Jules Ricco Kimble and the MLK case
Dave Reitzes
takes very seriously the assertions of Jules Ron Kimble, aka Jules Ricco
Kimble, who claims to have been James Earl Ray's alleged conspirator
"Raoul." Kimble is the Klansman currently serving a murder sentence in
Oklahoma who told Jim Garrison some varying stories in 1967-68 of being a
CIA agent and of knowing Clay Shaw and Dave Ferrie, both of whom Kimble
claimed were also CIA agents.
http://www.ocean.ic.net/doc/pol/MLK.txt
Kimble is discussed in Bill Davy's new book, *Let Justice Be Done.* He's
also discussed briefly in part four of my article, "Who Speaks for Clay
Shaw?" (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/shaw4.htm) and my review of Davy's book
(http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/davy.htm).
Dave Reitzes
jpsh...@my-deja.com
New Orleans Times-Picayune June 5, 1968 S2-P8
Kimble is Held in Check Case
Claimed Last Year to be Klan Informer
-
A young man who last year claimed to have inside information
on Ku Klux Klan operations was arrested Tuesday [4th] on a charge
of conducting illicit checking operations.
Accused of making himself $1,405 richer at the expense of the
Bank of New Orleans was Jules R. Kimble [...]
Police claim Kimble effected the theft by manipulating checks
stolen from an industrial firm where he was employed as a clerk from
April 24 to May 10.
In June of last year Kimble left Louisiana claiming he had witnessed
plans to bomb the homes of labor leader Victor Bussie and a Negro
woman teacher in Port Allen, and that his life was in danger.
He was arrested, however, in Miami last October on charges of
parole violation in Avoyelles Parish, and agreed to return to
Louisiana on charges of nonsupport of his family.
He then appeared before the Baton Rouge grand jury in connection
with the Bussie bombing the same month.
Kimble was also arrested in New Orleans May 21 on charges of
impersonating police, carrying a concealed weapon, assault and forgery.
He had been arrested in Baton Rouge in February and charged with
attempted theft and impersonating a doctor.
Discussing Kimble's latest run-in with the law, Sgt. Ronald
Kennedy and Det. Nick Chetta alleged that he stole a number of checks
from the industrial firm and deposited them in a special bank account
under a phony firm name.
He then began making withdrawals using names of legitimate
companies, police claimed.
When arrested, Kimble was on $4,750 bond. Police said a $475 check
he wrote to the bonding company bounced.
-
Jerru Shinley
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Michael Collins Piper
conspiracy theorists" tend to do, but I have some 'VAGUE MEMORY' of James
Earl Ray having alleged that he had evidence that some "individual"
connected with an organization with "Middle East interests" having perhaps
been one of the guiding hands behind the frame-up of Mr. Ray himself and
that the individual in question seemed to be upset about Dr. king's plan
to change his position regarding the form of racism known as Zionism (as
so declared by the United Nations--a very fine organization, as I am sure
all fine liberals will agree.)
Say what?
--mcp
jpsh...@my-deja.com
Ramparts January, 1968 P68
The Garrison Commission by William Turner
-
The affair of Jules Rocco Kimble illustrates how government
pressure has induced potential witnesses to slip from Garrison's
grasp. A self-avowed member of the Ku Klux Klan who got in trouble
over bombings in Baton Rouge, Kimble approached the DA's men in the
apparent hope of gaining mitigation. He said that on the day after
David Ferrie died, he drove a top KKK official, Jack Helm, to
Ferrie's apartment. Helm came out with a satchel crammed with papers,
which he placed in a bank safe deposit box. Kimble also divulged
that in 1962, he had flown to Montreal with Ferrie on what was
purported to be Minutemen business. He promised the DA's investigators
that he would gather further information and report back.
He didn't come through. Shortly afterward, he phoned his wife
from Atlanta, saying he had met a CIA contact. "They'll never get
me back to New Orleans," he vowed. A few days after that, he called
from Montreal. For reasons unknown, Kimble backtracked to Tampa,
Florida, where he was arrested by local police. Interviewed by
Garrison's men, he said that he had once worked special assigments
for the CIA, and in verification named his Agency contacts and the
box number of the Lafayette Street station they assigned him. He
averred that he had contacted the CIA after Walter Sheridan had
counseled him to say nothing to the DA and go to Canada...
-
<end of excerpt>
-
Would the CIA have used a man who had been publicly identified
as a CIA contact before the MLK assassination as an operative in
that assassination? Would they allow him to return to Jim Garrison's
jurisdiction after the shooting?
-
Jerry Shinley
Dave Reitzes
Also, you notice anything -- or anybody -- missing from the
flight-to-Canada story? \:^)
Dave
prwh...@yahoo.com
Incident Revisited", I discuss the content of a Dec.
1968 CBC-TV interview with Richard Giesbrecht broadcast
in Winnipeg only. Part of the interview dealt with the
"third man" who followed Giesbrecht from the airport
lounge, who apparently looked just like a man seen with
James Earl Ray in Montreal. Giesbrecht showed a police
sketch of the man. No reference was made to Kimble,
but Giesbrecht had been contacted by Ray's first lawyer
Haynes, Sr. and writer Huie, and Foreman seemed to be
aware of the information too. It is very likely that
Giesbrecht was referring to Kimble (the name "Raoul"
was not mentioned), who possibly was in Winnipeg on
Feb. 13, 1964 with David Ferrie, talking to another man
with a pocked-marked neck, reddish hair, in his mid-
40s, who possibly had a hearing aid, and whose name
might have been "Romanuk" or "Romaniuk". - Peter
prwh...@yahoo.com
jpsh...@my-deja.com
jpsh...@my-deja.com wrote:
> In article <7kjlsl$p4r$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
> jpsh...@my-deja.com wrote:
Impersonation Charge Placed
Official Says N.O. Man Posed as Male Nurse
-
Hahnville, La. - Jules Ron [sic] Kimble, 25, New Orleans, Friday
[30th] faced charges here of using falsely obtained papers to
impersonate a registered male nurse.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff John O. St. Amant said Kimble was
arrested after he had worked one and one half days at an industrial
plant in Taft, where he had obtained employment with papers allegedly
stolen from a registered male nurse.
