arrested as “suspicious characters.” But why did that scare them into telling lies?
The early winter of 1919-20 saw the beginning of the infamous campaign by the Department of Justice, under Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, for the wholesale arrest and deportation of Reds. The details of these raids, their brutality and their lawlessness, are set forth authoritatively in decisions of the United States courts, condemning the misconduct of the Department of Justice.