Steel Notes Magazine September 2016 | Page 38

Steel Notes Magazine July & August 2016 so often of prejudicing the jury. On June 28, 1974, a Los Angeles Grand Jury indicted Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and defense lawyer Daye Shin on three counts each of perjury. The LA Grand Jury indicted Vincent Bugliosi and another lawyer Daye Shin for perjury. They had been twice ordered to testify by LA Superior Court Judge Charles H. Older whether they had been the source for an October 9th, 1970 Herald Examiner news story by reporter Bill Farr which contained non-public information concerning the Manson - Tate murders that could taint and prejudice the perspective jury pool. Bugliosi and Shin were each charged with 3 counts of perjury for twice lying to Judge Older and once for lying to the Grand Jury. Of course as part of the plan ALL charges against both Bugliosi and Shin were dropped and Farr served a total of 46 days in jail. A little background on Bill Farr. His prolonged ordeal began in 1970, when he was a reporter for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner assigned to the Charles Manson murder trial. Despite a gag order imposed by the judge on attorneys, witnesses and court personnel, Farr obtained and published a prospective witness’s account of purported plans by the Manson Family to murder such famed show business personalities as Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor. Farr refused to tell Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles H. Older where he had obtained the information, relying on a California “shield” law he believed protected reporters from being forced to name sources. But when Farr temporarily stepped from behind that shield to become press spokesman for then District Attorney Joseph Busch, Older ordered him to divulge his sources. When Farr refused, Older cited him for contempt of court. Farr returned to journalism, going to work for The Times in 1972, but it was too late to protect him from the order. Older ordered him jailed until he gave up the names. Farr was to concede later that he had erred in letting the judge know the sources were two attorneys, who are officers of the court. Vincent Bugliosi made a whole career out of the Charles Manson trial. As late as 2009, he still bragged about it. Bugliosi told the Observer newspaper in 2009, “The Manson murders sounded the death knell for hippies and all they symbolically represented… They closed an era. The 60s, the decade of love, ended on that night, on 9 August 1969.” I’ve included below a small timeline of 1969, just so you may see how crazy a year it was and in hindsight, perhaps you will have the foresight to also see that the CIA and FBI had much to do with the events that took place; Timeline of 1969 • • • • • • • • • • 38 Mar 20 - John & Yoko fly to Gibraltar, get married then fly to Amsterdam for one week “lie-in” for peace Mar 20 - James Earl Ray sentenced to 99 years for murder of Martin Luther King Jr. Apr - 543,000 US troops now in Vietnam Apr 4 - Smothers Brothers tv show canceled because it is too controversial Apr 9 - 300 Harvard students led by SDS seize University Hall and evict eight deans Apr 10 - Police called into Harvard, 37 injured, 200 arrested Apr 11 - Start of 3-day student strike at Harvard Apr 22 - Harvard faculty votes to create black studies program & give students vote in selection of its faculty Apr 22 - City College of NY closed after black & Puerto Rican students lock selves inside asking higher minority enrollment Steel Notes Magazine www.steelnotesmagazine.com