He was booked at the court house with possession of stolen goods
and forgery and he is being held for Baton Rouge police and for
probation authorities.
St. Amant said Kimble is wanted in Baton Rouge on two bench
warrants charging him with impersonating a doctor and with attempting
to steal $1,260.
He is being held for probation authorities, the sheriff said,
because he is presently serving a two-year probation period imposed
by Criminal District Court Judge Malcolm J. O'Hara in New Orleans
Aug. 8.
St. Amant said Kimble, who gave six different New Orleans adddresses
as his residence, used papers he stole from Thomas Landas, a registered
male nurse, to obtain employment at the St. Charles Parish plant.
He said that the theft occurred in parish prison in New Orleans
on July 20 while Kimble was awaiting trial before Judge O'Hara. Landas
also was confined in the prison at the time.
Kimble who was a hallboy in the prison at the time of the theft,
used Landas' name and his nurse's registration papers after his release
on probation to obtain the nursing position in St. Charles Parish, the
sheriff said.
St. Amant said Kimble also worked for four days at a New Orleans
hospital under the assumed name and sought employment at three other
hospitals.
Kimble was exposed when a St. Charles Parish hospital nurse who
knew Landas told authorities Kimble did not resemble the man she knew
as Landas.
St. Amant said his office received a bulletin about the same time
from the Nurses Association warning about the theft of Landas'
registration papers.
-
<end of article>
-
Jerry Shinley
Dave Reitzes
>jpsh...@my-deja.com wrote:
Man, this guy's quite a handful, isn't he? I'm surprised that prison walls can
hold him.
Dave
Tony Pitman
Jerry,
It seems that the CIA did not mind having two former publically
identifiable OFFICERS working in Nixons plumbers unit. Without getting
into an arguement about whether this was a CIA operation or not, the
crimes these guys were committing, along with former FBI man Liddy, were
serious enough and no one can tell me that the agency, and the FBI, were
not aware of what was going on. Yet they let it go on and got away with
it later.
Tony
jpsh...@my-deja.com
City May Get St. Louis Team
Tentative Pact Made on Basketball Club
-
St. Louis, Mo. - A tentative agreement for the sale of the St.
Louis Hawks of the National Basketball Association was announced
here Saturday [7th].
Michael J. Aubuchon, general counsel for the New Orleans group,
said the team will be sold for $3,800,000 subject to the acceptance
of the offer by the team owner, Ben Kerner.
A deadline of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, has been set for the
acceptance of the offer by Mr. Kerner.
Aubuchon indicated that the interim period was requested by Kerner
to allow local or other interests to match the New Orleans group's
offer with the object of keeping the club in St. Louis.
"Of no local or other group comes up with a matching offer with the
expressed idea of keeping the Hawks in St. Louis by the deadline, the
New Orleans offer will be accepted," Aubuchon said.
Representing the New Orleans group, which is known as the New
Orleans Professional Basketball Associates, were Sean Morton Downey,
executive director of the association; J. R. Kimble, association
vice-president, and their legal counsel Steve R. Plotkin [later
Gordon Novel's attorney]. The group was scheduled to arrive back in
New Orleans at 9:50 p.m. Saturday.
Other original members of the NOPBA were Terry Gomilla, Roonie Kole
and Buddy Diliberto. Added to the group last week were [Civil Court]
Judge David Gertler [Plotkin's father-in-law], Pete Fountain, Henry
Braden, Kimble, Plotkin and Buck Krehs.
[...]
-
<end of excerpts>
-
Later in the year, when Jules Ricco Kimble received publicity for
his claimed knowledge of the bombing of the home of labor leader
Victor Bussie, the Times-Picayune referred back to this basketball
deal.
Dave Reitzes
Just when you think you've heard 'em all . . .
BTW, I don't remember whether I've mentioned that Kimble is discussed a
bit in Pepper's *Orders to Kill.* (If I'm thinking of the right book,
Pepper misspells the name "Kimbel" throughout.)
Dave
jpsh...@my-deja.com
jpsh...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
[...]
St. Louis Post-Dispatch January 8, 1967 p 1A Hawks are Sold Conditionally;
Option Given to Keep Team Here $3,800,000 Basketball Bid by New Orleans
Group - Time Granted to Match Offer - [...] The tentative purchaser is the
New Orleans Professional Basketball Association, headed by Sean M. Downey,
Jr., son of singer Morton Downey. [Isn't Downey, Jr., the talk show host
who was the nemesis of "pablum-puking liberals?"] [...] Downey, 34 years
old, is general manager of the Canteen Corp. of Louisiana, a vending
machine company.
[...] Downey's father was one of the country's best known popular singers
in the 1930s and 1940s. His theme song was "Carolina Moon." The elder
Downey, now 65, lives in Palm Beach, Fla., and is no longer in show
business. [I believe he was also a friend of the Kennedy family.] - St.
