Clay Shaw's Acquittal

What a great headline! Just a few minutes after 1:00 AM on Saturday, March 2, 1969, Clay Shaw was unanimously found not guilty! It took them 55 minutes - it would have been sooner, but one juror told journalist James Phelan that "we all had to queue up and pee before we got down to business."

For some color, here is Jack Dempsey's column from the States-Item.

Here is the front-page editorial from the States-Item:

Here is the front-page editorial from the Times-Picayune:

Times-Picayune, March 2, 1969

Only one juror was quoted about the verdict in either paper and that was David Powe:

And, for some more flavor, here is a letter that Edward Wegmann wrote Elmer Gertz after the verdict.

Clay Shaw did some public speaking after his acquittal. Here is an article from the New York Times, September 1970.

Here is a letter Clay Shaw wrote to his attorney Edward Wegmann in 1973:

Here is the article that Clay Shaw was writing about:

The Sun (Hammond, Louisiana), July 18, 1973

Mr. Murray weaved an incredible conspiracy tale.

We will posting over the next couple of weeks excerpts from Clay Shaw's journal. He kept a fair bit of notes in preparation for a book. Unfortunately, life and death got in the way. He ultimately had to go back to a full-time job, and he died early at age 61 in 1974.

Don't miss my blog post with Sylvia's Meagher letter to Clay Shaw and his reply.