DVD REVIEW -- "ON TRIAL: LEE HARVEY OSWALD"
David Von Pein
www.amazon.com/ON-TRIAL-LEE-HARVEY-OSWALD/dp/B001CDLASU
www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=87725BDBE6861725
======================================
"I do think for the historical record it's important that people
understand that Lee was a very ordinary person -- that people can kill
a President without that being something that shows on them in
advance."
======================================
The above quote came from the lips of Mrs. Ruth Paine in 1986, and can
be heard on the just-marketed DVD, "ON TRIAL: LEE HARVEY
OSWALD" (released by MPI Home Video on October 28, 2008).
Ruth Paine was one of the very few people in the world who knew Mr.
and Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald fairly well just prior to November 22,
1963, which was the Friday when Lee Oswald took a gun to work and
assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
In July of 1986, Mrs. Paine was one of several people who travelled
from America to London in order to participate in a TV "docu-
trial" ("ON TRIAL: LEE HARVEY OSWALD"), a simulated courtroom trial
produced by "London Weekend Television".
The mock trial was 21 hours long, but almost 75% of that filmed
footage was left on the cutting-room floor, with the 21 hours' worth
of trial material being trimmed down to a little more than 5 hours for
its original two-part "Showtime" cable-TV broadcast on November 21 and
22, 1986.
This 2-Disc DVD edition of "On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald" contains the
entire uncut docu-trial as it was originally aired in November 1986 by
the Showtime network in the United States.
However, some portions of the original Showtime broadcast featuring
host Edwin Newman and other commentators (such as Jack Anderson,
Ramsey Clark, and Alan Dershowitz) have not been included on this DVD.
Very brief interview snippets with the two lead attorneys involved in
the trial (Vincent Bugliosi and Gerry Spence) that were aired on TV in
'86 have also been removed for this DVD presentation. But all of the
in-the-courtroom footage from the original '86 Showtime broadcast
appears to be intact and included in this MPI Home Video version.
Footnote regarding running time --- Each of the two DVDs in this set
has an incorrect (too short) running time shown on it. Based on the
printed information on the discs, the total run time is only 4 hours
and 8 minutes. But the total time for both DVDs is actually 5 hours
and 7 minutes, which almost certainly represents the whole program as
it first aired on Showtime (minus some of the wraparound segments with
Edwin Newman, et al).*
* = At least one subsequent airing of this docu-trial on a different
U.S. network (in 1988), however, does contain additional courtroom
footage that is not included in this Showtime/MPI version.
But it's not entirely surprising that alternate versions of this
lengthy program were produced, featuring different editing, given the
fact that more than three-fourths of the filmed trial was left on the
cutting-room floor in the first place (including the entire testimony
of at least one witness, Jack Tatum).
Another packaging error can be found on the back cover of this MPI
DVD, where we find this absurdly-overstated blurb -- "On Trial: Lee
Harvey Oswald recalls all of the surviving witnesses...".
But quite obviously, as of July 1986 (when the Oswald TV trial took
place), more than just the 21 people who took the witness stand at
this mock trial were still among the living (as far as assassination-
related witnesses are concerned).
No witnesses were subpoenaed, however. The people who took the witness
stand at the mock trial did so voluntarily. They were not being forced
to appear. So, that fact certainly must have limited the length of the
witness lists for both the defense and the prosecution to a large
degree.
"On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald" has the feel of a real trial (although,
of course, it isn't, since the defendant in the case, Lee Harvey
Oswald, was himself shot and killed by Dallas nightclub operator Jack
Ruby just two days after President Kennedy was murdered)....with a
real judge sitting on the bench in the London courtroom, 12 real
Dallas jurors sitting in the jury box, 21 real sworn-in witnesses
(connected in various ways to the JFK and/or J.D. Tippit murder cases)
taking the witness stand to testify on behalf of either the
prosecution or the defense, and two prominent U.S. trial attorneys
presenting their cases in front of the jury -- Vincent T. Bugliosi for
the prosecution (representing the "U.S. Government") and Gerry Spence
representing the deceased defendant, Lee Oswald.
Ruth Paine was among those 21 witnesses who told her story in 1986 at
the TV docu-trial, and Paine's testimony is among the most riveting
and enlightening during the five-hour program. Even after 23 years,
the raw emotion of that day back in 1963 still resonates deeply within
her. Ruth's testimony is worth the price of this DVD set alone.
Another standout section of "On Trial" comes during the latter portion
of the program, when noted conspiracy theorist and House Select
Committee on Assassinations [HSCA] member Dr. Cyril H. Wecht takes the
witness stand to face off against Vince Bugliosi.