Louis Post-Dispatch January , 1967 p 4C One New Orleans Backer of Hawks
Deal Pulls Out Kimble Withdrawal Won't Affect Deal, Downey Says - J. R.
Kimble, vice president of the New Orleans syndicate that agreed Saturday
[7th] to buy the Hawks, said today he was pulling out of the group and
that his action would collapse the $3,800,000 conditional purchase.
However, Sean M. Downey, president of the New Orleans group, said Kimble's
withdrawal would have no effect on the conditional sale because Kimble was
the smallest investor of the 13-man association. [...] Kimble and Downey
disagreed on how much Kimble had agreed to invest, and also over the
reason for Kimble's withdrawal. Kimble in a telephone conversation with
the Post-Dispatch, said he was committed to invest at least half of the
$3,800,000. But Downey said Kimble's share was $150,000. Kimble gave two
reasons for his withdrawal in two seperate telephone calls. First he said
he was pulling out because the team was going to stay in St. Louis - that
there were never any plans to move it - and that he did not want to be
made a fool by serving as an instrument in such developments. In the
second call, he said he was withdrawing because there were several persons
in the 13-man group with whom he did not want to be associated. He said
that he had not been aware of their identities when he first committed his
money to the syndicate. Downey said Kimble had given him another reason.
Kimble had insisted his own attorney handle the sales transaction. "I
couldn't make any such commitment to him," said Downey. "I'm not the big
money man in the syndicate. I can't dictate terms as to who would be the
attorney." Downey said, "I just put the syndicate together, but I'm not
the money man." He said he had no money invested among the $3,800,000.
He said the deposit by his group was for exceedingly less than the
$150,000 Kimble had pledged. However, he said he had agreed not to
disclose the amount that had been deposited Saturday when the terms of the
contract were agreed on. The deposit would be returned if a St. Louis
group matches the purchase price, Downey said, but it would be forfeited
if the New Orleans group would withdraw its offer. Downey termed Kimble's
withdrawal "not an important development," and said that Kimble's share
would be taken up by one of the other members of the syndicate who had
wanted to invest more. He said a major New Orleans investor who was not
part of the syndicate could be called into the picture if necessary. "He
could cover it all, but I didn't include him because I wanted it to be a
community project," Downey said. Hawks attorney Michael J. Aubuchon said
that the 24-year-old Kimble was one of the New Orleans men who signed the
conditional agreement. Downey was the other. They attended the meeting
with Aubuchon and attorney Steve R. Plotkin of the New Orleans group.
[...] - St. Louis Post-Dispatch January 10, 1967 p 1A New Orleans
Syndicate Group Bidding for Hawks Must Get More Funds Member of Syndicate
Said to Have Misrepresented His Financial Worth - The New Orleans
syndicate that apparently had made a winning bid of $3,800,000 for the
Hawks regrouped after Sean M. Downey, Jr., president of the syndicate
disclosed that one of its members had misrepresented his financial worth.
Downey told the Post-Dispatch today that J. R. Kimble, who had been
described as having inherited $1,500,000, "misrepresented his worth by
$1,499,999.99." Michael J. Aubuchon, attorney for the Hawks, said that
Kimble signed a check for the undisclosed amount of the deposit agreed on
in the conditional sale of the National Basketball Association franchise
to the New Orleans group here last weekend. The check represents the only
"good faith" money held by the Hawks, Aubuchon told the Post-Dispatch.
But Kerner and Aubuchon said in San Francisco that the check Kimble had
given them as the New Orleans group's earnest money was a personal draft.
Aubuchon [...] declined to disclose the amount of the check. [...]
Downey, reached by the Post-Dispatch ar his home in New Orleans, said that
Kimble was no longer a member of the Southern syndicate. He said that the
group did not plan legal action against the 26-year-old Kimble. [...] Hap
Glaudi, sports director of television station WWL in New Orleans said he
had made an inquiry into the Kimble situation and found Kimble to be an
oil rig worker. Glaudi, who attributed his information to a law
enforcement officer, said Kimble had "accumulated some money through
investments" but that he found no indication that Kimble was an heir to a
fortune. [...] - [The Hawks deal fell through, but Downey went on the
become part of a group which received an ABA franchise. See:
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/5290/MemphisMaterial/BuccaneersMemphisYear
ly.html ] - New Orleans Times-Picayune September 8, 1967 S1-P1 Bussie Case
Witness Assured - A missing witness in the bombing of a Baton Rouge labor
leader's home has been promised "all the protection he needs day and
night" by Gov. John J. McKeithen, East Baton Rouge District Attorney
Sargent Pitcher and State Police Supt. Col. Thomas Burbank. The witness
was identified by Burbank and Pitcher as Jules R. Kimble, 24, 7003
Vicksburg st., New Orleans. A Jules R. Kimble in early January attempted
to join a syndicate that was seeking to bring the St. Louis Hawks National
Basketball Association franchise to New Orleans. At the time, Kimble told
a St. Louis newspaper he was committed to pay at least one half of the
$3.8 million purchase price. Kimble called the New Orleans States-Item's
Baton Rouge bureau Thursday [7th] and said the plot to bomb the home of
Victor Bussie, president of the state AFL-CIO, and the home of a Negro
woman teacher in Port Allen, across the river from Baton Rouge, was
concocted in his home by the Ku Klux Klan. According to Kimble, he was
calling from a pay telephone in Cincinnati, Ohio, and had fled Louisiana
because he feared for his life. He said he was not satisfied with
protection offered by state police. Pitcher said he doubted Kimble was in
Ohio. But Pitcher added he would provide protection for Kimble if he comes
into Pitcher's jurisdiction. Burbank challenged Kimble's charge that he
was not offered adequate protection. "We assurded Kimble complete
protection for himself and his family," asserted Burbank. Gov. McKeithen
added, "We're trying to root these fellows (meaning the bombers) out, and
we'll give him or any other witness as much protection as he wants."
