MacPhee

On May 1, 1913, MacPhee was a police officer of the city and county of San Francisco. On that day an accusation was made against him before the police commission of that city for violating section 182 of the Penal Code of the state of California, in that he was charged with having joined other police officers in a conspiracy with a gang of confidence operators to protect the latter in their criminal activities. Certain specified charges of crimes committed in carrying out the conspiracy were embodied in the complaint filed against MacPhee, illustrative of which was one to the effect that one of the conspirators, named Frank Ross, had fleeced a victim of nine hundred dollars, and that the police officers who were members of the conspiracy blackmailed him of seven hundred dollars of this amount as hush money, and, incidentally, that in the original bargain made by the conspirators the police officers were to have but fifteen per cent of the results of the confidence operations.

MacPhee had a hearing on these charges, which progressed to the point where the evidence of the complainants was before the commission, when he suggested that the grand jury were considering the matter, and…