Mae West: Hung

It was early in April 1930 when the Los Angeles Evening Herald reported on the dispatches from Manhattan regarding MAE WEST.
• • DROPPING of CHARGES LOOMS as MAE WEST JURY SPLITS • •
• • New York, NY — — 4 April 1930
• • The indictment will probably be dismissed today against "Broadway" Mae West and 23 other defendants following the failure of a jury to agree on a verdict at the trial of the band of actors and actresses charged with giving an obscene play in Pleasure Man.
• • After 10 weary hours of deliberation, the jury reported it was impossible to reach an agreement. In dismissing the jury, Judge Amadeo Bertini commented upon the difficulties of moral regulation of the theater and suggested stage censorship.
• • "The difficulties of legal administration and oral regulation of the theater must be apparent," Judge Bertini told the jury. "The difficulty is inherent from the nature of the present system of presenting evidence. Words, gestures, and actions cannot be easily reproduced in court."
• • The 'hung' jury was reported to have stood divided: six for acquittal and six for conviction. It is expected that a promise will be requested from Miss West not to present the play again, and that the charges then will be quashed.
• • Best line from the "Pleasure Man" trial: "Not everyone on the NYC police force is a dancer."
• • Shortly after, Variety printed a headline: "Mae West Beats It!"
• • Not all was rosy, however, when Mae West was told she was acquitted and would not be going to jail. The enormous legal fees and fines had bankrupted Mae.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • April 1930 • •
NYC
Mae West.