Pitcher says he has a grand jury subpena out for Kimble and that it can be
served anywhere in Louisiana. He said that Kimble's home here [N.O.] has
been under surveillance for the last six or seven days. A Jules R. Kimble
was arrested on three charges by the New Orleans Police Department as
recently as July 26. He was arrested for aggravated assault, false
personation and illegally carrying a concealed weapon. The missing
witness told the States-Item that three men met at his home in July and
worked out the details to bomb the two homes. "They wanted to kill Bussie
and Mrs. Viola Logan," said Kimble. According to Kimble, there was a
definite plan to kill Bussie, not just scare him. Bussie had commented
strongly about the KKK while testifying before a committee of the
Legislature considering legislation to probe labor-management racketeering
in the state. "The bombing was also tied into the grant-in-aid thing
[state money for the students of private, segregated schools]," said
Kimble. Kimble told the States-Item he was a member of the Klan and the
person who organized the plot had wanted him to participate. However,
Kimble said he had been injured recently and did not go with them. He
said that two of the men left their cars at his house that night and rode
to Baton Rouge with a third man. He insisted that he did not go. Kimble
said he talked to a state police detective and the detective told him he
could not guarantee him protection if testified before the grand jury.
"My life is in danger," said Kimble. "If they guarantee me protection,
then I'll testify." Kimble said Burbank had promised him a job and issued
him a commission as a special police officer. Burbank confirmed that the
commission had been issued but had later been taken up. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation was interested in the bombings but pulled out when
it became apparent no federal laws had been violated. Pitcher said the
subpena for Kimble is the only one issued thus far in the case. - New
Orleans Times-Picayune September 9, 1967 S1-P5 Kimble 'Seen' in New
Orleans T-P Receives Tip on Wanted Informant - Jules R Kimble [...] was
seen in the 7000 block of Vicksburg st. Friday [8th] The Times-Picayune
was told. [...] The owner of the residence at 7003 Vicksburg st., where
Kimble had lived and where he said the plot [to bomb Bussie] was
concocted, said Friday that Kimble has not lived there in "eight to 10
days." [...] - <end of excerpts> - Jerry Shinley
jpsh...@my-deja.com
Ex-KKK Leader Brought to La.
Jules Kimble Placed in Marksville Jail
-
Jules R. Kimble, a former Louisiana Ku Klux Klan leader who says
he can identify the men who bombed the home of a labor leader in
Baton Rouge, was returned to Louisiana Wednesday [4th] and placed in
custody in Marksville.
Kimble [...] was arrested Tuesday in Miami Beach.
He was arrested on an Avoyelles Parish warrant issued June 14, 1966,
which charged him with violating the terms of a probationary sentence
associated with a family non-support case.
[...]
Kimble waived extradition at Miami Beach Wednesday morning, where
he was picked up by Avoyelles and East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputies.
He was flown to Baton Rouge and then transferred to the Avoyelles
Parish jail in Marksville.
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune October 6, 1967 S1-P19
Kimble Will Go Before Jurors
Former Klansman Says Bombing Plotted
-
A 24-year-old former Ku Klux Klan leader has been subpenaed to
appear before the East Baton Rouge Grand Jury at 10 a.m. Friday [6th]
in connection with the bombing of a labor leader's home in July.
Jules R. Kimble, of New Orleans, who identified himself as a
former klansman, received the subpena at Marksville Wednesday night
when he arrived from Miami Beach, Fla., where he was picked up Tuesday
on a probation violation charge. He had fled Louisiana early last
month.
[... (info about Gordon Novel and Aubrey Young omitted)]
At New Orleans, the district attorney's office accepted aggravated
assault charges against Kimble and said it will charge him with
impersonating a state police officer.
The former New Orleans harbor policeman, who said he was chief
security officer for the Louisiana Klan, told police and newsmen he
overheard three klansmen plot the July 19 bombing of [La.] AFL-CIO
president Victor Bussie's home at Baton Rouge.
[...]
Ass't D.A. John Volz said the New Orleans charges resulted from a
July 26 narcotics raid which Kimble instigated.
Police reports said Kimble told narcotics squad officers he was a
special state agent and that he had developed information that there
was a cache of narcotics in a midtown Carondolet st. business.
Raiding officers were denied admission to the building, police
said, and Kimble pulled a .38 caliber pistol on Joseph Littlejohn, an
employe who blocked the entrance.
On the basis of imformation supplied by Kimble, narcotics officers
obtained a search warrent, returned to the building, but found no
narcotics, the report added.
When state police officials denied that Kimble was a regular
officer, he was booked with aggravated assault, impersonating a
policeman and carrying a concealed weapon.
[...]
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune October 7, 1967 S1-P5
Kimble's Jury Call Delayed
Testimony to Await Lie Report
-
Jules Kimble [...] will not be called before the East Baton Rouge
Parish Grand Jury until the district attorney studies a lie detector
test administered to Kimble, the district attorney said Friday [6th].
[...] However, District Attorney Sargent Pitcher, said he has not
received a report on the lie detector test and that he has no idea when
Kimble may be summoned to testify.
The test was administered to Kimble at State Police Headquarters in
Baton Rouge, Pitcher said.
[...]
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune October 12, 1967 S1-P1
'Life' Reporter [David Chandler] Granted Stay
Court Holds Up Grand Jury Appearance
[...]
