Because it was the Jewish Sabbath, during which orthodox Jews are not allowed to write, Morris Sevin, 52 years old, a retired lumber dealer and an orthodox Jew, upset a jury and the procedure in Judge Sullivan’s Criminal Court early Saturday morning.
Sevin was on a jury which was hearing the case of Charles Nowicki, who was on trial for committing robbery with a gun. At midnight Friday night the jurors agreed on a verdict of guilty. All the jurors signed the verdict except Sevin, who although in favor of the verdict of guilty refused to sign with a pen because orthodox Jews are forbidden to write on the Sabbath.
The judge was asked if the foreman of the jury could sign for Sevin, but nothing to help the situation was found in the law. The prisoner then agreed to a proxy signature if Sevin would say in open court that he had voted guilty.
After this matter was settled and the jury was dismissed, Sevin insisted that he stay in the court-room until Saturday evening because it is against the religion of orthodox Jews to ride on street cars on the Sabbath. The Judge then provided a room for him.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
