Charlie's Sixth Amendment rights (or lack of)

Friend of the blog, Mr. Robert Hendrickson was kind enough to share with us a doozy of a find on Ebay! It is the court transcript of December 24, 1969 (Christmas eve), where Manson appeared before Judge William B. Keene to determine if he had the ability to "represent" himself. (Please read transcript first):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOSEPH-A-BALL-SIGNED-FDC-DETERMINED-CHARLES-MANSON-COULD-REPRESENT-HIMSELF-JFK-/271278682217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f29783069#ht_5823wt_958

Ok, the part I didn't understand is why the judge told him he couldn't have co-counsel, but could ask for assistance from any capable attorney of his choosing. To me, it sounded almost like the same thing, but I am sure in legal terms, it was NOT. Here is where Judge Keene confuses me:

"But, as I say, it will not be on the basis of three or four or five individuals with the ability to be co-counsel in the matter with each one attempting to call the shots. You are going to have to call the shots yourself."

Something else makes me think too. The part Manson said about the "generation gap." I completely understand where he was coming from in that aspect. Could that have been the motivation behind his need to represent himself? Nothing they did, or said could convince him otherwise. He really made a mistake in his attempt at speaking for himself! Manson never knew when to shut up, and listen. One wonders if Manson would of retained the services of a bad-ass attorney, sat quietly in a suit & tie, and had a short haircut (not shaved), would things have been different, as far as making an impression on the judge & jury? Would they have seen him through rose-colored glasses? Me thinks not! In all honesty, Manson was convicted already, even before the trial began. Look at the incredible negative publicity surrounding the case. You know like hell those jurors SAW, and READ stuff about the murders even before they were called for jury duty. Didn't even Nixon make a comment in front of the press about Manson being guilty? Let me be clear on something, though. I am, by no means a fan of Charles Manson! Personally, I think he is a little creep, BUT I do feel that his rights were violated, and he didn't really get a fair trial. I am not the only one who thinks so either. Internationally known attorney Giovanni De Stefano came to the same conclusion in 2010 when he filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asserting Manson had been illegally convicted. Of course, that could take years, since IACHR is backlogged with cases, and the courts could always argue that the reason Manson's Pro Per rights were withdrawn was because of his courtroom antics! OK, enough of my blabbering lips....Let us now hear from Mr. Robert Hendrickson on the subject at hand:

Austin Ann has apparently struck right to the heart of the relevant legal issue - "to have the assistance of counsel" outside the courtroom, verses the right to have co-counsel present in the courtroom during the trial and available for actual questioning of witnesses. 

FIRST: It must be realized that on December 24, 1969 at the subject hearing Charles Manson was "representing" himself in Pro Per, AND up until that time he was considered a model Pro Per inmate. Only after his U.S. Constitutional right to "represent" himself was set aside, did he revert to verbal outbursts, etc. in the courtroom. 

SECOND: It should be obvious that a "judicial" word game (between two supposed legal minds) was at play there. BUT when Judge Keene gave Charles Manson the ultimatium to "waive" his Constitutional right to the Sixth Amendment OR he would be denied his right to "represent" himself in Court, it could only turn ugly. It was then a "contest" between two super-egos (one representing the "establishment" and one representing the underdog) 

NOTE: Any attorney who advises a defendant to "waive" any Constitution right may be considered incompetant OR corrupt. 

THIRD: Shortly after this hearing, the same Judge Keene determined that "Mr. Manson is incapable of representing himself."  The judge held that to allow Mr. Manson to represent himself would bring about a fundamental denial of due process.

Of course back then, Judge Keene seemingly WON the battle, BUT today we realize that Charles Manson WON the war. Was the Judge actually tricked by a clever con - probably. BUT Judge Keene obviously shirked his judical duties by ignoring the rights of the three girl defendants - in favor of making it all-about-Manson.

Because the U.S. Consitution states: "to have the Assistance of Counsel FOR HIS DEFENSE," we only need to understand where "his defense" actually takes place and whether the act of "Assistance of Counsel" can include the examining of witnesses.

For me, because MY right to "free speech" (regarding the MANSON movie) was actually set aside by a Federal Judge in the Lynette Fromme / Gerald Ford case, I personally feel a profound connection to Manson's Constitutional "right" denial and mine. On the other hand, can we really expect a so-called "judge" to render substantial "justice" when a Constitutional Amendment is worded so carelessly that several miss-interpretations can be derived so easily? 

Robert Hendrickson

WikiQuote: Charles Manson

WikiQuote has a Manson page. A few that either made me laugh or otherwise caught my attention:

You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy.
 - Interview by Diane Sawyer (1994)

As long as there's hate in your heart, there'll be hate in the world. You can't fight for peace and you cannot capture freedom.
 - Interview track from Charles Manson Sings (2006)

Death is psychosomatic
 - NBC interview (1987)

READ THE WIKI HERE

Rare Sharon

In Paris

Contributed by William Marshall

ONE

Charles Manson Unpublished Interview

This is the recently released text of an interview with Charles Manson that was to have been in Penthouse magazine.  The correspondence includes letters between the person setting up the interview and Bob Guccione.