Also, self-admitted Ku Klux Klan leader Jules Kimble testified
before the East Baton Rouge Grand Jury [...].
[...]
Before Kimble's testimony, he was transported to Baton Rouge from
New Orleans where he was under $5,000 bond in Parish Prison on charges
of impersonating a state police trooper.
[...]
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune October 13, 1967 S1-P3
2nd KKK Leader Set to Testify
E. Baton Rouge Parish Grand Jury Calls Him
-
Jack Helm, leader of the Universal Klans of America, is slated
Monday [16th] to become the second Ku Klux Klan leader to testify
before the East Baton Rouge Grand Jury in its present probe into
alleged organized crime in Louisiana.
[...]
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune October 17, 1967 S1-P1
Bombing Order Denied by Helm
Other Klansmen Give Testimony in Probe
-
Baton Rouge, La. (AP) - Jack M. Helm, Imperial Dragon of the
Universal Klans of America denied Monday [16th] that he ordered the
bombing of a state labor leader's home.
He talked freely with newsmen before and after spending 90 minutes
with the East Baton Rouge Parish Grand Jury here.
Two New Orleans men he identified as members of his organization,
Clarence Hau and Henry Luwisch, were in the grand jury room 100
minutes.
All three men testified voluntarily. A fourth also was expected to
testify.
Nick Ross, an investigator for the State Labor-Management Commission
of Inquiry, accompanied Hau and Luwich into the grand jury session.
Hau and Luwisch declined to comment.
Helm complained that informers had penetrated his secret empire.
"I'm just tired," the New Orleans klan leader said afterward. "I'm
tired of these informers. I don't know how many may be in my
organization. I can't even do my work."
[...]
Helm said he was invited by Dist. Atty Sargent Pitcher to testify
and he did so without being subpenaed. He said he also invited three
members of his klan organization to testify.
Helm denied that he ordered the bombing or knew of any bombing plot.
He said he understood Jules Kimble, New Orleans, a professed former
klan official, had testified earlier that he ordered the bombing.
"The whole thing is just fantastic," Helm said. "I never dreamed
of a man coming out with something like that."
Helm said he conducted a meeting at Kimble's home the night before
Bussie's home was bombed, but "I don't know all these people, or if
they were there."
This referred to Kimble's claim that three klansmen plotted the
bombing of Bussie's home and the home of a Negro school teacher in
nearby Port Allen during such a meeting.
"He was nothing but a member," Helm said of Kimble. "He was not a
klan official."
Helm said that if he had investigated Kimble himself then Kimble
never would have been a klan member.
"He was put in there by the federal men," Helm said. The klan
Imperial Dragon complained that there were sheriff's and FBI informers
in his organization, how many he didn't know.
jpsh...@my-deja.com
Nara Record Number 180-10080-10203
-
[...]
Jules Ricco Kimble and his brother, Clayton Kimble, might have
been known to Brownlee and Waytt [sic]. These two men are suspects
in the murder of a Louisiana man, Mr. James Leslie, who was murdered
after opposing teamster business. [...]
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune April 20, 1977 S1-P1
D'Artois Arrested after 8-Hour Seige
-
Shreveport, La. (AP) - Police sized former city public safety
commissioner George D'Artois in his home Tuesday [19th] and snatched
away his pistol, ending a long and patient siege.
He had holed up for eight hours armed with a .357 magnum revolver,
refusing to face a charge that he hired gunmen to kill Jim Leslie,
an old friend turned foe.
[...]
Within an hour, the prisoner was en route to Baton Rouge. He arrived
in a police car with lights flashing and sirens screaming. He was
booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Jail, where officers said he
would be held overnight.
[...]
In addition to D'Artois, Donald Gardner, 39, also of Shreveport, was
arrested on a first degree murder charge in the Leslie case. He was
arrested at his home Tuesday and led off in handcuffs.
"I am definitely innocent," he told reporters.
[...]
Police arrived with a warrant from East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff
Al Amiss charging D'Artois with first degree murder in the shotgun
killing of Leslie, who was cut down in the parking lot behind a
Baton Rouge hotel last July 9.
A spokesman for Sheriff Amiss described Gardner as the "key man
between D'Artois and the people who ultimately killed Leslie."
Leslie was an advertising and public relations executive. D'Artois'
troubles began when Leslie refused to accept a city check as payment
for private public relations work, and the dispute blew up into a
grand jury investigation.
The probe wound up with the commissioner charged with pocketing
$30,000 which he had listed as paid to stool-pigeons for police
information, threatening witnesses against him, and malfeaseance in
office.
[...]
Sheriff Amiss said Leslie was killed because of his grand jury
testimony. A spokesman for Amiss said D'Artois paid Gardner and
[Russell] Griffith $30,000 to do the killing.
Leslie was killed a few hours after the legislature passed a
"right-to-work" law he had handled advertising for, but Amiss said
there apparently was no connnection.
In the court-filed applications for the warrant, East Baton Rouge
deputies quoted two Baton Rouge men, Clayton Kimble and Steve
Simoneaux, who said the Leslie killing happened like this:
- Gardner and Russell C. Griffith, 34, a Shreveport man who later
took a doublebarrel shotgun blast in the face, tried to get them to
kill Leslie or find somebody who would.
- Kimble said Gardner gave him $5,000 to find a killer, that he
failed, gave back the money, and Griffith and Gardner then said they
would do the job themselves.
