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Caryl Chessman — Part 3

50 pages · May 09, 2026 · Broad topic: Prisons & Escapes · Topic: Caryl Chessman · 50 pages OCR'd
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a 7 oue8 to DeLoach memo 4-29-60 .re: The Dealth Penalty and Caryl Cnuessman, .,. The narrator then stated the big issue at stake is the death penalty 2:4 nat many question the morality of-it! Governor Pat Brown of California sine] iat ne death penalty hag been a gross failure and has neither protected the innoc‘at-nor _ ‘eterred the wicked. He said in actual practice the death penalty is inflicted on ine ‘ick, the poor, the ignorant, the alcoholic, the psychotic ana racial minovxities. . /Smith then returns to.Chessman and asks why is he so important. He aentions he is a convicted author who-has written several best sellers and who maintains is innocence. James Miller Levy, Who prosecuted Chessman, states he earned the deach -enalty. Al Matthews, Chessman's defense attorney, then describes the trial pointing at the discrepancies in the descriptions furnished by witnesses at the time the crvirscs vere reported’and the Chessman trial. He claims Chessman is not guilty aud has weca ‘anied due ‘process of law because of a faulty trial transcript whica contains 2, 7°75 esvors. ‘e points out after original court reporter died his notes were transcribed by u cious ud is amazed an innocent man could be convicted this way. Mr. Levy answers by Sayeed nat he has. no quarrel with Chessman's right to appeal. He then quotes from a Supreme Sourt Justice who, in his opinion, points out Chessman cannot escape the violent svory 7 of what he did and that the so-called errors in transcription are trifling.. The next voice heard is that of Abraham Wirin of the American Civil jiberties Union (ACLU) who claims ‘that Chessman's execution will have an efiect . hroughout the world: He points out Chessman has been used aS a pawn in a tiga. ‘aternational game and was snatched from the death penalty to protect the President of “he United States. He feels it is not fair that any man should be used for such a purpose. . Governor Brown then reads from his statement granting Chessman's °. -eprieve in February giving as his reason his desire to let the California Legis. ve . xpress itself once*more on capital punishment and because of the telegram frou. > “* 3tate Department relative to possible repercussion in Uruguay. - — the U. 5. . Stanley Mosk, California Attorney General, then states that the Department of State lacked courage-in that instance by first doing the rignt thing acd then backing away from its position when subject to Congressional criticisra and iuttempting to blame California for initiating the inquiry as to the effect Chessmaa's . execution would have on the President's South American trip. , . ~ Smith, the narrator, then points out that the Vice President of che Unitad States is on record as favoring the death penalty. .He discusses roascns way wis case has caused such an uproar principally because of Chessman's briiliance auc the .act Oke ¢ , t A
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