View source for US History - Ruby v. Texas


{{Infobox Court Case
| name               = Rubinstein v. Texas
| court              = [[Texas Court of Criminal Appeals]]
| image              = 
| imagesize          = 
| caption            = 
| full name          = Rubenstein v. State
| date decided       = October 5, 1966
| citations          = 407 S.W.2d 793 (1966)
| transcripts        = 
| judges             = Morrison, Presiding Judge; McDonald, Woodley, Associate Judges
| prior actions      = Ruby convicted and sentenced to death
| subsequent actions = Conviction overturned and new trial ordered; Ruby died before he could be retried
| opinions           = Unanimous Decision
}}
'''''Jacob Rubinstein v. State of Texas''''' [[Case citation|407 S.W.2d 793 (1966)]]  was a decision by the [[Texas Court of Criminal Appeals]], the highest criminal appellate court in the State of [[Texas]], that [[Jack Ruby]] (whose real name was Jacob Rubenstein; "Jack Ruby" was his nickname), accused killer of [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] had been denied a fair trial. The decision ordered his conviction reversed, but Ruby died before he could be retried.

==The crime==
The arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald for the murder of President [[John F. Kennedy]] and Dallas police officer [[J. D. Tippit]] was widely televised in Dallas. News of Oswald's transfer, from the local jail to a county facility, on Sunday November 24, 1963, had been announced the night before. At 11:21 am CST while authorities were preparing to transfer Oswald by car from the basement of police headquarters to the nearby county jail, Jack Ruby, in full view of witnesses and in front of TV cameras, pulled out a pistol and fired a snub-nosed [[Colt Cobra .38 Special revolver|Colt Cobra .38]] into the 24-year-old Oswald's abdomen.  Unconscious, Oswald was put into an ambulance and rushed to [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]], the same hospital where [[John F. Kennedy]] had died two days earlier. Oswald died at 1:07 pm.

==The trial==
The trial was widely covered by local, national and international media.  The defendant, represented ''[[pro bono]]'' by famed attorney [[Melvin Belli]], requested that the trial be moved out of the Dallas area because of the enormous publicity.  This request was denied.

Some observers thought that the case could have been disposed of as a "murder without malice" charge (roughly equivalent to [[manslaughter]]), with a maximum prison sentence of five years. Instead, Belli attempted to prove that Ruby was legally insane and had a history of mental illness in his family (the latter being true, as his mother had been committed to a mental hospital years before).

On March 14, 1964, Ruby was convicted of murder with malice, for which he received a death sentence. The verdict was captured on film, including Belli's statement to the court that the trial had effectively been a sham.

==The appeal==
Following Ruby's March 1964 conviction for murder with malice, Ruby's lawyers, led by [[Sam Houston Clinton]], appealed, arguing that he could not have received a [[right to a fair trial|fair trial]] in the city of Dallas because of the excessive publicity surrounding the case.

==The decision==
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in a unanimous opinion on October 5, 1966 that the refusal of the trial court to grant the motion for change of venue made it impossible for Ruby to obtain a fair trial, in the words of Presiding Judge Morrison, who said, {{cquote| It is abundantly clear from a careful study of both opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States and the record of this case that the trial court reversibly erred in refusing appellant's motion for change of venue.}} The appellate court overturned Ruby's conviction and death sentence, and ordered that he be retried in some location other than Dallas County. Arrangements were under way for a new trial to be held in February 1967, in [[Wichita Falls, Texas]], when, on December 9, 1966, Ruby was admitted to [[Parkland Hospital]] in Dallas, suffering from pneumonia. A day later, doctors realized he had cancer in his [[Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver]], [[lung cancer|lungs]], and [[brain tumor|brain]]. He died on January 3, 1967.

==References==
* Appellate Court Decision: [http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/1966/37900-3.html Crim. No. 37900]

{{John F. Kennedy assassination}}

[[Category:Assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:United States death penalty case law]]