The sparks begin to fly when Bugliosi wants Dr. Wecht to explain what
happened to the intact bullet that exited President Kennedy's throat,
heading downward and forward, directly toward Governor John Connally
in the limousine.
Although Wecht agrees with Bugliosi that the bullet did, indeed, go
completely through JFK's body without deviating from its original
flight path, Cyril also contends that the bullet did not strike
Governor Connally at all. Instead, evidently it vanished into thin air
without a trace. (Talk about a "magic bullet".)
Other witnesses who put in an appearance include (among a few others):
Charles Brehm, Buell Wesley Frazier, Dallas police officer Marrion
Baker (who actually stopped Oswald and spoke to him inside the Texas
School Book Depository within minutes of JFK's assassination), Harold
Norman, Johnny Brewer, Nelson Delgado, Edwin Lopez, Seth Kantor, Ted
Callaway, Eugene Boone (the deputy sheriff who first discovered
Oswald's rifle on the sixth floor of the Depository), William Newman,
Dr. Vincent Guinn, Dr. Charles Petty, and FBI agent James Hosty (who
was aware of Oswald's presence in Dallas weeks prior to 11/22/63).
A full DVD chapter/witness list is provided later in this review.
Vince Bugliosi puts on a strong prosecutor's case against Oswald in
"On Trial", relying heavily, of course, on the wide array of physical
and circumstantial evidence that easily shows Oswald to be guilty of
not only killing President Kennedy, but also of murdering a second man
on November 22, 1963 -- Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit, who was shot
four times by Oswald on 10th Street in the Dallas suburb of Oak Cliff,
approximately 45 minutes after Kennedy was slain right in front of
Oswald's workplace on Elm Street.
Gerry Spence, on the other hand, relies mainly on guesswork,
unsupportable theories, and "what if" scenarios in his attempted (and
anemic) defense of his "client", Lee H. Oswald.
Mr. Spence is a good showman, though, I must say that. He's fun to
watch in the courtroom. And so is Bugliosi, I might add. But Spence's
choice of witnesses to try and buttress his case for conspiracy was
rather weak, to say the least, with only 7 witnesses called to the
stand (per the final 5-hour version of the trial seen on Showtime
anyway), with one of those seven being the laughable Tom Tilson.
In the end, thankfully, the real evidence against the defendant is
able to conquer the fanciful "what ifs" in the minds of the jurors,
and after six hours of deliberations, Lee Harvey Oswald was declared
"Guilty" at the conclusion of the mock trial.
Three of those jurors, however, weren't convinced that there was no
"conspiracy" to murder the President; but all twelve of them were
convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Lee Oswald did, in fact, kill
John Kennedy.
Mr. Bugliosi, in 2005, said it was his belief that the 1986 television
docu-trial was "the closest thing to a trial that Lee Harvey Oswald
ever had or will have". And after having watched that trial many times
since '86, I have to fully concur with Vince's assessment as well.
This simulated trial was the springboard that led Bugliosi to write
his mammoth and all-encompassing book on the JFK assassination, [[ASIN:
0393045250 "Reclaiming History"]], which took Vince more than 20 years
to research and write. The book was finally published in May 2007.
========================
Here are a few random excerpts that can be found in "On Trial: Lee
Harvey Oswald":
"The evidence that will be presented at this trial will show that
there is no substance to the persistent charge by these critics that
Lee Harvey Oswald was just a patsy, set up to take the fall by some
elaborate conspiracy. We expect the evidence -- ALL of the evidence --
to show that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, was responsible for the
assassination of John F. Kennedy." -- VINCENT BUGLIOSI (Opening
Statement)
----------------
VINCENT BUGLIOSI -- "Mr. Frazier, is it true that you paid hardly any
attention to this bag?"
BUELL WESLEY FRAZIER -- "That is true."
BUGLIOSI -- "So the bag could have been protruding out in front of his
[Oswald's] body, and you wouldn't have been able to see it, is that
correct?"
FRAZIER -- "That is true."
----------------
BUGLIOSI -- "Did it sound to you like a rifle was being fired directly
above you?"
HAROLD NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
BUGLIOSI -- "Was there any OTHER reason, in addition to the sound of
the rifle, any other reason why you believed the shots were coming
from directly above you?"
NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
BUGLIOSI -- "And what is that?"
NORMAN -- "Because I could hear the empty hulls--that's what I call
them--hit the floor; and I could hear the bolt action of the rifle
being pushed back and forward."
