JFK Lancer Productions and Publications
(DRAWING OF GARRISON COPYRIGHT 1991,1996, RICHARD BARTHOLMEW. USED BY PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
An open letter from Gary Raymond
 In an appearance
before Judge Frank Marullo on Feb. 13, 1996, I was held in contempt of court
and sentenced to six months in jail for turning over to the federal Assassination
Records Review Board transcripts of testimony before the Orleans Parish Grand
Jury taken in connection with former District Attorney Jim Garrison's
investigation into the murder of President John F. Kennedy. I admitted to
the allegation made by the current DA, and I would appreciate the opportunity
to tell the citizens of New Orleans why.
In late 1974 or early 1975, I was ordered by Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick to destroy grand Jury records of Garrison's investigation into the Kennedy assassination. I felt then and I feel now that to have obeyed that order would have been a violation of my oath as a police officer. I was in the process of destroying outdated, non-essential grand jury transcripts of testimony taken in investigations as far back as the mid-1950's when I came across those in connection with the prosecution of Clay Shaw. Certain Mr. Connick would want them preserved, I packed them separately. On one of his visits to the storage area where the records were temporarily retained. I showed him the box of Kennedy material. I can only describe his behavior as some kind of bizarre outrage. He demanded immediate removal of the records from the building and destruction of them. They spent several days in the trunk of my car as I made several attempts to get him to reconsider the order. He was adamant about the destruction. I discussed the matter with several others in the office to no avail. I had three alternatives: (1) destroy the documents as ordered (2) deliver the box to Connick's office and tell him to have someone else do it; or (3)personally retain them, thereby preventing destruction. I opted for No. 3 and retained them for about 21 years. I was absolutely delighted to learn about the passage of the law known as the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. Passage of this legislation was directly attributed to the movie JFK, which was Hollywood's version of Mr. Garrison's investigation. Everything I heard and read about the law led me to believe it empowered the investigative arm it created, the Assassination Records Review Board, with far-reaching authority to unseal and make public any and all records conducted by any and all investigative agencies despite other laws or court orders that mandated secrecy. The first I head about the ARRB's presence in town was during a 10 p.m. newscast early in July 1995. I was amazed to see an excerpt of Connicl's testimony to the panel, expressing "shock" at taking office in 1974 and subsequently learning that Mr. Garrison's records had been "pilfered" by Mr. Garrison or members of his staff. I was numbed. Not only was Connick lying to the panel about the missing records, he was blaming their disappearance on a man no longer about to defend himself. But who could I call at 10:15 p.m.? I spent considerable time trying to locate a phone number for the board in Washington. I got nowhere. I then called Mr. Richard Angelico of WDSU TV and informed him of the situation and asked for his help. He called me back and told me the board was anxious to get the records and was concerned about the fact that Mr. Connick had lied. He gave me a name and number in Washington. However, I did not want to become embroiled in what I suspected would become a heated confrontation between Connick and the board, and I asked Mr. Angelico if he would get the documents to the board for me. He said he would and would protect my anonymity. My intent was three-fold: (1) I could finally get rid of the records; (2) I could offer some small defense for [the late]Mr. Garrison; and (3) the records would be in the hands of an agency which could protect and preserve them. Mr. Angelico lived up to his end of the bargain. I got the records to him knowing full well that no provision of Louisiana law prohibits him from having them once I gave them to him. He got them to the Review Board and apparently had a little journalistic fun with Harry Connick, who was embarrassed. He deserved to be. Only a foolish man would order the destruction of those records. Only a fool would have destroyed them. Gary R. Raymond |
Support the GARY RAYMOND DEFENSE FUND*!
Gary Raymond is a career investigator with a sterling reputation. He has safely guarded the grand jury documents for 21 years with out fanfare. Without going on television, without a book deal, without attempts for celebrity or financial gain.
Help him now. Mail your check or money order today!!! .
Gary Raymond
P.O. Box 910
Mandeville, LA 70470
*THESE FUNDS GO DIRECTLY TO MR. RAYMOND
Gary Raymond and Richard Angelico have fought to have the grand jury documents released to YOU, the public.
