F. Lee Bailey
I was surprised to read here that Bailey became a Marine jet pilot. That's interesting, you have to be very brave, tough and focused to achieve that. Odd what dimensions of character people have that you would not know unless you read their bios.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Francis Bailey, see Francis Bailey (disambiguation).
| F. Lee Bailey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Francis Lee Bailey, Jr. June 10, 1933 Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University Boston University School of Law |
| Occupation | Lawyer, businessman, author |
| Known for | High profile defense attorney |
| Spouse(s) | Florence Gott (1960–1961) (divorced) Froma Portney (–1972) (divorced) Lynda Hart (1972–1980) (divorced) Patricia Shiers (1985–1999) (her death) |
| Children | Scott F. Bailey |
Contents
Education and military service
Bailey was born in Waltham, Massachusetts. He went to Cardigan Mountain School and then Kimball Union Academy, graduating in the class of 1950. Bailey studied at Harvard College, but dropped out in 1952 to join the United States Marine Corps. Bailey received his aviator wings in 1954.[2] He served as a jet fighter pilot and a legal officer. He was discharged in 1956. Bailey received his LL.B. from Boston University, where he was ranked first in his graduating class in 1960.[3]Notable cases
Sam Sheppard
In 1954, Dr. Sam Sheppard was found guilty in the murder of his wife Marilyn. The case was believed to be the inspiration for the Fugitive television series (1963–1967) and the 1993 movie.[4] Bailey, at the time a resident of Rocky River, Ohio, was hired by Sheppard's brother Stephen to help in his brother's appeal. In 1966, Bailey successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that Sheppard had been denied due process, winning a re-trial. A not-guilty verdict followed. This case established Bailey's reputation as a skilled defense attorney and was the first of many high-profile cases.[citation needed]"Boston Strangler"
While defendant Albert DeSalvo was in jail for the "Green Man" sexual assaults, he confessed his guilt in the "Boston Strangler" murders to Bailey. DeSalvo was found guilty of the assaults but was never tried for the stranglings.[5]Dr. Carl A. Coppolino
Dr. Coppolino was accused of murdering his wife, Dr. Carmela Coppolino (August 28, 1965), and his neighbor Lt. Col. William Farber (July 30, 1963). The prosecution claimed that Coppolino injected his victims with a curare-like substance called succinylcholine chloride, which at the time was undetectable due to limited forensic technology. Bailey, who had won Sam Sheppard an acquittal in November 1966, successfully defended Coppolino in the New Jersey case over the death of Lt. Col. Farber in December 1966. However, Coppolino was convicted of murdering his wife in Florida. He was paroled after serving 12 years of his sentence.[citation needed]Ernest Medina
Bailey successfully defended U.S. Army Captain Ernest Medina in his 1971 court-martial for responsibility in the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War.Patty Hearst
The case of Patty Hearst, a newspaper heiress who had committed armed bank robberies after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), was one of Bailey's defeats. Patty Hearst describes his closing argument in her autobiography as "disjointed" and that she suspected he had been drinking. During his closing argument, Bailey spilled a glass of water on his pants.[6]1994 DuBoc case
In 1994, while the O.J. Simpson case was being tried, Bailey and Robert Shapiro represented Claude DuBoc, an accused marijuana dealer. In a plea bargain agreement with the U.S. Attorney, DuBoc agreed to turn over his assets to the U.S. government. These included a large block of stock in BioChem, worth approximately $6 million at the time of the plea deal. When the government sought to collect the stock, it had increased in value to $20 million. Bailey claimed he was entitled to the appreciation in payment of his legal fees. Since he had used the stock as collateral for loans, he was unable to turn over the stock to the government. In 2000, he was sent to prison for contempt. After 44 days at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee, Bailey's brother succeeded in raising the money to enable him to return the stock, and he was freed.[3][4]O.J. Simpson
Bailey joined the O. J. Simpson defense team just before the preliminary hearing. Bailey held numerous press conferences to discuss the progress of the case. In a press conference prior to his cross-examination of Mark Fuhrman, Bailey said, "any lawyer in his right mind who would not be looking forward to cross-examining Mark Fuhrman is an idiot". His famous cross-examination of Fuhrman is considered by many to be the key to Simpson's acquittal. In front of a jury composed predominantly of people of color, Bailey got the detective to claim he never used the word "nigger" to describe blacks at any time during the previous ten years, a claim the defense team easily found evidence to refute. Ultimately, the statement that Bailey drew from the detective forced Fuhrman to plead the Fifth in his next courtroom appearance, thereby undermining his credibility with the jury and the otherwise devastating evidence he allegedly found. Bailey also attracted minor attention for keeping a silver flask on the defense table, which fellow defense attorney Robert Kardashian claimed contained only coffee.[7]William & Chantal McCorkle
