Once upon a Time in Los Angeles: The Trials of Earl Rogers

Rating:
Summary: The Real "Perry Mason"
Review: Earl Rogers's father was a preacher, and Earl would also hold an audience in rapt attention, listening to every word. His father saved souls, Earl saved men from the hangman. Earl first worked as a newspaper reporter, then learned law working for Senator Stephen M. White (another heavy drinker).

Earl Rogers invented many of the tactics that have become common criminal law stratagem. He was the first American lawyer to use the science of ballistics, and was at the leading edge of medical forensic science. Rogers assisted in performing over 30 autopsies, and been present for 70 others. He saved one client from hanging after an exhumation failed to find a shot to the head that several eyewitnesses testified to seeing. Rogers was among the first to use charts and blackboards in the courtroom, along with scale models, to get his point across to a jury. Out of 77 important murder cases he lost only 3. He always dressed in the height of fashion to make a good impression. The practice of law was like being an actor on a stage before an audience.

Rogers did extensive research into the background of the jurors. The practice of jury investigation was long in use by the early twentieth century; it is not a recent phenomenon. His father Lowell once rebuked him for any attempt to save a man, known by him to be guilty, by dishonest or deceptive means.

When Clarence Darrow was indicted for bribery, Earl Rogers (who had worked for the "Merchants and Manufacturers Association") defended him. Darrow's private detective bribed a juror, was arrested, then turned state's evidence. Later this private detective claimed the payoff came from Samuel Gompers himself! Page 189 tells how this detective previously worked with the US Marshals office, then went to the District Attorney's office before working for Darrow. When this detective left his meeting with the special federal prosecutor, he carried the bribe money (p.191)! (Was this detective a double agent? Did Earl Rogers learn this from his business friends?) Roger's defense was that Darrow was in the process of negotiating a plea bargain, and a stingy Darrow would not spend all that money on a bribe when the case would not go to trial: he had no motive (p.196)! The jury said "not guilty" after just 35 minutes of deliberation. Darrow had trouble on another case, and was forced to surrender his Calif. bar license, effectively removing him from any future cases.

As you read through these famous cases, how many of them remind you of stories seen on TV over the years? Adela R. St. Johns, eyewitness and journalist, wrote a longer and more colorful biography. Rogers could have gone on to higher national fame, except for his drinking and womanizing, Adela said. But given the scandals of Representatives, Senators, and Presidents, maybe it was only a lack of the right connections?

Rating:
Summary: Great Roger's trial overviews
Review: I have read all three of the Earl Rogers books out there I have found. "Take the witness" was very good and colorful. Earl Roger's daughter's book "final verdict" was endearing but overly sentimental.

"One upon a time" certainly has its strength in chronologically listing Roger's major trials and the tactics used.

The reader will be dissappointed if they are looking for much of the life outside of the courtroom of Rogers. Nevertheless, this book deserves a five star rating as it adds graciously to the very limited Rogers library. The author quotes Roger's cross examinations at length and matter of factly tells how Rogers skillfully defends his clients.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended for student of American legal history
Review: Once Upon A Time In Los Angeles: The Trials Of Earl Rogers by Michael Trope is an eminently readable account of a prosecutor whose Los Angeles career lasted from 1897 to 1918, and whose trials defending such notable figures as Clarence Darrow, heavyweight champion Jess Willard and United Railroad chief Patrick Calhoun contributed to his fame and celebrity. Once Upon A Time In Los Angeles is a fascinating look at the L.A. judicial system of a century past. Highly recommended for student of American legal history, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in the life and times of this famous lawyer, or the nature of the turn-of-the-century Los Angeles legal system he knew so well.