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Gov Edmund Gerald Pat Brown Sr — Part 7
Page 39
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| trial for killing--there are a number of mistakes, Brown cites the case of John
Henry Fry whom he pardoned after Fry had been wrongfully convicted of
killing his wife. The article mentions the case of John Rexinger who was
arrested for rape in San Francisco in 1957, and who was saved when the
actual criminal confessed to the crime. Another example is the case of James
Foster, who was convicted of murder in Georgia in 1956 and who, after
numerous appeals and stays of execution, Was released in 1958 after another
man confessed to the crime. Noting that eye-witness identification is the
decisive point on which many murder convictions are obtained, the article points
out that a Los Angeles Police Department survey once indicated that 28 per
cent of identifications made of suspects in line-ups are later proved false.
COMMENT:
COMMEN’=
While it cannot be determined what period of time Brown used in
tarriving at the figure of 48 persons executed on a yearly average, it is noted
{that during the past 10 years, an average of 72 persons were executed each
year. Bufiles contain no information identifiable with James Foster; however,
the following information on Fry and Rexinger was obtained from the files of the
Identification Division. It is noted that prior to his arrest for murder in San
¥rancisco in 1958, Fry was arrested no less than 8 times for intoxication,
assault and battery, violation of parole and other charges. Since his pardon by
Governor Brown on the murder charge in June, 1959, Fry has managed to get
arrested on three occasions in San Francisco for assault with a dangerous
weapon, defrauding an innkeeper, and battery. Prior to his arrest for rape in
1957, Rexinger had been arrested on 4 occasions for rape, robbery, and forgery.
Subsequent to being released on the rape charge in 1957, Rexinger was
arrested three times for theft, larceny and fraudulent checks. Bufiles contain
no information relating to the Los Angeles Police Department survey of line-ups.
STATEMENT:
The article sets forth a very brief summary of the history of
the death penalty in which it is pointed out that Austria was the first nation to
abolish capital punishment, that France is the only country in Western suurope
still using the death penalty, that most South American countries have abolished
capital punishment, and that the Soviet Union says it inflicts it only for political
crimes.
COMMENT:
The above history of capital punishment is factual based upon
an article in the 3-3-60 issue of the "New York Times."
-5-
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