Missouri vs. Oscar Rowe: Opinion

Court Opinion by Commissioner Walter N. Davis for Criminal Case No. 30129: State of Missouri vs. Oscar Rowe, Appellant. Kansas City Republican Precinct Captain Oscar Rowe was found guilty of giving corn whiskey to Arch Duncan as part of a larger scheme to deprive Democratic voters from voting in the November 6, 1928 presidential election. Rowe operated an establishment at 602 Main Street, Kansas City, MO that was licensed as a soft drink parlor and cigar store, but was in fact an establishment of gambling, prostitution, and illegal liquor consumption. The evidence shows that in collaboration with the Republican run Kansas City Police Department, Rowe and his associates "would lift the heads of the drunken men in the basement and pour whiskey down their throats. Some two hundred men were in the basement in all stages of intoxication. Some were pitifully drunk and lying on the floor. The valuables of those lured into the place were taken and retained. Around 2 o’clock A. M. on November 6, 1928, the police wagons arrived. The wagons were used to convey the drunken men found in the basement to the holdover. No charges were preferred against them." The court finds that the appellant's motion for a new trial is without merit and that Rowe's verdict of five years in a penitentiary is affirmed.