- After that, Griffith and Gardner, using a CB radio for
communications, set a trap at the hotel. Gardner parked in the parking
lot until Leslie's car turned in. Gardner then pulled out, opening a
parking space for Leslie, right beside a fence where Griffith waited
with a shotgun.
Griffith was killed on a rural road in Concordia Parish in a remote
area near the Old River Control Structure, about 30 miles south of
Vidalia, last Oct. 16.
After his arrest here, Gardner was taken to Vidalia, where Sheriff
Fred Schiele booked him on the additional charge of murder in the
death of Griffith.
Schiele also booked Kenneth Brouillette of Simmesport, La., on a
charge of murdering Griffith. Sheriff's Maj. J.M. Bannister of Baton
Rouge said Gardner was accused of paying Brouillette $3,000 to kill
Griffith because Griffith had tried to shake him down.
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune May 10, 1977 S1-P2
Asked Me to Kill Leslie - Templin
-
Baton Rouge, La. - [...]
The hearing is being held to determine if the two men [D'Artois and
Gardner] should be bound over to a grand jury.
First to take the stand Monday [9th] was Clay Kimble, originally
from the Simmesport area.
Kimble, on whose statements the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's office
built much of its case against D'Artois and Gardner, took the Fifth
Amendment when questioned by Dist. Atty. Ossie Brown.
Following suit were Steve Simoneaux, a native of Galliano, and
Jules Ron Kimble, the first witness' brother. Clay Kimble and Simoneaux
have lived more recently in Baton Rouge.
[...]
Gardner and Kenneth Brouillette, Simmesport, have been charged with
the Oct. 16 murder of Russell "Rusty" Griffith, a Shreveport man
arrested in connection with interstate transportation of heavy
equipment. [...]
-
New Orleans Times-Picayune May 11, 1977 S1-P1
D'Artois is Cleared.
-
Baton Rouge, La. - [...]
Dist. Judge Frank Foil dismissed the charge against the former
Shreveport commissioner of public safety and Donald Gardner at the
conclusion of a two-day hearing [...].
[...]
Gardner still faces murder charges in Concordia Parish in
connection with the death of Russell "Rusty" Griffith."
[...]
jpsh...@my-deja.com
jpsh...@my-deja.com wrote:
> HSCA Interview with Joseph Oster 1/27/78
> Nara Record Number 180-10080-10203
> -
> [...]
> Jules Ricco Kimble and his brother, Clayton Kimble, might have
> been known to Brownlee and Waytt [sic]. These two men are suspects
> in the murder of a Louisiana man, Mr. James Leslie, who was murdered
> after opposing teamster business. [...]
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Clayton KIMBLE, a/k/a
"Sap", and Jules Ron Kimbel, Defendants-Appellants
No. 82-3528
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
719 F.2d 1253; 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 16112; 14 Fed. R. Evid. Serv.
(Callaghan) 525
October 12, 1983
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY: [**1]
Cert. Denied, 464 U.S. 1073, 79 L. Ed. 2d 220, 104 S. Ct. 984.
PRIOR HISTORY:
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of
Louisiana.
DISPOSITION: Affirmed.
COUNSEL: For: Clayton Kimble, Jack M. Dampf, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, For:
Jules Kimbel, Lawrence B. Shallcross, Jr., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for
Appellant.
Stanford O. Bardwell, Jr., U.S. Atty., Baton Route, Louisiona, Ian F.
Hipwell, AUSA, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, AUSA, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for
Appellee.
JUDGES: Clark, Chief Judge, Gee and Politz, Circuit Judges.
OPINIONBY: POLITZ
OPINION: [*1254] POLITZ, Circuit Judge:
Clayton Kimble and Jules Ron Kimbel, brothers who spell their name
differently, were indicted along with three others in a four-count
indictment arising out of illegal activities in Texas, Louisiana and
Mississippi prior to and during 1976. Following a 24-day trial, the jury
found appellants guilty of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), and
conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Russell Griffith by murdering
him, 18 U.S.C. § 241. n1 Sentenced to life imprisonment, the brothers
appeal, assigning error in pretrial proceedings [**2] and at trial.
Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -
n1 Appellants were found not guilty of the substantive charges of
conducting and participating in the affairs of an enterprise through a
pattern of racketeering activity, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), and of obstruction
of justice by threatening and killing Griffith, 18 U.S.C. § 1503. Two of
the co-defendants were found not guilty on all counts and the jury was
unable to reach a verdict as to the other.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -
Facts
James Shelton Leslie, a Shreveport advertising executive, was shotgunned
to death on the parking lot of the Prince Murat Hotel, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, in the early morning hours of July 8, 1976, following a party
celebrating passage of a Right-to-Work bill by the Louisiana Legislature.
[*1255] Three months later, during the evening hours of October 15, 1976,
Russell Griffith was shotgunned to death in the Three Rivers Wildlife
Management Area in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. Three weeks prior to his
death, Griffith and Jules Ron Kimbel were indicted [**3] in the Southern
District of Mississippi for the interstate transportation of a stolen
bulldozer. The Leslie and Griffith murders went unsolved for five years
although a massive investigation was undertaken by various state
authorities.
On June 8, 1981, a major development occurred. On that day, Steve Thomas
Simoneaux pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the civil rights of
Griffith by murdering him, 18 U.S.C. § 241. Under a Fed. R.Crim.P.
11(e)(1)(c) plea, Simoneaux agreed to cooperate with the federal
authorities and to testify before grand and petit juries. Conditioned on
the acceptance of the adequacy of his cooperation, Simoneaux was to be
sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, to run concurrently with sentences in
Texas for armed robbery, and federal authorities agreed not to furnish
information on state crimes to state authorities. Simoneaux was given
immunity from testimony-related federal offenses but no immunity from
state law infractions.
