Francis Lee Bailey

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For the English astronomer, see Francis Baily

Francis Lee Bailey Jr., commonly referred to as F. Lee Bailey (born June 10, 1933, in Waltham, Massachusetts) was an American lawyer prior to his disbarment. He served as a defense lawyer in the Sam Sheppard re-trial, the court martial of Captain Ernest Medina, and the O.J. Simpson trial.

Bailey has also had a number of visible defeats, legal controversies, and personal trouble with the law. In spite of his difficulties, Bailey still has a reputation for being one of the most successful defense attorneys in American legal history.

Contents

[edit] Education and military service

Bailey studied at Harvard College, and was a member of the class of 1954 [1]. He dropped out of Harvard[2] to join the United States Marine Corps in 1952, and received his aviator wings in 1954. He served as a jet fighter pilot and a legal officer. He was discharged in 1956. Bailey received his LL.B. from Boston University, where he was first in the graduating class of 1960.[citation needed]

[edit] Notable cases

[edit] Sam Sheppard

In 1954, Dr. Sam Sheppard was found guilty in the murder of his wife Marilyn. (The case was believed to be the basis for the Fugitive television series (1963-1967) and the 1993 movie.) F. Lee Bailey was hired by Sheppard's brother Stephen Sheppard at the time a resident of Rocky River, Ohio, to help in his brother's appeal. In 1966, F. Lee Bailey successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that Sheppard had been denied due process, ordering a re-trial. Bailey won a not-guilty verdict for Sheppard. This case established Bailey's reputation as a skilled defense attorney and was the first of many high-profile cases.

[edit] "Boston Strangler"

While defendant Albert DeSalvo was in jail for the "Green Man" sexual assaults, he had confessed his guilt in the "Boston Strangler" murders to Bailey. Bailey sought to arrange a deal for DeSalvo to avoid the death penalty in the Strangler murders, in exchange for his confession. Bailey used DeSalvo's murder confession to argue an insanity defense in the sexual assault case. However, DeSalvo was found guilty.

[edit] Dr. Carl A. Coppolino

Dr. Coppolino was accused of murdering his wife, Dr. Carmela Coppolino (August 28, 1965), and Lt. Col. William Farber (July 30, 1963). Dr. Carl Coppolino was believed to have injected both his victims with a curare-like substance called succinylcholine chloride, which at the time was undetectable due to limited forensic technology. F. Lee Bailey, who had just won Sam Sheppard an acquittal in Nov. 1966, successfully argued in Dr. Coppolino's defense and won an acquittal in New Jersey for the death of Lt. Col. William Farber in Dec. 1966. However, Coppolino was convicted of murdering his wife in Florida. He was permanently released on parole after 12 years of serving his sentence.

The conviction proved to be a landmark case since the toxicological evidence utilized scientific techniques that have not been proven in forensic science.[citation needed] The body of Carmela Coppolino was analyzed but only trace amounts of succinic acid could be found by the toxicologist, Dr. Charles Umberger. Dr. Umberger later testified that the presence of abnormal levels of succinic acid in brain tissue samples indicates succinylcholine chloride was used. Despite Dr. Umberger's conclusions, it is difficult to decisively determine whether or not Dr. Coppolino should have been convicted for the murder of his wife. Once convicted, Bailey filed for multiple appeals citing that the evidence was a fabrication by "forensic experts" (namely Dr. Milton Helpern and Dr. Charles Umberger).

Dr. Coppolino maintains his innocence to this day.

[edit] Ernest Medina

Bailey successfully defended U.S. Army Captain Ernest Medina in his 1971 court martial for responsibility in the My Lai incident (Vietnam war).

[edit] Patty Hearst

The case of Patty Hearst, a newspaper heiress who had been kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), was one of Bailey's most notorious defeats. Many said that Bailey could have won the case as there was ample evidence Hearst had been tortured and abused by the SLA. Bailey gave a very short weak closing argument. Patty Hearst wrote in her autobiography that she suspected he was intoxicated.

[edit] O.J. Simpson

Bailey joined the O.J. Simpson defense team just before the preliminary hearing. Bailey held numerous press conferences to discuss the progress of the case. In a press conference prior to his cross-examination of Mark Fuhrman, Bailey said, "any lawyer in his right mind who would not be looking forward to cross-examining Mark Fuhrman is an idiot." His famous cross-examination of Fuhrman is considered by many to be the key to Simpson's acquittal. In front of a predominantly minority jury, Bailey got the detective to claim he never used the word "nigger" to describe blacks at any time during the previous 10 years, a claim the defense team easily found evidence to refute. Ultimately, the statement that Bailey drew from the detective forced Fuhrman to plead the fifth in his next courtroom appearance, thereby undermining his credibility with the jury and the otherwise devastating evidence he allegedly found. Bailey also attracted minor attention for keeping a silver flask on the defense table, which fellow defense attorney Robert Kardashian claimed contained only coffee.[1]

[edit] Controversies

Bailey's visible public profile has come both as a result of the cases he has taken and for his own personal actions. In 2001 he was disbarred in the state of Florida, with reciprocal disbarment in Massachusetts in 2002.[3][4] The Florida disbarment was the result of his handling of stock in the DuBoc marijuana case. In March 2005, Bailey filed to regain his law license in Massachusetts.

[edit] 1994 DuBoc case

In 1994, while the O.J. Simpson case was being tried, Bailey and Robert Shapiro represented Claude DuBoc, an accused marijuana dealer. In a plea bargain agreement with the U.S. Attorney, DuBoc agreed to turn over his assets to the U.S. Government. His assets included a large block of stock in BioChem, worth approximately $6 million at the time of the plea deal. When the government sought to collect the stock, it had increased in value to $20 million. Bailey claimed he was entitled to the appreciation in payment of his legal fees and refused to turn over the stock to the government. In 2000, he was sent to prison for contempt. After forty-four days at the Federal Prison in Tallahassee, Bailey agreed to relinquish his claim to the stock and he was freed.[5] [6]

[edit] Publications

Bailey has authored a number of books, including three best selling non-fiction books:

  • The Defense Never Rests (with Harvey Aronson), Stein & Day, 1971. ISBN 0-8128-1441-X (analysis of the Sam Sheppard case)
  • Cleared for the Approach: In Defense of Flying (with John Greenya), Prentice-Hall, 1977. ISBN 0-13-136663-7
  • Secrets, 1977. (fiction)
  • How to Protect Yourself Against Cops in California and Other Strange Places, Stein & Day, 1982. ISBN 0-8128-2891-7

[edit] Gallery Magazine

In October 1972, Bailey became the publisher of a new magazine, based on Playboy and Penthouse magazines, called "Gallery", but later dropped out as publisher.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Foote, Donna. "Here Comes the Jury", Newsweek, October 21, 1996.

[edit] External links

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