Indiana.
One of the first-degree murder indictments returned by the Marion County grand jury on December 30, 1965, named Gertrude Baniszewski, 37 years old; Paula Baniszewski, 17; Stephanie Baniszewski, 15; Johnny Baniszewski, 12; Coy Hubbard, 15, and Richard Hobbs, also then 15—all charged with striking, beating, kicking and otherwise inflicting fatal injuries on one Sylvia Likens—with premeditated malice.
No charges were levied against Anna Siscoe, Judy Duke, Randy Lepper or Mike Monroe. They were released to their parents. Marie, Shirley and Jimmy Baniszewski were placed in separate foster homes by the Marion County Department of Public Welfare.
11
A JUDGE AND FIVE LAWYERS
SALTY OLD Saul Rabb, judge of Criminal Court, Division 2, had been on the bench since the court was created in 1947, except for one four-year term he lost out on in the Democratic landslide of 1958. Lawyers both respected him for his knowledge of the law and despised him for his sarcasm, his particular brand being known in courthouse circles as “the needle.”
Rabb was loved by newspaper reporters for his witticisms and his eagerness to help them with a story, and feared by his staff, a bevy of pretty, young girls, one of whom once asked him for permission to go to the restroom.
A tiny, balding man wearing rimless spectacles, Rabb had a reputation for being stern but fair. Characterized as “Judge Saul Stab” at a lawyers’ gridiron dinner, Rabb dealt harshly with second offenders and other criminals who showed no promise. But he once reduced an 18-year-old thief’s sentence when the lad kissed his mother good-bye inthe courtroom. “That shows he’s a good boy,” the judge quipped.
It was into Rabb’s court that the Likens murder indictment was returned. The quotation that hung on the wall of the courtroom—“Justice delayed is justice denied”—was taken seriously in Rabb’s court. The only way to stall a trial over a period of years in there was to take a change of judge, and hundreds of new cases were filed in the court every year.
Rabb sensed the special need of a quick trial in the Likens case. In any case, a common defense tactic is to request continuance after continuance; not only does this discourage witnesses from coming to court, but it also tends to fog their memories as the events of the crime are pushed further and further into the past.
Rabb’s steadfast denial of bond for the six defendants (within the judge’s discretion in a murder case) discouraged their thoughts of delaying the case, and his speedy but studied rulings on a flood of dilatory motions insured that the trial would proceed nearly on schedule.
Cynics said the judge wanted to try the case early to gain maximum publicity from it in time for the primary election in May.
But responsible lawyers observed that no judge would look forward to a case like this one. There would be at least five lawyers to control, and the case would probably run at least that many weeks. It would be tiring, and it would be difficult keeping thejurors admonished as to what they could and could not consider as evidence, with six defendants on trial.
Much of the testimony would be admissible against one defendant, but not against others. Moreover, among the lawyers would be two of the state’s most flamboyant advocates, William C. Erbecker and Forrest B. Bowman Jr.
Sensing the conflicts of interest that would arise among the six defendants, Baniszewski family lawyer John R. Hammond had begun to deal his clients out to other lawyers in December. Hammond, young and handsome, had an office in the suburbs and a varied practice in the city. He was sort of a country lawyer in a big town. He had never handled a murder case before, but he knew how to handle this one. The one client he kept for himself was 15-year-old Stephanie, the most likely to be found innocent.
Gertrude’s case was given to Erbecker, a shotgun tactician who had been accused of operating just a shade
One of the first-degree murder indictments returned by the Marion County grand jury on December 30, 1965, named Gertrude Baniszewski, 37 years old; Paula Baniszewski, 17; Stephanie Baniszewski, 15; Johnny Baniszewski, 12; Coy Hubbard, 15, and Richard Hobbs, also then 15—all charged with striking, beating, kicking and otherwise inflicting fatal injuries on one Sylvia Likens—with premeditated malice.
No charges were levied against Anna Siscoe, Judy Duke, Randy Lepper or Mike Monroe. They were released to their parents. Marie, Shirley and Jimmy Baniszewski were placed in separate foster homes by the Marion County Department of Public Welfare.
11
A JUDGE AND FIVE LAWYERS
SALTY OLD Saul Rabb, judge of Criminal Court, Division 2, had been on the bench since the court was created in 1947, except for one four-year term he lost out on in the Democratic landslide of 1958. Lawyers both respected him for his knowledge of the law and despised him for his sarcasm, his particular brand being known in courthouse circles as “the needle.”
Rabb was loved by newspaper reporters for his witticisms and his eagerness to help them with a story, and feared by his staff, a bevy of pretty, young girls, one of whom once asked him for permission to go to the restroom.
A tiny, balding man wearing rimless spectacles, Rabb had a reputation for being stern but fair. Characterized as “Judge Saul Stab” at a lawyers’ gridiron dinner, Rabb dealt harshly with second offenders and other criminals who showed no promise. But he once reduced an 18-year-old thief’s sentence when the lad kissed his mother good-bye inthe courtroom. “That shows he’s a good boy,” the judge quipped.
It was into Rabb’s court that the Likens murder indictment was returned. The quotation that hung on the wall of the courtroom—“Justice delayed is justice denied”—was taken seriously in Rabb’s court. The only way to stall a trial over a period of years in there was to take a change of judge, and hundreds of new cases were filed in the court every year.
Rabb sensed the special need of a quick trial in the Likens case. In any case, a common defense tactic is to request continuance after continuance; not only does this discourage witnesses from coming to court, but it also tends to fog their memories as the events of the crime are pushed further and further into the past.
Rabb’s steadfast denial of bond for the six defendants (within the judge’s discretion in a murder case) discouraged their thoughts of delaying the case, and his speedy but studied rulings on a flood of dilatory motions insured that the trial would proceed nearly on schedule.
Cynics said the judge wanted to try the case early to gain maximum publicity from it in time for the primary election in May.
But responsible lawyers observed that no judge would look forward to a case like this one. There would be at least five lawyers to control, and the case would probably run at least that many weeks. It would be tiring, and it would be difficult keeping thejurors admonished as to what they could and could not consider as evidence, with six defendants on trial.
Much of the testimony would be admissible against one defendant, but not against others. Moreover, among the lawyers would be two of the state’s most flamboyant advocates, William C. Erbecker and Forrest B. Bowman Jr.
Sensing the conflicts of interest that would arise among the six defendants, Baniszewski family lawyer John R. Hammond had begun to deal his clients out to other lawyers in December. Hammond, young and handsome, had an office in the suburbs and a varied practice in the city. He was sort of a country lawyer in a big town. He had never handled a murder case before, but he knew how to handle this one. The one client he kept for himself was 15-year-old Stephanie, the most likely to be found innocent.
Gertrude’s case was given to Erbecker, a shotgun tactician who had been accused of operating just a shade
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