Chantal McCorkle (born 1968, Slough, England) is a British citizen. Along with William, her American husband, she was tried and convicted in 1998 in Florida for her part in a financial fraud. The McCorkles sold kits purporting to show buyers how to get rich by buying property in foreclosures and government auctions. They advertised on infomercials. Among the grounds for their conviction was their representation in the infomercials that they owned luxury automobiles and airplanes (actually rented for the commercials), and their use of purported testimonials from satisfied customers, who were actually paid actors.[8]She, represented by Mark Horwitz, and her husband, represented by Bailey, were each originally sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison under mandatory sentencing laws. After two appeals, the McCorkles' sentences were reduced in 2006 to 18 years.[9]
"Paul is Dead"
Bailey was featured in an RKO television special, in which he conducted a mock trial, examining various expert "witnesses" on the subject of the Paul is dead rumor referring to Beatle Paul McCartney.[10][11] One of the experts was Fred LaBour, whose article in The Michigan Daily had been instrumental in the spread of the urban legend. LaBour told Bailey during a pre-show meeting that he had made the whole thing up. Bailey responded, "Well, we have an hour of television to do. You're going to have to go along with this." The program aired locally in New York City on November 30, 1969, and was never re-aired.[12][13]Disbarment
Bailey's visible public profile has come both as a result of the cases he has taken and for his own personal actions.[14] In 2001, he was disbarred in the state of Florida, with reciprocal disbarment in Massachusetts on April 11, 2003. The Florida disbarment was the result of his handling of stock in the DuBoc marijuana case. Bailey was found guilty of seven counts of attorney misconduct by the Florida Supreme Court. Bailey had transferred a large portion of DuBoc's assets into his own accounts, using the interest gained on those assets to pay for personal expenses. In March 2005, Bailey filed to regain his law license in Massachusetts but failed.Bailey's application to practice law in the state of Maine
In 2012, Bailey passed the bar examination in Maine and applied for a law license; in 2012 the Maine Board of Bar Examiners voted 5–4 to deny his application. The majority said Bailey had not proved by "clear and convincing evidence that he possesses the requisite honesty and integrity" to practice law.[15] Bailey appealed, petitioning the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to review the denial. In March 2013, a two-day hearing was held by Supreme Judicial Court Justice Donald Alexander in which Bailey's present suitability to practice law was examined. Justice Alexander filed a 57-page ruling on April 19, 2013, stating that Bailey "was almost fit to practice law, except for an outstanding tax debt of nearly $2 million".[16] Bailey was allowed to move for reconsideration of the decision "if [he] offer[ed] a plan to repay the nearly $2 million he owes in back taxes to the federal government".[16] Initially, the government had claimed that Bailey owed $4 million in back taxes. However, representing himself before the tax court, Bailey was successful in having the amount owed reduced to $2 million [17]In June 2013, Bailey's attorney, Peter DeTroy, filed a motion for reconsideration of the decision. After oral arguments were heard on the reconsideration, Justice Alexander granted the motion, stating that "[a] general survey of the state precedent on the debt payment issue suggests that the existence of a debt, by itself, may not result in a finding of lack of good moral character...Rather, findings of failure of proof of good moral character tend to be based on misconduct regarding effort — or lack of effort — to pay the debt, or misconduct referencing the debt payment obligation in the bar admission process."[18] This cleared the way for Bailey to obtain a Maine law license. However, Maine's Board of Bar Examiners appealed Justice Alexander's decision to the entire Supreme Court, minus Alexander.[19] On April 10, 2014, the court reversed the decision, preventing him from practicing law in Maine.[20][21]
Publications
- Non-fiction
- The Defense Never Rests, co-author with Harvey Aronson. Stein and Day, 1971. ISBN 0-8128-1441-X.
- For the Defense. Atheneum, 1975. ISBN 0-689-10667-X.
- Cleared for the Approach: In Defense of Flying, co-author with John Greenya. Prentice Hall, 1977. ISBN 0-13-136663-7.
- How to Protect Yourself Against Cops in California and Other Strange Places. Stein & Day, 1982. ISBN 0-8128-2891-7.
- Excellence in Cross-Examination, co-author with Kenneth J. Fishman. Thomson West, 2013. ISBN 0-3146-2126-1.
- Fiction
- Secrets (1977).
- Magazine
- Gallery, publisher (1972).[22]
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