What can you do for them?
YOU CAN HELP GARY RAYMOND AND RICHARD ANGELICO
MAKE YOURSELF HEARD!
Please take a few minutes to write a professional plea for Judge Frank Marullo to suspend Mr. Raymond's sentence at his upcoming appeal hearing. Please do not attack Judge Marullo. It is imperative that he and other officials involved see this as an a sincere request to suspend Mr. Raymond's sentence. Mr. Raymond as stated he will not appeal his sentence and will accept a suspended sentence.
Judge Frank Marullo
Criminal District Court, Division D
2700 Tulane Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70119
Letters to the editors:
Letters to officials:
Read about the ongoing case of the Missing Garrison files:
INVESTIGATOR GARY RAYMOND JAILED OVER GRAND JURY
RECORDS
FILES MISSING FROM GARRISON INVESTIGATION
JFK ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD
SUBPOENAS GARRISON RECORDS FROM NEW ORLEANS DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DAVID MARWELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ARRB, LETTER TO THE TIMES
PICAYUNE
GRAND JUROR SPEAKS OUT ABOUT THE CLAY SHAW TRIAL
Playboy Magazine INTERVIEW WITH JIM
GARRISON (very good, long interview)
LYON H. GARRISON LETTER TO THE TIMES PICAYUNE
4-18-96
UPDATES
AND RELEASES FROM THE ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW
BOARD
Letter to the Editor of The New Orleans Gambit in support of
Gary Raymond
Richard Angelico Wins National
Honor
more added as it happens...
Playing "Fanfare For The Common Man" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer
EX-INVESTIGATOR WHO KEPT THE RECORDS IN JFK CASE JAILED
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA 2-15-96
New Orleans --
A one-time police officer was cited for contempt of court Tuesday and ordered to jail for six months for revealing secret grand jury transcripts of a 1960's investigation into president John F. Kennedy's assassination. Left unresolved was the question of whether a television reporter should also be held in contempt because he obtained the transcripts and aired the names of some of the witnesses who testified in former District Attorney Jim Garrison's probe of businessman Clay Shaw.
Left unresolved was the question of whether a televison reporter should be also be held in comtempt because he obtained the transcripts and aired the names of some of the witnesses who testified in the probe.
Criminal District Judge Frank Marullo found that Gary Raymond, who said he was ordered by District Attorney Harry Connick to destroy the records in 1974, had violated state law regarding the secrecy of grand juries.
Raymond was taken into custody immediately after being handed the maximum six-month jail term. He was released shortly afterward on $10,000 property bond.
Marullo said he was inclinded to find WDSU-TV reporter Richard Angelico, who received the transcripts from Raymond, incontempt. But he said he would rule February 22 after studying court cases regarding reporter' rights.
Garrison, who died in 1992, was the former district attorney whose investigation and indictment of Shaw on murder charges was fictionalized by filmmaker Oliver Stone in the movie "JFK".
The current case broke when Connick told the federal Assassination Records Review Board on June 28 that files from Garrison's investigation disappeared when Garrison left office.
But on July 11, Angelico reported the existence of records that had been kept by a former Connick staff member. Raymond testified Tuesday that he considered the transcripts historic and kept them for 21 years until he heard of Connick's testimony before the records board. "Not only is the man lying, but he is trying to pin it on Garrison's people," Raymond said.
Assistant District Attorney Camille Buras said that Connick was referring to investigative files and the review board had been told that if grand jury transcripts still existed, they would not be turned over. Buras said the district attorney considered the records stolen.
Raymond said he contacted Angelico who agreed to pass the records on to the review board. According to documents submitted in court, the records also were mailed to Hugh Aynesworth, an investigative reporter in Dallas. Raymond said he knew nothing of Angelico's plan to report on the transcripts.
"If Mr. Angelico wanted to have some fun with Harry Connick, that was his business," Raymond said. "Connick was embarrassed, and he deserved to be."
Angelico's attorney, Julian Murray, said Angelico was not a court officer affected by the secrecy requirement, and his reporting was covered by the First Amendment.