Nothing really new,  Manson admits to shooting Lottsapoppa, rambles a bit about having to try to fix Bobby's messes and goes on a diatribe about underage runaways.  They are going to cause his downfall, don't cha know!

From - http://www.vice.com/en_se/read/charles-manson-interview

Debra Tate and the Oui article

This is the text of Debra Tate's Oui magazine debut.  Yep, aside from the one dozen photos, one being the centerfold, there are words amongst the photos!  This was published March 1977.

I know some wonder why so much scorn is heaped Debra's way.  This is just one example of her actions that have contributed to that scorn.  There is nothing demure or tasteful about the photos, nothing is left to the imagination. The timing of the publication couldn't have been worse either.  Leslie Van Houten's second trial began January 1977 just weeks before Debra's photo spread.  While Leslie was not being tried for the Cielo Drive murders those murders were back in the spotlight and undoubtedly Doris and Paul Tate were having an emotional time of it.

The piece was one long continuous paragraph, I split it up where I thought it was appropriate to make it easier to read.

DEBRA TATE
WATCH THE FUR FLY

Men tell her she will grow out of these fur fancies and move on to the hard stuff: hairy chests.  Debra just smiles.  What does she really want, they ask.  Debra says mink. And high heels.  And cherry-red lipstick. But primarily mink.  Because it tickles when your naked.  Like a man.  Yes, her name is famed, and YES, SHE IS THE BABY SISTER OF SHARON TATE, THE LATE GREAT, [this part was capitalized in large print in the article] who helped raised Debra in the whirl of the Sunset Strip Sixties.  As you can see, Debra has come of age.

She has dealt with that which had to be dealt with.  She is not running after a movie career and has no interest in the sort of public life that Sharon lived.  Debra wants none of that.  She has her own concerns.  Secret concerns.  By day, she passes for just another spectacularly built California girl who races horses down the rolling verdure that leads to her beach house, body surfs in her front yard ocean and thinks happy thoughts: ermine-lined license plates; finding her inner peace in a sable.  But that's just the daytime.

In the early evening, she lolls around with the black sheep of Hollywood, a circuit of brothers, sisters and children of famous people.  They have quiet luaus by the pool.  They complain about est seminars.  Debra is soon bored.  She presses a button and the time lights up on her gold watch.  Deliverance is near, for after midnight, the leopard changes her spots and the fur fantasies begin in earnest.

Debra sneaks off to a gay disco with a pack of boys.  She wears her Black Diamonds mink over nothing. This is her comment on the Hollywood status scene: everything on the line:  price tags up front.  The dancers bop-ba-bop.  Debra takes her time.  Suddenly, as if by accident, she lets her mink fall open.  A tinsel star falls from the ceiling.  Somewhere a galaxy explodes.  One man drops his drink.  Debra blows him a kiss.  She takes a cigarette from her garter strap.  A man who identifies himself as a Milanese count turned movie producer lights it for her.  She is not fooled.  She exhales smoke into his eyes.

Spaghetti disaster-flicks indeed!  Her sister warned her about these lounge lizards.  Debra turns up her collar and leaves.  Fast, faster, fastest.  Her Lamborghini zips along the Pacific Palisades.  The steep, winding descent to the shore.  Off with the mink, on with the boa.  Debra wraps herself in it and wanders naked through her many windowed beach house.  ONLY THE SEA SEES WHAT SHE DOES WITH HER SERPENTINE LOVER.  [again this is capitalized in large print in the article]

The unconstricting boa slithers over her blushing landscape.  The sea waves.  Tonight Debra is angry.  Tonight she plays rough.  She drags her mink across the redwood floor, grinds her silver heels into it.  For this, she must later suffer the boa's flagellations.  (It's only a game.  No one is hurt.  Even the fur glistens afterwards.) 

But then the phone rings.  Oh, no, it's the spaghetti man!  He wants to make Debra a star.  But she will have nothing to do with this projected epic, "Earthquake, Italian Style".  And no, she is not interested in a musical biography of Benito Mussolini.  What does she want, he persists.  Debra gives her standard answer.  He offers her the roll of a mink rancher who gets stuck in a Swiss ski lift with a man from Save the Seals.  The drama centers around the couple's ideological split on the fur question and how it relates to world communism, the state of the arts and Debra's pouty lower lip. 

Debra says she will think about it.  Men are too ridiculous!  ISN'T IT ENOUGH THAT SHE IS BREATHTAKING?  MUST SHE WORK, TOO?  She puts the receiver in the cradle.  That's that.  Debra cuddles up in the boa.  But already she has a vision of herself, not so much as a box office heavy but as a box office heavy in one of those What-becomes-a-legend-most? ads. (They say they let you keep the mink.)

