Category Archives: #courts

New Chief Shakes Up Police Department

Posted on February 24, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Feb. 24, 1910: This was one of those days when it was impossible to pick  one story over the others. New Police Chief Alexander Galloway orders a cleanup of the notoriously filthy City Jail … officials report a new … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Feb. 23, 1960

Posted on February 23, 2010 by lmharnisch

    Democracy Guards Everyone's Rights       A few days before Gov. Brown's reprieve of Caryl Chessman, the Mexico City newspaper Novedades carried the front-page headline:         Puede Salvar La Vida de Chessman     Un Testigo Deseubierta por … Continue reading →

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Times Calls for Chessman’s Execution

Posted on February 23, 2010 by lmharnisch

  The Times calls the gas chamber “a sanitary disposal mechanism that a civilized society is constrained to set up to shield itself from the contamination of criminal psychopaths.”   Feb. 23, 1960: The Times runs letters in response to … Continue reading →

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Youth Kills Family Friend in Struggle for Gun

Posted on February 23, 2010 by lmharnisch

    S. Levy, the operator of a theater at  414 E. 1st St., says he was fined over a sign he placed on the sidewalk after complaining about the amount of time Officer Gamash was spending with his cashier. … Continue reading →

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Chessman Won’t Escape Gas Chamber, Prosecutor Says

Posted on February 22, 2010 by lmharnisch

    Feb. 22, 1960: Atty. Gen. Stanley Mosk (d. 2001), a future state Supreme Court justice who personally opposed the death penalty,  predicts that Caryl Chessman will be executed at the end of his 60-day reprieve.

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14 Illegal Immigrants Seized in Railway Car

Posted on February 22, 2010 by lmharnisch

   Feb. 22, 1910: Thomas A. Montez is accused of helping smuggle 14 Chinese men who were found in a boxcar loaded with staves. The cost of being smuggled into the U.S. is about $250 [$5,707.53 USD 2008] each, The … Continue reading →

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Legislators Debate Chessman and Death Penalty

Posted on February 21, 2010 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times file photo Feb. 21, 1960: Caryl Chessman, center, after receiving a stay of execution, with attorneys George T. Davis and Rosalie Asher. Feb. 21, 1960: A 60-day stay of execution for Caryl Chessman so the Legislature can … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Feb. 20, 1960

Posted on February 20, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Legal Revenge Not Dead Yet     I read Gov. Brown's reasons for giving Caryl Chessman a 60-day reprieve yesterday, but I'm not sure that I believe them.     He indicated that he felt  the climate in California had changed … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Feb. 19, 1960

Posted on February 19, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Mash Notes and Comment       (Press Release) "More and more cities are using police dogs — for police duty, natch.       "Pittsburgh, Houston, St. Louis and Minneapolis are among the cities which have found that a good, … Continue reading →

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Governor Halts Chessman Execution

Posted on February 19, 2010 by lmharnisch

   Caryl Chessman is prepared for the gas chamber, but gets a last-minute reprieve – for now.  Vice President Richard Nixon visits the winter Olympics at Squaw Valley. An experiment in composting, “one of the disposal systems of the future.” … Continue reading →

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‘Borax King’s’ Divorce Goes to Judge

Posted on February 19, 2010 by lmharnisch

  "Wonder What the Girl on the Magazine Cover Thinks About?" by Clare Briggs.   Feb. 19, 1920: The Times summarizes the main points in the divorce trial of Thomas Thorkildsen, the “Borax King,” as the case goes to the … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Feb. 18, 1960

Posted on February 18, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Juveniles Are Not All So Delinquent       It's the code of kid gangland that one bad turn deserves another.     If a member of one gang is caught out of his territory and worked over, the guys who … Continue reading →

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Illinois Sheriff Battles Lynch Mob

Posted on February 18, 2010 by lmharnisch

Feb. 18, 1910: Drunk driving isn’t illegal – yet! Feb. 18, 1910: Another racial incident erupts in Cairo, Ill., where a mob lynched two men, one African American and the other white, in November 1909. A purse-snatching set off the … Continue reading →

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Defense Nears Close in Finch Case

Posted on February 17, 2010 by lmharnisch

Photograph by John Malmin / Los Angeles Times Feb. 16, 1960: Carole Tregoff on the witness stand.   Feb. 17, 1960: Former President Truman predicts that the eventual Democratic nominee will “beat the hell out of Dick Nixon” and African … Continue reading →

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Crackdown on Gambling in Chinatown

Posted on February 17, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Feb. 17, 1910: The legal fight escalates between police and business owners over gambling in Chinatown. Note the reference to Sgt. Charles Sebastian, who became police chief in 1911 and mayor in 1915.

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Feb. 16, 1960

Posted on February 16, 2010 by lmharnisch

Ku Klux Klan Jerks Goofing as Per Usual     This, liberally interpreted, is a progress report.     It concerns the eerie persistence of Hooded Sign Painters Local No. 950, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Charleston, South Carolina.     A … Continue reading →

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Tregoff Sobs on Witness Stand

Posted on February 16, 2010 by lmharnisch

 Photograph by John Malmin / Los Angeles Times Attorney Donald Bringgold and Carole Tregoff during a recess in the Finch trial. “Thousands of Dog Teeth!” Unfortunately, the continuation of this story wasn’t microfilmed, so this is all we have. Feb. … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Feb. 15, 1960

Posted on February 15, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Jack Paar Did Right for Wrong Reason     Never one to make snap judgments, I have permitted myself an entire weekend in which to mull over the strange case of Jack Paar.     When, right in between a couple … Continue reading →

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Young Republicans Call Nixon ‘Next President’

Posted on February 14, 2010 by lmharnisch

      Feb. 14, 1960: NBC apologizes to Jack Paar and the Finch trial is taking a toll on prosecution and defense. Carole Tregoff defense lawyer Rexford Eagan says: "We've lived with this case from the very beginning. We … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Feb. 13, 1960

Posted on February 13, 2010 by lmharnisch

Mash Notes and Comment     "Dear Mr. Coates:     "I would like a little information concerning one of your television programs.      "Did you, or didn't you, interview Senator Kennedy some time ago and did he say that he wore … Continue reading →

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