What if Oswald did not ask for a sweater?

[BlondieBC]

Why would the autopsy be a problem? I assume that autopsy results are often evidence in murder cases.

Chain of evidence. Secret Service guys stole the body at gun point. In a normal case, this would simply mean the evidence would be thrown out. And then the defense would try to use it to limit the argument of the state. For example, with no autopsy to show which way the bullet came from, the state might not be able to state where the fatal shot was fired from. There is also all the conspiracy issues with the autopsy. Normally, the body is preserved so the defense can also look at the evidence with their experts. Things like where is the pictures of the dead JFK.

Remember, the defense can use any theory. And the stealing of the body by the secret service could be used as evidence the secret service assassinated the President, and was covering up the crime. We are not that far from all the hearings where the the Red Scare was done, stating the US government was FULL of soviet agents. Or put another way, if a police department is possible involved in the crime, they don't get to investigate themselves. And these were the agents present, not even non-tarnished agents from Washington DC.

There are lots of things a defense team like O.J. could do with this chain of evidence/autopsy.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

I don't buy it. The autopsy would have been part of the prosecution case.

Chain of evidence. Secret Service guys stole the body at gun point. In a normal case, this would simply mean the evidence would be thrown out. And then the defense would try to use it to limit the argument of the state. For example, with no autopsy to show which way the bullet came from, the state might not be able to state where the fatal shot was fired from. There is also all the conspiracy issues with the autopsy. Normally, the body is preserved so the defense can also look at the evidence with their experts. Things like where is the pictures of the dead JFK.

Remember, the defense can use any theory. And the stealing of the body by the secret service could be used as evidence the secret service assassinated the President, and was covering up the crime. We are not that far from all the hearings where the the Red Scare was done, stating the US government was FULL of soviet agents. Or put another way, if a police department is possible involved in the crime, they don't get to investigate themselves. And these were the agents present, not even non-tarnished agents from Washington DC.

There are lots of things a defense team like O.J. could do with this chain of evidence/autopsy.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

The Secret Service taking the body could be explained as an assertion of federal power and more importantly because the widowed first lady who just saw her husband killed wanted to get out of Dallas.I don't think the defense is going to challenge Jackie Kennedy.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

I think that Oswald faces another charge. OTL Marian Oswald released a letter her husband wrote to her saying that he was off to kill General Walker. It told her that if he was arrested, she could stay in the apartment until the end of the month as he had paid all the bills. He then advised her to contact the Soviet Embassy and the Red Cross to get help next month. I see ITTL Marian getting back at her abusive husband by giving the prosecutor's the letter. So he faces an additional charge of attempted murder.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

It occurred to me that I did not know General Walker's first name, so I googled General Walker Oswald. As much it annoys me that people quote Wikkipedia as if it was a reliable source. I found this on Walker's Wikkipedia article.

Marina Oswald stated later that she had seen Oswald burn most of his plans in the bathtub, though she hid the note he left her in a cookbook, with the intention of bringing it to the police should Oswald again attempt to kill Walker or anyone else.

 

[BlondieBC]

I don't buy it. The autopsy would have been part of the prosecution case.

Do you care to explain your logic?

The Secret Service taking the body could be explained as an assertion of federal power and more importantly because the widowed first lady who just saw her husband killed wanted to get out of Dallas.I don't think the defense is going to challenge Jackie Kennedy.

It can also be describe as a cover up or conspiracy. NO FEDERAL CRIME WAS COMMITTED BY OSWALD, only state crimes. Federal government has no jurisdiction, and even if it did, I think it is an FBI case. Wrong agents with custody. While Jackie's grief is an understandable reason for the secret service actions, I challenge you to find a single case in the last 100 years where a widows grief was used to justify a broken chain of custody.

So lets make the OJ trial, another high profile trial. As the LAPD is securing the crime scene, NCIS rushes in with Marine backup, takes the bodies and all the evidence. They the fly the body and evidence to the East Coast where the autopsy is performed and supervised by the Secretary of the Navy personally. NCIS then issues a final report with the conclusions but destroys the evidence before either the LAPD or defense can look at it. The OJ defense team could get an not guilty on this alone. They would have a good chance of getting the case thrown out for lack of evidence even before it ever sees a jury. Even today, a good chunk of America still does not believe the states position on the JFK killing.

The touch part about this POD is the judge. It is so high profile, it is impossible to handle this like a normal trial. So either the judge decides to make it a guarantee conviction like we know Gitmo is setup to do today, or he follows the highest standards of USA justice and throws out most of the evidence due to "technicalities". Hard call on what he will do, it could go either way. The first route gives an execution, but only if all other judges in the appeal process take the same attitude. In the second case, Oswald will have a good shot at a not guilty verdict on the JFK shooting.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

The prosecution will use the autopsy because it backed up
thier case. I don't see the chain of custody for the body issue being that helpful for the defense. This is one case in the last hundred years where the grieving widow wax a first lady with a president to back up her desire to go back home.

 

[Japhy]

The prosecution will use the autopsy because it backed up
thier case. I don't see the chain of custody for the body issue being that helpful for the defense. This is one case in the last hundred years where the grieving widow wax a first lady with a president to back up her desire to go back home.

The circumstances don't matter Paul, to have evedence in a case you need to have a clear chain of custody, thats true in any case, anywhere. Without it the evedince is inadmissable. Just because its St. Jack the Martyr doesn't change anything.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

The circumstances don't matter Paul, to have evedence in a case you need to have a clear chain of custody, thats true in any case, anywhere. Without it the evedince is inadmissable. Just because its St. Jack the Martyr doesn't change anything.

When was Kennedy's body ever missing?

 

[Paul V McNutt]

I just was thinking about this. I remembered that James Earl Ray got a plea bargin. I know Oswald would be the focus of much more public anger. Oswald was not dumb. He was crazy but not dumb. I think he would have sought a plea bargin. I think a judge could have explained granting him the plea bargin as avoiding a very troublesome trial. So Oswald, at age 73, could be still alive in some mental ward of the Texas prison system.