Bill Alexander – Charles W Webster and the ACLU

Bill Alexander – Charles W Webster and the ACLU.

 

  I was introduced to Charles Webster in a post at ROKC that was started by Greg R Parker entitled “Send Lawyers, Guns and Money  Part 2” and realised I needed to include him in my Anatomy of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Interrogations paper (pages 161-168).

Charles W Webster. Click to enlarge.

Webster was present on the 22nd at the DPD. In what capacity Webster was inside D.P.D. is a bit of a mystery. But through some searching I came across some articles at newspapers.com that show that Charles W Webster was involved with a psychological evaluation of General Edwin Walker. He is also named in that capacity in conjunction with Jack Ruby during his trial for murdering Lee Harvey Oswald.

This may be a stretch but from the information mentioned above I am inclined to think that Webster was around Dallas Police Department’s Robbery & Homicide to observe Lee Harvey Oswald. I have not seen any evidence that he was able to observe him as close as Will Fritz did nor is there any record of him questioning Oswald himself.

It is known that he also had a meeting with Greg Olds of the ACLU, when he, Grier Raggio, Otto Mullinax and L.N.D. Wells Jnr  arrived in the late evening of Nov 22nd. Charles Webster is being mentioned by Greg Olds in his Warren Commission Testimony.

Mr. STERN. Excuse me. Did Captain Fritz say that Oswald did not want counsel at that time, or that he was trying to obtain his own counsel?
Mr. OLDS. What I was told, that he had been given the opportunity and had not made any requests. So, I called our board member back and conferred with him and he suggested that we go down and see about it at the police department, in person, to get further assurances. And he and I and two others of our organization met down there at the Plaza Hotel lobby about 11:15, directly across the street from the police station, and we discussed the matter there, and I called Mayor Earle Cabell at his office, but was told that he was busy at the moment so we went then over to the police station, and we got in there. Let’s see, it was up on the I guess the third or fourth floor, wherever Oswald was being questioned, and Chuck Webster, a lawyer–professor of law, who was known to the other three men with me said he had been there a good part of the time since the assassination, and that–we told him what we were there for, and he said he thought he knew who we could see to get our assurances. Did you have something?
Mr. STERN. No.
Mr. OLDS. We went to–first, we talked-conferred with Captain King, I believe is the right name, who is, I believe, assistant to the chief of police. I’m not sure on that. We all went in with Mr. Webster, and this was shortly after 11:35, or 11:40, and Captain King was, at this time, talking to somebody and said that Oswald had just been charged with the assassination of President Kennedy. He had here earlier been charged with the assassination–I mean the murder of the policeman, Tippit, and we told Captain King what we were there for, and he said, he assured us that Oswald had not made any requests for counsel. And we went outside of the office and went downstairs, at least–I didn’t, but two of the others, I believe, went downstairs to the basement where Justice of the Peace David Johnston was. He was the one that had held the I believe an arraignment, I believe is the right term, at 7:30 when the first charge of murder was filed against Oswald, and he also assured us that there had been an opportunity of–Oswald’s rights had been explained, and he had declined counsel. Said nothing beyond that. I think that was the extent of our inquiry.

Charles W Webster (2nd from left) in 1959. From Legal Center News SMU. Click pic to enlarge.

That is all I have, for now, on Charles Webster around the time of Oswald’s incarceration.

Bill Alexander, an arch conservative or perhaps in today’s terms a right wing extremist had few kind words to say about Charles Webster.

Photo: Fort Worth Star Telegram March 18 1964. From: newspapers.com

From a document that I found in the Malcolm Blunt Archives this is the type of ‘gold’ that is hard to come by. What makes the document below so special is Alexanders abrasiveness. It can be compared to his statement that Earl Warren did not need impeaching, he needed hanging which cost him his job as an assistant DA and from which he went into private practice. That this report is made up by Manning Clements is an interesting side note.

Bill Alexander on Charles W Webster. In a Manning Clements Report. Click pic to enlarge. From the Malcolm Blunt Archives.

Alexander’s baseless remarks are not going very far. From the testimony above nothing indicated that Greg Olds and Charles Webster were affiliated thru the ACLU other than knowing each other thru the profession. Looking at the file below from R. S Westphal to W.P. Gannaway that even from a large suspected group of people who are suspected with their affiliation with the ACLU Charles Webster is not named on it.

Dallas Criminal Intelligence Unit Report on the Dallas ACLU. Click to enlarge.

Dallas Criminal Intelligence Unit Report on the Dallas ACLU. Click to enlarge.

Thanks to Ed Ledoux who noted the existence of some ACLU files at NARA of which one of them is the above document. I shall try and get the other batch.