"He (Angelico) did nothing illegal. he obtained the materials legally and has the First Amendment right to disseminate them," Murray said. Murray said the case, showed Connick had lied to the review board and, thus, the transcripts were a matter of public interest.
"What Mr. Raymond testified to is exactly why there are constitutional rights to protect reporters," Murray argued. "When the district attorney states (to the review board) that these records should have been preserved and he himself ordered their destruction, it is a matter of public interest."
Angelico did not testify.
But Burras said Angelico violated the secrecy guarantee given to grand jury witnesses. "He knew those witnesses didn't want their words disseminated to the public and to Mr. Aynesworth," Buras said.
Connick was not in court.
NEW ORLEANS --Times Picayune
INVESTIGATOR GARY RAYMOND JAILED OVER GRAND JURY RECORDS
A former investigator for Jim Garrison, whose Kenndy assassination probe was fictionalized by Oliver Stone in the movie "JFK" was thrown in jail February 13, 1996 for giving secret records to a federal panel.
Shortly after Harry Connick succeeded Garrison as District Attorney in 1974, he ordered Gary Raymond to destroy the records of Garrison's grand jury proceedings. Instead Raymond put the files in the trunk of his car, then kept them hidden for 21 years. He wasn't sure what to do with them --until Connick told the Assassination Records Review Board last June 28, 1996 that the files had disappeared when Garrison left office.
"Not only is the man lying about these records, but he is trying to pin it on Garrison's people," Raymond said.
Raymond went to WDSU-TV reporter Richard Angelico with the files, and asked him to pass them on to the review board.
"These documents are an important part of the Garrison investigation," said Tom Samulok, spokesperson for the review board. "They involve an important and much studied chapter of the Kennedy assassination story."
But Criminal District Court Judge Frank Marullo ordered Raymond jailed for six months, the maximum for violating a state law regarding the secrecy of grand juries. He was taken into custody and released shortly after posting a $10,000 bond. He remains free during his appeal.
Raymond said he went to Angelico only because the reporter knew who to contact on the review board. He said he knew nothing of Angellico's plan to report on the transcipts.
"If Mr. Angelico wanted to have some fun with Harry Connick, that was his business," Raymond said. "Connick was embarrassed and he deserved to be."
Samuloka said the board, which now has the records, wants to release them to the public. But Connick wants them back on the grounds that state law guards the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.
The Associated Press
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 19:00:17 PST
NEW ORLEANS -- A former investigator for Jim Garrison, whose Kennedy assassination probe was fictionalized by Oliver Stone in the movie ``JFK,'' was thrown in jail Tuesday for giving secret records to a federal panel.
A judge also was considering contempt charges against a television reporter who obtained the secret grand jury transcripts from investigator Gary Raymond and aired the names of witnesses who testified decades ago. Shortly after Harry Connick succeeded Garrison as District Attorney in 1974, he ordered Raymond to destroy the records of Garrison's grand jury proceeding.
Instead, Raymond put the files in the trunk of his car, then kept them hidden for 21 years. He wasn't sure what to do with them -- until Connick told the Assassination Records Review Board last June 28 that the files had disappeared when Garrison left office.
``Not only is the man lying about these records, but he is trying to pin it on Garrison's people,'' Raymond said.
Raymond went to WDSU-TV reporter Richard Angelico with the files, and asked him to pass them on to the review board. ``These documents are an important part of the historical record of the Kennedy assassination because they were part of the Garrison investigation,'' said Tom Samoluk, spokesman for the review board.``They involve an important and much-studied chapter of the Kennedy assassination story.''
But Criminal District Judge Frank Marullo ordered Raymond jailed for six months, the maximum, for violating a state law regarding the secrecy of grand juries. He was taken into custody and released shortly after posting a $10,000 bond. He remains free during his appeal.
Marullo said he was inclined to find Angelico in contempt, but would rule on Feb. 22 after studying court cases regarding reporters' rights.
