Mock Oswald Trial In JFK Assassination Coming To STCL Houston

HOUSTON, TX — Lee Harvey Oswald never saw his day in court after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy nearly 54 years ago, but he'll finally get it postmortem this week at a college in Houston. The South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL Houston) will hold a mock trial in the landmark case of State of Texas v. Lee Harvey Oswald on Thursday and Friday. A group of Harris County jurors will hear testimony from expert witness and sharp attorneys using 21st century techniques.

The drama that surrounded the infamous assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, will unfold in a Houston courtroom. Did Oswald act alone? What was his motive in going to Mexico a month before the assassination (something revealed in the most recent Warren Commission papers that got released)? Was he framed? What was his connection to Jack Ruby? And, did he have connections with Lyndon B. Johnson?

The two-day event will include the delivery of opening and rebuttal statements, the testimony of world-renowned medical and legal experts, the analysis of actual evidence from the assassination - including information presented publicly for the first time, an evaluation of constitutional rights in 1963 and today, and a Q&A with participants and jurors following the program.

STCL Houston and Citizens Against Political Assassinations are co-sponsors of the event. The trial will be from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. each day at Garrett-Townes Auditorium, located at 1303 San Jacinto Street. Cost is $450 (10 CLE credits, including 3 CLE Ethics credits) or $150 for no CLE credit. Price includes lunch both days. A live stream will be available with no CLE credit for $75.

The Honorable Jay T. Karahan will preside over the case. Karahan is the Harris County Criminal Court at Law Judge, No. 8 and an STCL Houston alumnus. Another STCL Houston alumnus, Gus E. Pappas of Dabney & Pappas, will serve as the prosecuting attorney.

Other participants in the mock trial include:

Defense Counsel:

• Robert K. Tanenbaum, trial attorney, novelist, and former mayor of Beverly Hills, Calif.; former deputy chief counsel for the House Select Committee on Assassinations
• Lawrence P. Schnapf, Schnapf LLC; CAPA board member; New York-based environmental attorney; adjunct professor, New York Law School
• Bill Simpich, San Francisco-based civil rights attorney; author of “State Secret: Wiretapping in Mexico City, Double Agents, and the Framing of Lee Oswald”

Expert Witnesses:

• Robert N. McClelland, M.D., member of the team of surgeons who worked to save President John F. Kennedy’s life at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963; professor emeritus, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., chair of CAPA; one of the nation’s leading forensic pathologists; former president, American Academy of Forensic Science and American College of Legal Medicine; member, Forensic Pathology Panel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations
• Gary Aguilar, M.D., member, CAPA board of advisors; one of only a handful of non-government physicians allowed privileged access by the Kennedy family to JFK’s still-restricted medical and autopsy evidence housed at the National Archives; and ophthalmologist
• David W. Mantik, M.D., Ph.D., leading expert on the medical evidence in the JFK assassination; Palm Desert, Calif.-based radiation oncologist
• Michael Chesser, M.D., was granted permission by Sen. Paul Kirk, the Kennedy family representative for the Deed of Gift, to view the JFK autopsy cranial X-rays and autopsy photographs; board certified in neurology and clinical neurophysiology, with over 25 years of experience in clinical practice; former associate professor of neurology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
• Clifford Spiegelman, Ph.D., distinguished professor of statistics at Texas A&M University and author of over 100 scientific publications; author of the award-winning paper recognized by the American Statistical Association “Chemical and Forensic Analysis of JFK Assassination Bullet Lots: Is a Second Shooter Possible?”
• Lucian C. Haag, former criminalist and technical director of the Phoenix Crime Laboratory, with nearly 50 years of experience in the field of criminalistics and forensic firearm examinations; president, Forensic Science Services Inc.
• Donald B. Thomas, Ph.D., prolific author, including “The Acoustical Evidence in the Kennedy Assassination Revisited” and more than 100 scientific journal articles, book chapters, and books.

Ethics Panel:
The Ethics Panel will discuss obligations of prosecutors to examine new evidence or new science and compare custodial rights in 1963 and now.

• John T. Orr, former director of Criminal Enforcement, Justice Department’s Antitrust Division; in April 1995, he submitted to Attorney General Janet Reno a detailed report on the Dealey Plaza evidence, the results of a personal project, which led to the reopening of the JFK investigation for further scientific testing.

Image: Gus E. Pappas '88, STCL Houston alumnus and prosecuting attorney in the upcoming two-day mock trial: State of Texas v. Lee Harvey Oswald, presents evidence to the Honorable Jay T. Karahan '83, presiding Harris County Criminal Court judge and STCL Houston alumnus at South Texas College of Law Houston. The mock trial will occur Thursday, Nov. 16 and Friday, Nov. 17 at the law school. (Photo courtesy of South Texas College of Law)