Before long, with the boa caught up in a most provocative convolution, she falls asleep before a window.  Bright sun wakes her.  Debra must think things out.  She puts on her naughty lingerie with the gold gizmos and slides into her Lamborghini.  No one will be startled by her traveling briefs.  Everyone in Los Angeles goes about in bikinis; that's how Debra once explained her scanties to a police officer whom she had asked to tell her the way to San Jose.

He saw the sheer bikini, and they never did get around to San Jose.  They dated.  He was an ex-surfer and showed Debra how to hang ten- without a surf board.  Debra already knew that trick but played dumb, give or take a few moans.  A star performance.  Yes, Debra tells herself, acting may be her forte.

The Lamborghini turns onto the freeway, that great conveyor belt where LA does much of it's thinking.  It's smooth, hypnotic transitions empty the mind (which explains the type of thinking done in LA).

Motoring aimlessly, her destination nowhere in particular, Debra arrives at a decision almost by psychic osmosis.  Without really willing it, Debra is back at the beach house.  ON THE COUCH, WAITS THE MINK TO BE TOYED WITH.  The phone rings. Debra knows who it is and will accept his offer.  What becomes a legend most?  A beauty whose time has come.

The Lost Vacaville Tapes

EVILIZ.COM HAS NO OPINION ON THE APPROPRIATENESS OF DISSEMINATING THE ART AND MUSIC OF CONVICTED MURDERERS. WE ARE MERELY A CONDUIT FOR INFORMATION. ENJOY OR DISMISS - THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

The following was sent in by Ben, He is from Chicago and is the person responsible for the production, design, and release of the new Charlie Manson's album, "The Lost Vacaville Tapes". The words below are Ben's:

The 1st 200 albums are Limited Edition's that will include items such as clothing worn by Charlie, his guitar picks, guitar strings, guitar parts, loads of obscure stamps, some poems signed by Charlie, post cards, and much more.

Every one of the 1000 albums will have a heavy 24 page glossy 12 x 12 book in them, including letters from Red to CM from the early 80's, never before seen photos of Charlie, and loads of never before seen items that I have in my collection.

I have posted some new photos of the finished album, some photos of the album insert, and what the tie dyed Limited Edition albums look like, for everyone to look at.

You can take a peek at my website which is:
primeministeroftheunderworld.com

I think you will find the home page quite interesting with the new photos, a great interview with Michael done on the Backporch last month. I have a specific section on the page with conversations between me and Charlie talking about the album, and how excited he is about it.

Sorry for rambling but I am very excited about this release, and the quality of this music, it is SECOND TO NONE!!!!

The albums should be up on eBay and Amazon tonight for sale, so I just wanted to update you as you have a great group of dedicated followers on your site that absolutely deserve to hear this music!!

Vacaville photo of tie dyed albums, Limited Edition

Vacaville cover of 24 page glossy 12 x 12 book

All sorts of never before seem photos in these 24 pages. Letters from Red to CM, letters from CM to Red, a play that he wrote for them.

ALL OF THE ARTWORK ON THE COVER AND ALBUM ITSELF, and about 75% of the 24 pages is dated to the time of the music, from 1984 & 1983.

Vacaville 1st page of book with my tribute to my friend!!

Vacaville another page of the book - I have 4 of his guitars if you haven't noticed

Final inside page of the book
I did not send every page of the book because there is some real personal CM & Red stuff in there, and want to leave it as a surprise for people!

Back of the book - This poem is written by Charlie for Rags.... They were best of friends at Vacaville and Rags played a bit, and talked a bit with CM on 1 song on the album.

Off Topic: Dorothea Puente House

OK so this has nothing to do with Manson, but it's creepy so maybe you will like it.

There was this "sweet" little old lady named Dorothea Puente: ever heard of her? She got caught poisoning her boarding house tenants, burying them in her yard and then collecting their social security checks. All in all, seven bodies were found in what turns out to be a VERY small side yard surrounded on three sides by neighbors. Another two suspected victims were never found. Dorothea recently died at Chowchilla on 3/27/11, which is also where Susan Atkins passed on 9/24/09.

Anywhoo, a couple in Sacramento bought the beautiful old Victorian a few years back and completely remodeled it. It is their primary residence and is occasionally open for tours. Patty was lucky enough to be admitted to "the Puente House" on 9/15/2013. Obviously, the new owners have a sense of humor.

Some may find this entire spectacle repugnant or offensive, but we have to remember that what happened here is history. If we forget our history, or sweep it under the rug, we are bound to repeat our mistakes. A docent reminded Patty that we KNOW what happened in this house: think of all the things that happened in other houses that we will never know about? Nobody had to sell Patty on the idea mind you, the docent was preaching to the choir.

Here are Patty's photos for your viewing enjoyment:

The tour made national news. You can see the AP write up of the sacbee article , here on cbs.com.