The Bar and Jim Garrison
- Fred Litwin

- Oct 9
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 10

Indeed, Garrison even told the press that he could ignore Judge Haggerty's guidelines on pre-trial publicity:

Money Quote:
The DA, after Robertson had left, was asked about a statement that he, as district attorney, was not bound by guidelines set by Judge Haggerty as an attempt to prevent pre-judicial publicity concerning Shaw's trial.
Garrison said it was his opinion that "the judge was just making a suggestion when he handed out the guidelines. The District Attorney can make any statements he wishes."
In late March, Haggerty told the press that he was going to revisit some of the publicity guidelines from the preliminary hearing:

Here is what Haggerty said on the guidelines for pretrial publicity:

Haggerty was not happy in June, 1967:

The issue really came to head in early 1968 with the publication of an article by Jerrold Footlick. Garrison told Footlick that "there is no way that Clay Shaw can get an acquittal."
Shaw's attorney's filed a motion for change of venue which was denied by Judge Haggerty. You can read the motion in the Footlick blog post linked above.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts
There was no discovery in Louisiana courts in the 1960s.
A good selection of material on pre-trial publicity and the problems facing Shaw's defense attorneys.
Shaw's attorneys faced a daunting challenge in dealing with potential witnesses.




