Me for You

When Jacqueline Nash, 24, pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered handgun in East Cleveland, Judge James De Vinne was ready to sentence her to three days in jail. Suddenly her fiance approached the bench. He was to blame, said Roderick Hinson. They had quarreled, and it was his pistol that she had been brandishing in the street. Well, said the judge, would Hinson be willing to serve the sentence for her? Yes, said Hinson, and after kissing and making up with Miss Nash, he went cheerfully off to jail.

"An unfortunate precedent," tuttutted a Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial. Judge De Vinne admitted that he did not know whether such a ruling had ever been made before. But, he said, "I felt it was a good decision. It put blame where it belonged."

Hinson's fellow prisoners were in credulous about his chivalry, and the electric company fired him for not showing up on the job during the three days he was in jail. Hinson still thinks that he did the right thing. "Jail is no place for a lady," he declared last week. Besides, the experience did have its benefits. Said Jacqueline Nash: "I think I'm more considerate and patient now." Added Hinson with a smile: "Since then, she's been like peaches and cream."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.