Hide Article Text (OCR)
By MARY NEISWENDER Staff Writer JProsecution - arguments have cleared Charles Maii-spn’s three giri iolloWers and codefOndahts of first-degree. murder, vthev-deV feiise in the Tate-LaBianca. murder trial contended Monday,. ...r,: Chief Defense Counsel . Paul F,i t z g era l;d| who dpened the four-part1 defense closing' 'argument, figuratively awakened the five-woman, . seven-man jury which had been inattentive .and. listless during foiir days of closing arguments by the prosecution:Throwing ' the. proseieu-■ tor’s words back to his face, Fitzgerald claimed his client, Patricia Kren-winkel;' and the other two girl . defendants — Susan Atkins and' Leslie Van Houten — could not be guilty of first-degree murder because each had been labeled “mindless robots ... zombies ... vagabond automatons,” by the prosecution. V -. The former .deputy public defender tip to this point had not spoken out in defense . of the • Manson “family” members'' on trial. All defense attorneys rested without putting on any witnesses.Fitzgerald claimed the prosecution’s contention that toe girls acted only on the orders of Manson — not thinking for themselves — would make them incapable of deliberate, premeditated murder: a prerequisite for first -- degree murder convictions.“The prosecution lias told you these people are mindless- robots,” Fitzgerald said as the jury listened attentively in Los Angeles Superior Court.‘TPS VERY clear,PAUL FITZGERALD Five W’s and HowFitzgerald said, gesturing, “.we’re not talking about first-degree murder. We’re talking1 about whether these defendants are guilty of secoricbdegfee murder and of conspiracy.”Then, • turning to the count, of Conspiracy,, the young former public defender pointed out what he considered a drastie flaw in the prosecution:“Linda. Kasabian, the proseeutioii’s star witness, didn’t • say she conspired with anyone to commit murder. She said 11 times on the witness stand there was no conspiracy. She said she didn't know where they were going and what they were going to do (oh the nights of the Tate and La Bianea murders).Fitzgerald cited as discrepancies in the prosecu-. tion’s case:—The fact, that Steven Parent, one of the victims at the Tate home presumably left toe earelaker’s cottage at 12:15 a:m. on Aug. 9, yet no one heard any screams until 12:45 or 1:30— both times testified to by a prosecution witness, caretaker, only afew f#ty away; heard no screams* yet a teacher, three-fourtha - of -a mile awayi heard, them. .— BI o o d y eyeglasses werefouitoiflthe house, but no owner was found.—Bipod was found on tyro. steamer;, trunks in the liying robm, but no one knows'what was inside the trunks^, ‘‘Perhaps Sebring .(JayVSebfing, one of the victims, whose, blood was found on the trunks) was trying to protect something in toe trunks,” Fitzgerald speculated. .—Sebring’s blood and toe blood of actress Sharon Tate were found outside the House in 13 places, yet the prosecution claims they were Wiled inside the house..—If it were a plannedkilling, as the prosecution claims,, the killers woiild have used “more effective weapons.’' Fitzgerald: said a :.22 caliber gun and five-inch knives 'were used; yet there were other weapons at the Spahn Ranch where the “family Uved, including: an M-l; carbine, submachine gun, .30 caliber , carbine and . a shotgun.—The victims didn’t defend -themselves • as evidenced by toe fact no flesh was found, under 'fingernails and no hair, in toe hands. “Could they,” Fitzgerald asked, .“have been narcotirized to the point of not having the mciination or the power to resist — or did they know their killers? That would explain a lot.”Then, quoting chief prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi,Fitzgerald said, “We don’t know for sure who killed who.” Then he added: “But if you’re going to convict someone of murder, you ought to know how, when, where,' why and by whom.”Launching into1 the star prosecution witness, Linda Kasabian,- Fitzgerald said she claimed to be an eyewitness—“But, if you believe her, she only told you how Steven Parent died.”Mrs Kasabian, who gained immunity for her testimony, is considered an accomplice, and her testimony must, therefore, be corroborated.Fitzgerald then jumped on Mrs. Kasbian’s claim she was “an innocent impressionable blind girl... who had little experience:” ‘-‘But,”' Fitzgerald pointed out, “she had two mar-I*•riages, two children, hitchhiked back and forth across toe country seven times, Uved in 11 different communes, took drugs since she was 16, has been in sexual liaison with more men than we can count.” “SHE’S HAD more experience ■ than these girls here,” he said referring to toe three girl defendants. The Spahn Ranch was not her first communal living situation. She’s been in every conceivable situation and is no fool, but a sophisticated woman who knew what she was doing at all times.”She was some sort, of hippie Ma Barker, he added, sitting in the navigator’s seat in the (murder) car holding a gun and five knives.She had no trouble sleeping after the murders. * . ran past houses where.1 she-could have gotten-help’ ... toe next night she went along for the same thing — to kill people . . . then she walked along the beach, with Manson hand-in-hand talking about love and her pregnancy, knowing . that the LaBianeas were being killed ...Manson and the three girls were not in the courtroom Monday, but listened to the arguments through special loudspeaker systems linked to rooms nearby.Fitzgerald is expected to conclude today, ^followed by attorneys Daye Shinn, Irving Kanaxek and Maxwell Keith. The defense argument is expected to last three days.The prosecution rebuttal will last another three days, it is estimated.SINCE 1924ACT NOW! DRASTIC REDUCTIONS THROUGHOUT OUR HUGE SHOWROOMS! N
Newspaper Details
Independent
Long Beach, California, US
Tue, Dec 29, 1970
Page 30
Full Page
Clipped by
Zuleyka A.
CA, USA 27 Apr 2023
Other Publications Near Long Beach, California
Independent Long Beach
Independent Press Telegram
Press Telegram
Independent
Long Beach Press Telegram
