Harold Israel

[2] The Israel prosecution was praised in the Wickersham Commission report on law enforcement in the United States, which criticized police interrogation methods.[3][4] Israel, a vagrant and former serviceman, was charged with the murder of Father Hubert Dahme, a popular Catholic priest, at the intersection of High and Main Street in downtown Bridgeport on the evening of Feb. 4, 1924.[5] Israel met the general physical description of the gunman, was in the vicinity at the time of the shooting, and was in possession of a gun that the police believe had been used in the crime, a black .32 caliber revolver.[1] At arraignment on May 27, 1924, Cummings entered a declaration of nolle prosequi,[1] effectively dropping the case, and proceeded to discredit the evidence compiled by the Bridgeport police in a 90-minute presentation to the court.[6] Cummings rebutted the circumstantial case against Israel, who was serving a 90-day jail term for possession of the .32 caliber revolver,[5] and said that the confession was coerced from a person of diminished mental capacity.