In an effort to find out what happened to Bernard Crowe after he was arrested on forgery charges and then testified in the penalty phase at Manson's trial, I sent for any court documents that the Los Angeles Superior Court might have on Crowe.
I wanted to know if Crowe was given immunity on the forgery charges for his testimony at the trial or if he served time for the crime. Los Angeles Superior Court has a terrible archival system. Not only is it very expensive, it also is lacking in organization and completeness.
I received two different court cases, both in the 1980's. They did not have the 1970 forgery case. The 1981 case documents are not complete. The 1986 case seems to be complete though.
Crowe was not a nice person. He referenced how many times he had been arrested as a youth, it was a lot times!. He told the judge he didn't have any parents but he did have parents, his father was a minister. He had been a heroin addict. The 1981 case had to do with assault with great bodily harm, he shot someone in the hip. The judge told him "It just appears Mr. Crowe that you are a menace to society." Crowe was affronted by that characterization!
