26-06-2013, 12:33 AM
That WFAA trial had actors in it. They had actors for Marina, Wesley Frazier, and Gayle Newman.
The defense lawyer was a heck of a lot better than Spence. He went right after Wesley Frazier.
There were two rulings before the WFAA trial that were interesting. First, Marina was allowed to testify, which would not have happened at a real trial back then. That hurt the defense. But the prosecution made the right call in not allowing the Tippit case to be dragged in. That was important and correct.
See, in 1986, Bugliosi was, for whatever reason, allowed to bring in the Tippit case to court. Spence did not even object to it! And the judge, who slept through most of the proceedings, did not say one word.
But here is the capper: Spence did not call one witness or use one exhibit to counter Bugliosi's ploy. I am not kidding. Talk about incompetent.
But then, at the end, Bugliosi used the Tippit murder to prejudice the jury against Oswald in the Kennedy case! He called it Oswald's "signature murder" proving he killed JFK. Yeah VInce, some signature. You cannot even prove he ever had possession of the handgun.
Coincidence: I am writing about the 1986 mock trial right now for my Hanks/Bugliosi book. Sat through the whole five hours over two days. In addition to dragging in the Tippit case, Bugliosi called twice as many witnesses as Spence. Both sides ended up calling what are proven liars today. Bugliosi called Guinn and Spence called Tilson. Bugliosi said in his opening statement that Oswald fired a shot from behind that went through JFK's skull exiting and shattering the front of his head. Spence did not object. I sure would have: Mr. Judge, that is a demonstrable fabrication by the prosecution. Please show us what his grounds are for saying that.
The truth is the opposite of course. It blew out the back of his head. Good going Vince.
The whole thing was a joke, which I am giving a real rip to in my book. I cannot really blame Spence. I mean he had three months to prepare. I mean, three years would have been more like it.
The defense lawyer was a heck of a lot better than Spence. He went right after Wesley Frazier.
There were two rulings before the WFAA trial that were interesting. First, Marina was allowed to testify, which would not have happened at a real trial back then. That hurt the defense. But the prosecution made the right call in not allowing the Tippit case to be dragged in. That was important and correct.
See, in 1986, Bugliosi was, for whatever reason, allowed to bring in the Tippit case to court. Spence did not even object to it! And the judge, who slept through most of the proceedings, did not say one word.
But here is the capper: Spence did not call one witness or use one exhibit to counter Bugliosi's ploy. I am not kidding. Talk about incompetent.
But then, at the end, Bugliosi used the Tippit murder to prejudice the jury against Oswald in the Kennedy case! He called it Oswald's "signature murder" proving he killed JFK. Yeah VInce, some signature. You cannot even prove he ever had possession of the handgun.
Coincidence: I am writing about the 1986 mock trial right now for my Hanks/Bugliosi book. Sat through the whole five hours over two days. In addition to dragging in the Tippit case, Bugliosi called twice as many witnesses as Spence. Both sides ended up calling what are proven liars today. Bugliosi called Guinn and Spence called Tilson. Bugliosi said in his opening statement that Oswald fired a shot from behind that went through JFK's skull exiting and shattering the front of his head. Spence did not object. I sure would have: Mr. Judge, that is a demonstrable fabrication by the prosecution. Please show us what his grounds are for saying that.
The truth is the opposite of course. It blew out the back of his head. Good going Vince.
The whole thing was a joke, which I am giving a real rip to in my book. I cannot really blame Spence. I mean he had three months to prepare. I mean, three years would have been more like it.