</s>Weekly Summary #45 Page 17 THURSDAY, APRIL 10 -- The three defense attorneys for Sirhan B. Sirhan, Grant B. Cooper, Russell E. Parsons and Emile Zola Berman, today offered their summations in the case calling for mercy tempered with justice for the young Arab. According to a report in a Los Angeles newspaper (Times), Cooper told the jury: "We are not here to free a guilty man. He is guilty of having killed Sen. Robert P. Kennedy. We are not asking for an acquittal. "On the facts of this case -- whether irr. Sirhan likes it or not -- Mr. Sirhran deserves to spend the rest of his life in a penitent- fary." Continued the newspaper: "Cooper, in a detailed explanation of the various aspects of the law that Superior Judge Herbert V. Walker will give the jury to judge the facts by, said that on the basis of both evidence and law, the defense will ask you to return a verdict of murder in the second-degree. I "Such a verdict, Cooper stressed, would still enable the jury to sentence Sirhan to life in prison. "Because of the conduct that brought him to the bar of justice in this case, 'Because of 'Cooper said, 'I wouldn't want Sirhan Sirhan turned loose on society.' Another Los Angeles Newspaper (Herald-Examiner) published excerpts of remarks by the trio of lawyers and quoted Cooper, in part, as follows: more -- 2025 RELEASE UNDER E.G.O.14178.

Sirhan B. Sirhan's defense attorneys offered their summations in his murder trial, calling for mercy tempered with justice. Grant B. Cooper told the jury that they were not asking for an acquittal, but rather a verdict of murder in the second degree, which would still enable them to sentence Sirhan to life in prison.

Cooper emphasized that the defense did not feel Sirhan should be given a medal for what he did or turned loose on society. He argued that the facts in the case and applicable law made a first-degree verdict inappropriate.

Emile Zola Berman, another defense attorney, discussed the traumatic events that had affected Sirhan's personality, including his relations with his father and mother, the death of his sister, and his accident at a horse ranch. Berman also mentioned that Sirhan had induced self-hypnosis or a dissociative state through staring into mirrors.

The prosecution began its final summation, with Chief Dep. Dist. Attty. Lynn D. Compton raising questions about Robert F. Kennedy's death and the motives behind it. Compton implied that the precise definition of "mature and meaningful" premeditation was not a legitimate concern to the jurors.

A jury member, Ronald G. Evans, was excused due to his father's death, and a successor would be chosen by spinning the wheel when court convenes Monday morning.

A young woman, Kathy Fulmer, who had figured briefly in the Kennedy assassination investigation, was identified as a go-go dancer who killed herself early this week.

RFK Declassified Files

62-hq-587_ebf_1179_sec_001_ser_1179_only-part_2_of_2.pdf

Document Summary

Try AI Search