Simoneaux testified before the grand jury which handed up the four-count
indictment presently before the court. The government's theory of the case
was that a racketeering enterprise for the theft and interstate
transportation [**4] of heavy equipment existed among and between the
co-indictees, Simoneaux, and others. Under the prosecutor's scenario,
several of the conspirators sought to curry the favor of the late George
W. D'Artois, Commissioner of Public Safety of Shreveport, Louisiana, by
murdering Leslie. Leslie had appeared before a state grand jury which
indicted D'Artois for misuse of public funds and was to testify for the
prosecution at D'Artois's trial. In addition, the prosecution maintained
that when Griffith and Jules Ron Kimbel were arrested for the interstate
transportation of the bulldozer, a decision was made to eliminate Griffith
before he could "cut a deal" with federal authorities and tell them about
the heavy equipment ring and Leslie's murder. The jury was not convinced
of the case involving the murder of Leslie, but returned a special verdict
implicating appellants in the interstate heavy equipment ring and in
Griffith's murder.
The government's case was based largely on the testimony of Simoneaux who
testified, inter alia, concerning the illegal heavy equipment operation,
the involvement with D'Artois and the death of Griffith. Simoneaux was
subjected to rigorous cross-examination, [**5] including extensive
questioning about the precise nature of his plea arrangement, his personal
background, and his crime-studded record. Simoneaux acknowledged that he
was dishonorable and that he had repeatedly lied, including lies under
oath, to save his own skin. He admitted to intimate participation in the
criminal activity set forth in the indictment and candidly stated that he
was testifying only because of the lenient sentence he was to receive in
return for his cooperation. In particular he spoke of the contingent
nature of his sentence, which had not yet been imposed, and that he fully
understood his cooperation would have to be deemed acceptable before the
plea agreement would be operative.
At several points during the course of the trial, the district judge
instructed the jury that the testimony of an alleged co-conspirator was to
be considered with great caution and that the jury was to weigh the
testimony of Simoneaux in light of all circumstances, including the plea
arrangement. The court underscored that it was for the jury to determine
Simoneaux's credibility.
The trial judge imposed one limitation on the scope of cross-examination.
Defense counsel were restrained [**6] from questioning Simoneaux about the
specifics of prior, unrelated state crimes for which Simoneaux had no
immunity, and as to which he was entitled to assert the fifth amendment
privilege against self-incrimination.
During the course of cross-examination of Simoneaux, counsel for one of
the other [*1256] co-defendants attempted to impeach him by reading a
portion of a transcript of a prior inconsistent statement. The prosecutor
asked the judge to direct counsel to read the entirety of the statement to
put it in context. Upon the judge's order, counsel began to read three
sentences which contained references to prior criminal behavior of Clayton
Kimble. n2 Counsel objected during the reading and after an immediate
bench conference, at which the court and counsel agreed that the final
part of the statement should not have been admitted in evidence, the court
instructed the jury to disregard the statement.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - -
n2 The challenged statement was:
The bulldozing thing out of Jackson, Mississippi. Clay was already in
federal trouble, so this would have knocked his probation. He was on
probation, so he would have to get three years automatically, because if
he was revoked, plus whatever time he would --.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - [**7]
Appellants assign various errors: the evidence was insufficient to sustain
their convictions, hearsay statements by co-conspirators were erroneously
admitted in evidence, the court erroneously limited cross-examination of
Simoneaux, and the reading of the sentences referring to prior crimes of
Clayton Kimble was prejudicial. Appellants further maintain that the trial
court erred in denying motions for severance and in relieving the
government from responding to Clayton Kimble's unsolicited offer of an
alibi list. Appellants further complain that the government interfered
with their trial preparation by furnishing voluminous Jencks Act materials
two weeks before trial. We find no reversible error in any assignment of
error.
Sufficiency of the Evidence
To properly convict, the government must prove every element of each
offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt. To convict defendants of
conspiracy to violate RICO, "the government must prove that [defendants]
objectively manifested, through words or actions, an agreement to
participate in the conduct of the affairs of the enterprise through the
commission of two or more predicate crimes." United States v. Martino, 648
[**8] F.2d 367, 394 (5th Cir.1981) (citing United States v.Bright, 630
F.2d 804 (5th Cir.1980), and United States v. Elliott, 571 F.2d 880 (5th
Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 953, 99 S. Ct. 349, 58 L. Ed. 2d 344
(1978)). There must be proof of an illegal conspiracy, defendants' knowing
participation and an overt act in furtherance. United States v. Phillips,
664 F.2d 971 (5th Cir.1981). To convict defendants of conspiracy to
violate Russell Griffith's civil rights, contrary to 18 U.S.C. § 241, the
government must prove that defendants knowingly joined a conspiracy to
injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate Griffith, with the intent to
deprive him of his right to testify, n3 and that an overt act was
committed in furtherance of the conspiracy.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - -
n3 The right to testify "arises out of the creation and establishment by
the Constitution itself of a national government, paramount and supreme
within its sphere of action." In re Quarles, 158 U.S. 532, 536, 15 S. Ct.
