Post by clavigerPost by mainframetechNaah. He saw Oswald on TV twice before he went down to do the lineup,
and then when he got there, a detective told him which position Oswald was
in in the lineup. That disqualified him.
Chris
Naah. Brennan refused to ID Oswald at the line-up. His contribution to
the case was a good description of the man in the 6th floor window before
he saw anything on TV or the line-up. That disqualifies you.
Yeah, like seeing him standing next to the window from the waist up when
the window started 10 inches above the floor. Really good witness.
I don't suppose you're old enough to remember that movie from 1939, Young
Mr. Lincoln, where Abe Lincoln is the defense attorney defending a man
accused of murder. His accuser said he had a clear view of the killer
because there was a FULL MOON that night and no clouds. So Lincoln pulls
out his Farmer's Almanac that shows it was a NEW Moon that night. Case
Dismissed.
Abraham Lincoln, the Almanac, and a Murder Trial
When Lincoln Famously Used the Almanac
Judson Hale
Abraham Lincoln
Click to see full image of Abraham Lincoln showing an 1857 almanac to
the jury during the famous Armstrong murder trial in the spring of 1858.
The original of this Norman Rockwell painting hangs in The Norman
Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Yankee Archives
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Abraham Lincoln, born on February 12 in 1809, pursued a legal career
before turning to a political one that eventually led to the U.S.
presidency. In our Dublin, New Hampshire, office hangs a reproduction of a
painting by Norman Rockwell depicting him in front of a jury holding the
1857 edition of an almanac in his hand. Was it The Old Farmer???s Almanac?
It???s difficult to prove conclusively, but everything I???ve read about
the case???and certainly my examination of the 1857 edition???indicates
that it was. Abraham Lincoln Defends an Alleged Murderer
The occasion depicted in the Rockwell painting is the 1858 murder trial of
an Illinois man named William ???Duff??? Armstrong. Armstrong was accused
of murdering James Preston Metzker with a ???slung-shot??????a weight tied
to a leather thong, sort of an early blackjack???a few minutes before
midnight of August 29, 1857. Lincoln was a friend of the accused man???s
father, Jack Armstrong, who???d just died, and so he offered to help
defend young Duff Armstrong, without pay, as a favor to Jack Armstrong???s
widow.
The principal prosecution witness against Armstrong was a man named
Charles Allen, who testified that he???d seen the murder from about 150
feet away. When Lincoln asked Allen how he could tell it was Armstrong
given that it was the middle of the night and he was a considerable
distance away from the murder scene, Allen replied, ???By the light of the
Moon.??? How Lincoln Used the Almanac
Upon hearing Allen???s testimony, Lincoln produced a copy of the 1857
edition, turned to the two calendar pages for August, and showed the jury
that not only was the moon in the first quarter but it was riding
???low??? on the horizon, about to set, at the precise time of the murder.
There would not have been enough light for Allen to identify Armstrong or
anyone else, said Lincoln. The jury agreed, and Duff Armstrong was
acquitted.