The Trial of City Treasurer Adolph Krug
A Seattle judge rejects the defense's motion to dismiss embezzlement charges, invoking the history of the law against modern corporate corruption.
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Adolph Krug will not offer a scrap of testimony to controvert the charges brought against him by the state of using city money for the purpose of making a profit. At the conclusion of the argument, the defense announced that they would let the case go to the jury upon the testimony of the prosecution. Judge Moore denied the defense's motion for a peremptory instruction, arguing that the city charter defined the treasurer's duties and that transferring public funds for profit violated those laws. The judge delivered a lengthy opinion on the evolution of law, noting that while English 'fictions and refinements' were once invented to protect subjects from the 'bloody code' of death-penalty statutes, such legal maneuvering had outlived its usefulness in a modern society where corruption could bankrupt public institutions. He expressed his regret that his duty to enforce the law prevented him from ruling in favor of the defense's brilliant counsel.
“The fictions and refinements of the criminal law have outlived their usefulness... Our courts have been reproached that they can only enforce the criminal laws against the moneyless, the friendless and the forlorn.”
This 1894 case highlights a recurring tension in Seattle politics: the clash between established legal fictions that protect the powerful and the public's demand for accountability in city treasury management. Judge Moore’s plea to move past 'technicalities' to address the substance of financial corruption remains a central theme in debates over corporate and public sector accountability today.
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