959, 961, 39 L. Ed. 1080 (1895); United States v. Thevis, 665 F.2d 616
(5th Cir.1982).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End Footnotes- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - [**9]
When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged on appeal, the standard
of review directs inquiry whether "there is substantial evidence, viewed
in the light most favorable to the Government, to uphold the jury's
decision." United States v. Malatesta, 590 F.2d 1379, 1382 (5th Cir.) (en
banc), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 962, 99 S. Ct. 1508, 59 L. Ed. 2d 777 (1979)
(quoting Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 17, 98 S. Ct. 2141, 2150, 57
L. Ed. 2d 1 (1978)). Viewing the evidence in this record under that
standard, it is readily apparent that the jury had before it evidence
which, if deemed credible, fully supported its verdict. It is exclusively
the function of the jury to assess credibility. We are particularly loath
to reject a jury's verdict when it is so manifestly dependent on
credibility assessments.
Appellants argue that Simoneaux's testimony was per se incredible because
of the plea arrangement, and in any event it was so incredible that it
should have been excluded. We are not persuaded. Simoneaux admitted that
he perjured himself, [*1257] he admitted lying in over 30 different
statements motivated by his sense of self-preservation. He was
cross-examined [**10] at length and confronted with the prior inconsistent
statements and offered his explanation. The jury had both the power and
duty to determine whether Simoneaux was to be believed in whole or in
part. The jury obviously believed him, at least to the extent that it
returned the guilty verdicts on two counts. The plea agreement, prior
statements and prior criminal record all went to the weight of Simoneaux's
testimony, not its admissibility.
Hearsay of Co-conspirators
Appellants argue that hearsay of co-conspirators was erroneously admitted.
Under the rule we announced in United States v. James, 590 F.2d 575 (5th
Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 917, 99 S. Ct. 2836, 61 L. Ed. 2d
283 (1979), a statement which would otherwise be excludable as hearsay is
admissible if there is substantial independent evidence of the conspiracy
between the declarant and the defendant, and the proffered statement was
made in furtherance of that conspiracy. The district court must make these
findings at some time during trial, preferably before introduction of the
statement. However, the court may allow introduction of the challenged
declaration, subject to subsequent establishment [**11] of an adequate
foundation. In this case, the court made the requisite James findings
before submission of the case to the jury. In any event we find this
assignment without merit; appellants fail to point to any specific
inadmissible statement. See United States v. Salinas, 654 F.2d 319 (5th
Cir.1981).
Limitation on Cross-Examination
Appellants maintain that the court erred in restraining defense counsel
from asking Simoneaux specific questions about prior, unrelated state
crimes, claiming that this ruling impermissibly infringed their sixth
amendment right to the confrontation of witnesses. We do not agree.
When a witness legitimately invokes his fifth amendment privilege,
creating a potential conflict with a defendant's sixth amendment right to
confrontation, the relevant question on review is "whether defendant's
inability to make the inquiry created a substantial danger of prejudice by
depriving him of the ability to test the truth of the witness's direct
testimony." Fountain v. United States, 384 F.2d 624, 628 (5th Cir.1967).
In the instant case the court's limitation on cross-examination created no
danger of prejudice. Appellants and their co-defendants [**12] were able
to point out to the jury that Simoneaux was a persistent perjurer who had
lied to the grand jury in this very case, that he was testifying pursuant
to a plea agreement which was contingent upon satisfaction with his
cooperation, that he had committed various state law crimes in Louisiana
and the federal authorities had agreed, as part of the plea agreement, not
to pass along to Louisiana authorities any evidence of those state crimes.
Thus, appellants had ample opportunity to test the truth of Simoneaux's
testimony by challenging his credibility, notwithstanding the court's
minor limitation on the scope of cross examination. See United States v.
Brown, 634 F.2d 819 (5th Cir.1981).
Extrinsic Offense Evidence
Clayton Kimble urges reversible error because of the reading of the
concluding portion of a statement by Simoneaux which made reference to
prior offenses. It is apparent, as quickly recognized by the court and
counsel, that the evidence was inconsistent with Fed.R.Evid. 404(b).
United States v. Beechum, 582 F.2d 898 (5th Cir.1978). However, the trial
court's prompt instruction to the jury to disregard the testimony was
sufficient to cure the error. [**13] The references to the prior offenses
would be reversible "only if there is a significant possibility that they
had a substantial impact on the jury's verdict." United States v. Klein,
546 F.2d 1259, 1263 (5th Cir.1977). Here, the statement was somewhat
ambiguous, did not mention a crime, a conviction, or appellant's last
name, and consisted of only three short sentences, the reading of the
third of which was interrupted, occupying only moments in a 24-day trial.
We are [*1258] satisfied that the error inherent was mitigated and
rendered harmless by the trial judge's prompt curative instruction.
Assignments of Pretrial Error
The remainder of appellants' challenges relate to pretrial rulings and
actions. The district court denied a severance. Joinder of defendants was
proper under Fed.R.Crim.P. 8. Therefore, "defendants must rely on Rule 14,
Fed.R. Crim.P., which permits severance if a defendant is prejudiced by
the joinder." United States v. Martino, 648 F.2d at 385. The defendant's
"burden of showing prejudice is onerous." Id. Severance is only mandated
when a fair trial may not be accorded the joined defendants. A motion to
sever is directed to the sound [**14] discretion of the trial judge. The
refusal here was within the scope of that discretion.
Finally, we find no merit in Clayton Kimble's complaint relative to the
court relieving the government from responding to his unsolicited offer of
an alibi list and to appellants' complaint that the prosecution interfered
with trial preparation by producing a large volume of Jencks Act material
two weeks in advance of trial, purportedly inundating them. Neither issue
warrants further discussion.
AFFIRMED.
bras...@gmail.com
liberation front) in the 60's and have made 2 assassinations ???
we still don't know which ones....
Le samedi 19 juin 1999 03:00:00 UTC-4, Dave Reitzes a écrit :