Hot Potato

Colonel James A. Kilian, former commandant of Lichfield's ill-famed loth Reinforcement Depot, squared his shoulders last week at the court-martial of one of his prison guards, glared at the assistant prosecutor, and rasped:

"Time after time I have had it hammered into my head by you that I will have to stand trial myself in this case. You have told me that the hot potato was being passed right into my lap."

"You are still of that opinion?"

"I am, but I also think some miracle might happen, which you can't prevent, which might result in my not being tried."

Then, after 55 days of hearings, often disorderly, in which 2,500,000 words of conflicting testimony had been heard, the case of Sergeant Judson H. Smith came to an end. Firelight from an open grate flickered on Smith's grey, lined face as the court president, Colonel Louis P. Leone, announced the verdict: guilty of making prisoners eat excessive amounts of food, of administering castor oil, of two charges of felonious assault and four charges of simple assault (i.e., beatings). The sentence: dishonorable discharge and three years at hard labor.

But Smith was only a symbol: the prosecution was after the system and the man it held responsible for the system--Kilian. A contempt of court charge against Kilian (TIME, Feb. 18) was already prepared. Others were reported to be in the making, one involving conspiracy. The imperious colonel had the hot potato, and had need of a miracle.

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