Raymond said he only went to Angelico because the reporter knew who to contact on the review board. He said he knew nothing of Angelico's plan to report on the transcripts.
``If Mr. Angelico wanted to have some fun with Harry Connick, that was his business,'' Raymond said. ``Connick was embarrassed and he deserved to be.''
Samoluk said the board, which now has the records, wants to release them to the public. But Connick wants them back on the grounds that state law guards the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. ``We have not released them,'' Samoluk said. ``We intend to clarify their legal status before we do anything with them.''
The board was created by Congress in 1992 in an attempt to address any public concern that the government has not divulged all it knows about the assassination. Its job is to uncover any new records related to the assassination and review for possible release those records the federal government wants to keep secret. It can delay release only until 2017, the deadline set by law. So far, hundreds of thousands of Kennedy assassination records have been logged with the National Archives.
(Contributed by Lisa Pease)
New Orleans Times Picayune (NO) - THURSDAY, June 29, 1995 By: DAVID SNYDER Staff writer Edition: THIRD Section: NATIONAL Page: A1
FILES MISSING FROM GARRISON INVESTIGATION
Most of the files compiled by Jim Garrison in his attempt to prove a conspiracy in the assassination of President Kennedy were "pilfered," Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick told a federal board Wednesday.
"Our criminal code calls that theft," Connick told the Assassination Records Review Board, which is trying to find all records connected with the assassination.
"These files were rifled and they took from the files what would have been of great interest to the people of New Orleans," Connick said.
Connick said one five-drawer file cabinet remained when he took over from Garrison an office that he found in a "sorry state of affairs." Later, Connick said, he learned that four file cabinets had disappeared. They contained hundreds of documents from Garrison's four-year investigation of what he said was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy. Clay Shaw, a prominent New Orleans businessman, was tried for conspiracy and acquitted.
Connick urged those who took the material to "come forward with the records and get them into the hands of the assassination review board."
Louis Ivon, who was Garrison's chief investigator and is an investigator for Connick, said hundreds of tapes of interviews conducted by the office also are missing. Gone, too, is a file cabinet containing material pertaining only to David Ferrie, whom Garrison claimed was the pilot of a getaway plane that was to whisk the assassins out of Dallas.
Ivon said he last saw the Garrison files in the basement of the Criminal Courts Building, where the district attorney's office was then located.
An article buried in the Metro section of today's (2/23/96) issue of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (no byline other than "By the Associated Press) reports that WDSU-TV reporter Richard Angelico was found guilty of contempt Thursday for his role in the Connick/Raymond imbroglio. Angelico was given a three-month suspended jail term and fined $100 by Criminal District Court Judge Frank Marullo.
In an ironic twist regrettably all too familiar to New Orleanians, the article that warranted front-page attention chronicles Judge Marullo's latest judicial embarrassment: he is one of three criminal court judges who wrote letters of recommendation to a federal judge on behalf of convicted racketeer Anthony Carollo, a longtime organized crime figure whose conviction in a case involving video poker prompted Marullo's intercession. Only in New Orleans...
N E W S R E L E A S E
MARCH 7, 1996 (202)
JFK ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD SUBPOENAS GARRISON RECORDS FROM NEW
The Assassination Records Review Board announced today that it has subpoenaed records from the investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy conducted by former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. The records are held by current New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick. Connick has failed to comply with the subpoena. A federal judge in New Orleans did not grant a motion by the District Attorney to quash the subpoena, and ordered the parties to arrange for a convenient time for the transfer of documents to the Review Board. Connick has failed to comply with the judges order and the Board is now seeking enforcement of it.
The Review Board took this step to ensure that the public interest in these assassination records is protected, said the Honorable John R. Tunheim, Chair of the Review Board. It is still our hope and desire to resolve this matter without lengthy legal proceedings.
The subpoena required the District Attorney to produce all documents and records in [his] possession, custody or control relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, including but not limited to handwritten notes, memoranda, drawings, photographs, tape recordings, and correspondence that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Clay Shaw by former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, with the exception of any grand jury materials still extant in the possession of the District Attorneys Office.