BUGLIOSI -- "You're familiar with a bolt-action rifle?"
NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
----------------
BUGLIOSI -- "What you're saying is that from your Neutron Activation
Analysis, there may have been fifty people firing at President Kennedy
that day....but if there were, they all missed....ONLY bullets fired
from Oswald's Carcano rifle hit the President. Is that correct?"
DR. VINCENT P. GUINN -- "That's a correct statement; yes."
----------------
BUGLIOSI -- "Mr. Delgado, I believe you testified before the Warren
Commission, that on the rifle range Oswald was kind of a joke, a
pretty big joke."
NELSON DELGADO [served with Oswald in the Marines] -- "Yes, he
was." ....
BUGLIOSI -- "Are you aware that in 1956, when Oswald first joined the
Marines, and was going through Basic Training, he fired a 212 on the
rifle range with an M-1 rifle, which made him a 'sharpshooter' at that
time -- are you aware of that?"
DELGADO -- "Yes."
BUGLIOSI -- "Given the fact that Oswald was about to get out of the
Marines when he was in your unit, and the fact that he showed no
interest in firing on the range -- you don't attribute his poor
showing on the range to his being a poor shot?"
DELGADO -- "No."
BUGLIOSI -- "He could have done better, you felt, if he tried?"
DELGADO -- "Certainly."
----------------
BUGLIOSI -- "While he [Lee Oswald] was at your home did he ask you for
any curtain rods?"
RUTH PAINE -- "No, he didn't." ....
BUGLIOSI -- "Now you, in fact, DID have some curtain rods in the
garage, is that correct?"
PAINE -- "In the garage...yes."
BUGLIOSI -- "After the assassination, they were still there."
PAINE -- "Yes, that's right."
----------------
BUGLIOSI -- "Seems to me, Doctor, that by necessary implication they
are either hopelessly and utterly incompetent, or they deliberately
suppressed the truth from the American public. Is that correct?"
DR. CYRIL WECHT -- "There is a third alternative, which would be a
hybrid to some extent of the deliberate suppression, sir..."
BUGLIOSI -- "So, of the nine pathologists, Doctor Wecht, you're the
only one that had the honor and the integrity and the professional
responsibility to tell the truth to the American people! Is that
correct, Doctor!?"
WECHT -- "I'll prefer to put it this way....I'm the only one who had
the courage to say that the King was nude, and had no clothes
on....yes."
BUGLIOSI -- "No further questions."
----------------
"So we KNOW, not just beyond a reasonable doubt, we know beyond ALL
doubt THAT OSWALD'S RIFLE WAS THE MURDER WEAPON. .... And it's obvious
that Oswald carried that rifle into the building that day in that
large brown paper bag. It couldn't be more obvious. As far as Mr.
Frazier's testimony about Oswald carrying the bag under his armpit, he
conceded he never paid close attention to just how Oswald was carrying
that bag. He didn't have any reason to.
"At this point if we had nothing else....nothing else....how much do
you need?....if we had NOTHING else....this would be enough to prove
Oswald's guilt beyond all REASONABLE doubt. But there's so much
more. ....
"How, in fact, if Oswald were innocent, did they GET Oswald, within
forty-five minutes of the assassination, to murder Officer Tippit? Or
was he framed for that murder too?! ....
"As surely as I am standing here, as surely as night follows day, Lee
Harvey Oswald--acting alone--was responsible for the murder of
President John F. Kennedy." -- VINCENT BUGLIOSI (Closing Arguments)
========================
ABOUT THE DVDs:
The video and audio quality on these DVDs is just about as perfect as
anybody could hope for. The picture looks excellent, probably as good
as it did when the program first aired in 1986.
There are no audio commentaries or additional bonus features on either
of the two discs in this DVD package. It would have been great if a
commentary track by Vince Bugliosi could have been included, but it
wasn't. But I was surprised to find that English subtitles have been
included on these DVDs, which could be considered kind of a "mini
bonus" of sorts.
Some more disc data:
2-Disc set.
Single-sided discs.
Video: Full-Frame (1.33:1). In color.
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.
Total Run Time: 307 minutes.
Menus: Non-animated; looped music on the Main Menu.
Paper Enclosures: None.
