Until now, only the twelve jurors who sat in judgment were able to appreciate these virtuoso performances, where weeks of testimony were boiled down and presented with flair, wit, and high drama. For five years the authors researched every archive from those of the L.A. Times to the dusty stacks of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and readers can now lose themselves in the summations of America's finest litigators.

Clarence Darrow saves Leopold and Loeb from the gallows in the Roaring Twenties. Gerry Spence takes on the nuclear power industry for the death of Karen Silkwood in a modern-day David and Goliath struggle. Vincent Bugliosi squares off against the madness of Charles Manson and his murderous "family" in the aftermath of their bloody spree. Clara Foltz, the first woman to practice law in California, argues passionately to an all-male jury, defending her place in the courtroom. Bobby DeLaughter brings the killer of civil-rights leader Medgar Evers to justice after thirty years and two mistrials. Aubrey Daniel brings Lt. William Calley, Jr., to justice for the My Lai massacre. William Kunstler challenges the establishment after the '68 Chicago riots in his defense of yippie leaders known as the Chicago Seven.

Each closing argument is put into context by the authors, who provide historical background, a brief biography of each attorney, and commentary, pointing out the trial tactics used to great effect by the lawyers, all in language that is jargon-free for the benefit of the lay reader.

H. Mitchell Caldwell (left) is a professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law. A former deputy district attorney, he specializes in death-penalty litigation before the California Supreme Court.

Contents

Introduction 11

Chapter 1 Architects of Genocide 13

The Victorious Allies Put Hitler's Henchmen in the Defendant's

Box at Nüremberg

Chapter 2 Darrow in the Docket 59

In a Time Of Labor Unrest, America's Greatest Litigator and

Friend of the Workingman Fights for His Professional Life

Chapter 3 Disorder in the Court 103

The Trial of the Chicago Seven Pits the Establishment Against

the Woodstock Generation

Chapter 4 Death by Plutonium 119

Fallout from Karen Silkwood's Death Brings the Nuclear Industry

to Its Knees

Chapter 5 Leopold and Loeb 159

"Spare Them, for They Know All Too well What They Do"

Chapter 6 A Man's World No More 211

Clara Shortridge Foltz Sends Shockwaves Throuqh the

Turn-of-the-Century Legal Establishment When She Becomes

the First Woman to Do Battle in California's Courts

Chapter 7 Peace, Love, and Murder 223

Manson Family Mastermind Sentenced to Die for Followers'

Murderous Rampage

Chapter 8 Justice Delayed but Not Denied 289

Three Trials and Thirty Years Later, Medgar Evers's Assassin

Pays the Piper

Chapter 9 Coke, Lies, and Videotape 305

The Delorian Defense Team Convinces Jurors They Can't Trust Their Eyes — Or the Feds

Chapter 10 Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and My Lai 345

A Generation After Nüremburg, Home-Grown War Criminals Claim They WEre Just Following Orders When They Murdered and Entire Village