Connick did not produce the records by February 16, 1996, as required by the subpoena. On February 16, Judge Marcel Livaudais, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, ordered the Review Board and Connick to find a mutually agreeable time for production of the documents in New Orleans. Connick has failed to agree to a time to produce the documents. The Review Board filed papers today in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans seeking enforcement of Judge Livaudais order.
District Attorney Connick told the Review Board last summer that he would donate the files from Garrisons assassination investigation that remain in his office for inclusion in the JFK Assassination Records Collection. The subpoena was issued after the District Attorney had failed to forward the Garrison-era records to the Review Board during the last eight months, despite the Review Boards repeated attempts to encourage Connick to do so. The records are defined as assassination records within the meaning of the Boards governing statute, The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act).
Another matter related to the Garrison assassination investigation records is pending between the Review Board and District Attorney Connick. In July 1995, the Board received an unsolicited shipment of records that allegedly are Grand Jury transcripts from the Garrison investigation. These records have not been made public by the Board. The law presumes that the Board will preserve assassination records, such as the Garrison Grand Jury records, in its possession for inclusion in the JFK Assassination Records Collection at the National Archives. District Attorney Connick has sought the return of these records. The Review Board has not returned the documents, citing its legal obligation under the JFK Act, but has repeatedly offered to seek a resolution of the matter with the District Attorney. Connick has refused to engage in any discussions with the Board.
The Assassination Records Review Board was established by The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which was signed into law by President George Bush. The five members of the Board were appointed by President Clinton, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and sworn in on April 11, 1994. The law gives the Review Board the mandate and the authority to identify, secure, and make available all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy. It is the responsibility of the Board to determine which records are to be made public immediately and which ones will have postponed release dates.
Times Picayune, 3/15/96: Letter to the Editor
David Marwell, Executive Director, ARRB
Washington DC
I read with interest David Snyder's article "Garrison:Documents reveal wild speculations" (March 10) and was surprised to learn that District Attorney Harry Connick has again made the Garrison-era investigative records under his control available to a representative of the media while continuing to deny them to the American public.
Last June, Connick told the Assassination Records Review Board, an independent federal agency with the mandate to complile as complete a record as possible of the assassination of President Kennedy, that he would give up the Garrison records so that they could be placed in the National Archives and be freely available to anyone who was interested.
Since then, Mr. Connick has not only refused to live up to this commitment, but has also acted as sole arbiter in decisions concerning access to the records. He has, in effect, substituted his judgement on who should have access to these records for that of Congress, which has mandated that they be available to all.
The Garrison investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy represents an important chapter in the history of the assassination and its aftermath. The law states that the records of this investigation should be part of the JFK Assassination Collection at the National Archives, where they will be catalogued, cared for and made accessible to all by professional archivists.
Instead, District Attorney Connick believes he should be the one to decide who should see them. His repeated refusal to discuss the matter has unfortunately resulted in the Review Board and the office of the district attorney devoting valuable resources to resolve the matter in court.
The Records Review Board faces a huge task and has limited resources. We hope District Attorney Connick will abandon his present course and join us in shedding light on the history surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy.
David Marwell
Executive Director, Assassinations Record Review Board
GRAND JUROR SPEAKS OUT ABOUT THE CLAY SHAW TRIAL
New Orleans Times Picayune (NO) - SATURDAY June 15, 1991 Edition: THIRD Section: METRO Page: B6
New Orleans--
I was a member of the Orleans Parish Grand Jury involved in the Kennedy assassination conspiracy probe in 1967. From that perspective, I take exception to what has been printed in The Times-Picayune recently about the Clay Shaw conspiracy trial.
This exception has to do with attorney F. Irvin Dymond's statement, "I don't think he (Garrison) had any case; I think he knew he didn't have any case. (The Times-Picayune, June 1).
On May 26, a column by Iris Kelso referred to how Oliver Stone was handling the movie version of the Kennedy assassination. She wrote, "But if Stone is going to make Garrison a hero and gloss over the fact that he may have put an innocent man on trial for the crime of the century with shoddy evidence or no evidence at all . . ."