========================
DVD CHAPTER LIST:
DISC ONE:
1. Introduction (With Edwin Newman)
2. Opening Statement: The Prosecution
3. Opening Statement: The Defense
4. Prosecution, 1st Witness: Buell Frazier
5. Prosecution, 2nd Witness: Charles Brehm
6. Prosecution, 3rd Witness: Harold Norman
7. Prosecution, 4th Witness: Eugene Boone
8. Prosecution, 5th Witness: Marrion Baker
9. Prosecution, 6th Witness: Ted Callaway
10. Witness Recall: Buell Frazier
11. Prosecution, 7th Witness: Jack Brewer
12. Prosecution, 8th Witness: Cecil Kirk
13. Prosecution, 9th Witness: Dr. Charles Petty
14. Prosecution, 10th Witness: Monty Lutz
15. Prosecution, 11th Witness: Dr. Vincent Guinn
16. Prosecution, 12th Witness: Lyndal Shaneyfelt
17. Prosecution, 13th Witness: Nelson Delgado
18. Prosecution, 14th Witness: Ruth Paine
DISC TWO:
1. Defense, 1st Witness: Bill Newman
2. Defense, 2nd Witness: Tom Tilson
3. Defense, 3rd Witness: Dr. Cyril Wecht
4. Defense, 4th Witness: Paul O'Connor
5. Defense, 5th Witness: James Hosty
6. Defense, 6th Witness: Edwin Lopez
7. Defense, 7th Witness: Seth Kantor
8. Final Summation: The Prosecution
9. Final Summation: The Defense
10. Final Rebuttal: The Prosecution
11. The Verdict
========================
A FINAL WORD:
Although it wasn't a "real" trial (quite obviously), "On Trial: Lee
Harvey Oswald" did a nice job (at least partially) of filling a gap
that had long been in need of filling -- and that is: to present the
evidence against Lee Oswald in a courtroom setting, complete with the
adversarial process of United States law on full display (i.e., the
prosecution vs. the defense).
Lee Harvey Oswald, posthumously, had his day in court. Some conspiracy
theorists maintain that the 1986 mock trial was nothing but a "sham",
a "farce", a "fictional TV drama" with no real facts or truths being
brought out in the courtroom.
I, however, would strongly disagree with such assertions regarding "On
Trial". While not binding as an actual "Guilty" verdict in the case
against Oswald, the fact remains that a lot of REAL evidence,
presented by REAL witnesses, came to light in that London courtroom.
And whether Oswald was alive or not to defend himself against this
evidence, it is evidence that still exists all the same. And it's
evidence that convicted Lee Harvey Oswald of a Presidential
assassination in the eyes of twelve Dallas citizens in 1986. And, in
my opinion, that's a nice "gap" in the world of "JFK Assassination
Lore" to have filled in.
David Von Pein
October 2008
www.google.com/group/Reclaiming-History/browse_thread/thread/2d1eebb7e8de66a0
www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/3200858-post.html
David Von Pein
>>> "David, in his book Bugliosi quotes a number of sections of the trial that were never shown on the U.S., and will presumably not be shown on the DVD. Any word when Bugliosi and/or the producers will see fit to release the entire 'trial", so we can see what REALLY went down?" <<<
I doubt if we'll ever see the entire 21 hours of the 1986 Mock Trial
released on home video (in any format). That is probably way, way too
much to hope for.
However,
A few months ago, I asked Vincent (through his secretary) if there was
any way of getting ahold of all 21 hours of the trial on video. And
Vince told me (again, through his secretary via e-mail) to contact his
friend and fellow lawyer Jack Duffy in Fort Worth, Texas.
Apparently Mr. Duffy must have all of the uncut trial on video or DVD
(I guess). Or, at least Vince is of the opinion that Jack could steer
me in the right direction toward obtaining that material.
I decided not to follow up on this inquiry, because, frankly, I just
didn't want to bother Mr. Duffy with it. I don't think it's that
important (although, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the whole
twenty-one hours of the TV docu-trial).
Vincent's secretary was nice enough to give me some contact info
(through a website) for Jack Duffy. So, if anyone wants to pursue this
matter on their own--feel free. Mr. Duffy's website is located at:
David Von Pein
I SAID THIS EARLIER TODAY:
>>> "I decided not to follow up on this inquiry, because, frankly, I just didn't want to bother Mr. Duffy with it. I don't think it's that important (although, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the whole twenty-one hours of the TV docu-trial)." <<<
DVP NOW SAYS:
Since this topic about the 21 hours of the 1986 TV docu-trial has
surfaced again here at the forums, I decided to go ahead and write to
Mr. Duffy about it anyway. I just now (at 10:00 PM EDT, 11/1/2008)
sent a message to him through his website, asking him if he had any
way of providing copies of the uncut 21-hour version of "On Trial: Lee
Harvey Oswald".
If I receive any reply from Mr. Duffy, I'll post it here (unless he
asks me not to).