There Go De Judge

The Miami Herald is not only Flor ida's largest newspaper (circ. 369,000) but a most outspoken crusader against crime and corruption. Three years ago, its chronic complaints about law en forcement in the Miami area were directed at Dade County State Attorney Richard Gerstein, the powerful and popular (if unsuccessful) prosecutor of Candy Mossier, ex-president of the Na tional District Attorneys' Association and much-decorated B-17 navigator. The Herald often wondered aloud why Ger stein kept turning up at race tracks, gam bling casinos in the Bahamas, and the Miami area's less savory bars.

Last month, at the height of Democrat Gerstein's campaign for reelection, the Herald finally found what it billed as evidence against him. His Re publican opponent, Shelby Highsmith, accused him of taking a $1,500 bribe eight years ago to drop bad-check charges against Howard C. Edwards, a former minister of the Christian Church, after Edwards had made the bad check good. As proof, Highsmith offered sworn statements from Edwards and an alleged contact man. Next day the Herald arranged to fly Edwards and his colleague to Chicago for lie-detector tests. Though Edwards' test was inconclusive, the Herald was convinced that the other man's story was true.

No Bribe Needed. The Herald's ri val, the Miami News (circ. 94,000), came to a different conclusion. The News' editorial staff has long sought a way out of the shadow of its larger competitor.

In a signed editorial title, "Here Come De Judge," News Editor William Baggs accused the Herald of "an arrogant in trusion into the due process of law." Later, the News front-paged the results of a Gerstein lie-detector test (he passed).

The case against Gerstein was shaky for more significant reasons. As one Miami lawyer explained: "Everybody knows that if you make restitution in a bad-check case your case will be dis missed on the first go-round. You wouldn't bribe anyone. It wouldn't be necessary." Moreover, the alleged ev idence against Gerstein also implicated three judges -- all former members of Gerstein's staff. But at first neither Highsmith nor the Herald publicized the additional charges. Gerstein's ex planation was that they were so preposterous that the whole case -- including the accusation against him -- would have collapsed. The Herald did eventually publish them, explaining that it could not do so earlier for fear of libel suits.

By now the doubts were fast mutiplying. The Herald belatedly turned the story over to its Pulitzer-orizewin-ning crime reporter, Gene Miller, who interviewed ex-minister Edwards and found him to be totally obscure ("I am a doctor and Gerstein is on the needle," said Edwards). The charges against Gerstein collapsed completely when Edwards, pleading heart disease, refused to come out of exile in Ontario and appear before the grand jury.

Had the Herald exceeded journalistic propriety? The grand jury seemed to think so. Two weeks ago, it not only indicted Edwards and his fellow accuser of perjury, but also rebuked the newspaper for taking it upon itself to put the witnesses under lie-detector examination. "Neither we nor other judicial tribunals," said the jurors, "believe that truth is made by an operator of a polygraph machine." A harsher rebuke came from Baggs in another News editorial: "The Herald assumed the robes of De Judge and, in effect, pointed a long and accusing inky finger at Mr. Gerstein. The grand jury believes that the Herald should stick to newspapering. We agree."

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