Both of these statements about not having a case or shoddy or no evidence ignore certain facts about the Clay Shaw affair. They would seem to want us to believe that Garrison acted all alone, with no real evidence against Shaw, that he deliberately concocted the prosecution of Shaw.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Their statements would seem to lead us to believe that a district attorney can do whatever he wants, that there are no protections for the innocent citizen.
Dymond and Kelso know Garrison did not act alone. Many important, respected people concurred with him that there was a case against Shaw.
On March 14, 1967, three Criminal Court judges heard Garrison's case in a preliminary hearing to determine if there was sufficient evidence against Shaw to hold him for trial. What did they conclude? That there was sufficient evidence.
Malcolm V. O'Hara, Bernard J. Bagert and Matthew S. Braniff heard evidence over a four-day period. Were they duped by Garrison? I think not.
Garrison then presented his evidence to a 12-member grand jury. We ruled that there was sufficient evidence to bring Shaw to trial. I believe we were impressed by the care with which Garrison and his assistant district attorneys handled the evidence and its presentation to us. Were we duped by Garrison? I think not.
When remarks such as those of Dymond and Kelso are published, they tend to cloud the truth, they seem to impugn the intelligence and dedication of judges and grand jurors, two essential links in our criminal justice system. Garrison did not win the trial, true. But he had every right to go to trial. In fact, once the grand jury returned the indictment against Shaw, he had no choice but to go to trial.
Shaw was found innocent by a jury of his peers. No one quarrels with that outcome. It's the American way. It protects all of us. And Dymond did his usual fine job in defending Shaw.
But just that he won acquittal for Shaw does not mean there should not have been a trial. Neither does it mean there was no real evidence against Shaw.
It does mean that the entire legal system was played out to its fullest. That we should all respect.
Jay C. Albarado
(clipping courtsey of Milicent Cranor)
TIMES PICAYUNE APRIL 18, 1996 Letter to the Editor
Garrison's R raps Article
Since my father's death in 1992, The Times-Picayune has published several malicious and inaccurate articles about him.
Although I am accustomed to The Times-Picayune's biased reporting, the most recent article, "Garrison paid witnesses in Shaw case, records say," April 10, an editorial in the form of a news story on the front page, warrants the following response.
The basis of this article is a 1967 unsworn statement by William Gurvich. David Snyder's article incorrectly state that Mr. Gurvich worked for Jim Garrison as an investigator. Mr. Gurvich was a private investigator who volunteered to help in the investigation, but he disappeared a short time later. (See Jim Garrison, "On The Trail Of The Assassins, " page 169.)
Mr. Gurvich was never actually employed by the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. To the contrary, he evidently aided defense counsel, based on the fact that he was discussing the case with them in 1967. Additionally, an Assassination Records Review Board release, dated April 9, 1996, reveals that Mr. Gurvich gave many of the district attorney's internal office memoranda and statements to the defense team.
Notwithstanding the ethical considerations of Mr. Gurvich's actions during the pending investigation, his statement is so vague and ambiguous that it is meaningless. As cited in The Times-Picayune, Mr. Gurvich's description of an alleged payment by the district attorney is: "I don't know exactly. He doesn't put out much. He only puts, like 10 or 20 on Clyde Johnson when Clyde comes in and I think the minister is worth a lot more than Dago Garner."
This inconclusive statement is of no moment because Clyde Johnson and Mr. Garner were not witnesses. They never testified in front of the grand jury, which returned an indictment, or at the Shaw trial. Further, the suggestion that witnesses could be bought in a case of this magnitude for a mere $10 or $20 is absurd.
Indisputably, Clay Shaw was represented by experienced attorneys. If there was any evidence that Jim Garrison paid potential witnesses, this would have been brought out by the defense attorneys before the trial.
Mr. Snyder wrote that these potential witnesses were coached by Jim Garrison. Mr. Snyder cited the following excerpt from Mr. Gurvich's statement as the basis of this allegation: "Jim probably handled that himself because every time I would see Johnson except the last time, he was always in Garrison's office."
Mr. Gurvich's lack of knowledge regarding the substance of those conversations indicates that his assumption that the district attorney was "coaching" Johnson is nothing more than unsupported conjecture and a boorish effort to impugn my father's character. Without knowing the substance of the alleged conversations, the fact that Jim Garrison spoke to a potential witness at the district attorney's office is, in Mr. Snyder's mind, evidence of coaching.
Finally, and most important, having been well acquainted with my father, I know he was intelligent, honest, and sincere. Frankly, I don't care about David Snyder's opinions. However, when Mr. Snyder's opinions appear on the front page in the form of a news article, I must respond.
In the future, perhaps The Times-Picayune can use better judgement and print its editorials on the editorial page instead of the front page. That way, I can read the news and avoid the newspaper's biased opinions.
Lyon H. Garrison
Letter to the Editor of The New Orleans Gambit in support of Gary Raymond
Hero To Truth
To the editor,
The story of district attorney staff worker Gary Raymond has reached Philadelphia, and I find it distressing and shameful. So do the eighth-grade students in my classes. America is nothing if it cannot live by its stated ideals of respect for an informed citizenry. America is nothing if it jails honest men like Mr. Raymond, who had the heroic courage to refuse to follow the bidding of his employer, District Attorney Harry Connick, and destroy historical records.
The files of Jim Garrison's case against Clay Shaw in the assassination of President John Kennedy are public record funded by tax money and now mandated by Congress to be reviewed by the Assassination Records Board. It is our history and not the private property of any elected individual. America was conceived in order to protect us from private agendas like those of King George and Harry Connick.
Every student in our schools knows that question and hypothesis must be proved by evidence. That is the basic curriculum and the foundation for civilized progress. Destruction of evidence is a deliberate act of war against the entire process of rational thought. Destruction of evidence is what Harry Connick is advocating. It is sad to witness a judicial process in New Orleans that has acted as an accessory to this reprehensible action that flies in the face of law, of Congress and of constitutional protection.
The public has a right to know what is in files paid for with tax dollars. Elected officials who deny that right should be promptly impeached. A democracy lives only when a rich diet of information is available&emdash;then let the people decide. Harry Connick is not the one to decide. He would wipe out valuable source data. That's abuse of power and a failing grade in any classroom in America.
Too many unanswered questions remain about the murder of a president. The evidence has been withheld, and answers have been provided without evidence. That's bad science, bad governing and abuse of power. Gary Raymond is a hero in this story, one of the many who have borne the slings and arrows of official hits simply because they dared to look for evidence, and perhaps for truth.
Pearl Gladstone
June 19, 1996
WDSU-TV investigative reporter Richard Angelico was honored with the First Amendment Award last week by the national board of the Society of Professional Journalists for his outgoing fight with New Orleans DA Harry Connick Sr. over Kennedy assassination records.
Connick is trying to hold Angelico and his source in contempt of court for sending grand jury records from the Clay Shaw case to the federal Assassination Records Review Board. A congressional act requires the board to gather and preserve all records relating to the Kennedy assassination.
At Connick's urging, Criminal Court Judge Frank Marullo Jr. held Angelico and his source, former DA's investigator Gary Raymond, in contempt earlier this year, Marullo's ruling was based on the notion that Angelico, because he is a veteran investigative reporter, should have known that grand jury records must be kept secret under state law. Attorneys for Angelico are appealing that decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.
In its notice to Angelico about the First Amendment Award, the national journalists' group commended the veteran investigative reporter for his "continuing efforts on behalf of the First Amendment and...dedication to the public's right to know important information."
In a related matter, U.S. District Judge Marcel Livaudais last week ordered Connick to turn over all remaining records from the Shaw case to the Assassination Records Review Board. The board has subpoenaed the records, which it is authorized to do by federal law, because Connick refused to cooperate with the board. Connick's attorney's had argued that the Shaw case records are not "assassination records" under the federal act. Livaudais disagreed. His ruling is expected to bolster Angelico's appeal in state court.
July 7, 1996
THANK YOU!
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