Well, I am now on my own, sharing office space and a secretary with my friend and former client, Ralph Dixon, in Santa Ana, subleasing from the only large law firm in the area, Rutan and Tucker. Got the intro to the firm from Judge Walker, who I have previously mentioned, whose son Wes Walker, was a new lawyer and associate of the firm. Advice given to me by the good judge was “don’t go where you’re not wanted,” translated to mean: don’t push yourself into the social circles, but just stay as a lawyer that does good work. Remember restrictive covenants against Jews still ran with the land.
The county was nothing like it is today; it was very rural, generally fitting in with the definition of “cow county.” Orange County was correctly named, as acres of land were covered with orange groves, and when orange blossoms appeared, the perfumed aroma was delightful. Traffic was sparse, and it was easy to drive around without congestion. Today, everything is built up, tall buildings and no empty space, and the orange groves are all gone, giving away to development.
My reputation followed me, and I had no trouble melding into the legal community. The population of the whole county was under one million with just a handful of criminal defense attorneys, so I had a good shot at getting cases, but it wasn’t as easy as I had hoped, a few referrals from LA lawyers and some Court appointments, which did not pay very much. But I was starting. Had a murder re-sentencing assigned and did OK. Then came the Rosoto case.
Basically Joe Rosoto had been charged, together with his brother Michael Rosoto, and two other guys, with the armed robbery of a restaurant and cocktail lounge called The South Seas, located in Anaheim, just east of Disneyland on March 9th, 1957. Two years later, in 1959, Lester Simpson and his manager and wife were returning home from the restaurant and were met by a described tall thin man armed with a shotgun, who approached the Simpsons and blew Mr Simpson apart, killing him, while he also shot Mrs. Simson’s left arm off, but she survived. (Joe Rosoto later was acquitted of the South Seas Robbery.) Eventually, the Orange County DA’s Office put together enough evidence to charge Joseph Rosoto, Don Franklin and John Vlahovitch with the murder and conspiracy to commit murder as well as the attempted murder of Mrs. Simpson. The case went to trial with the defendants denying they were there, the theory being that Joe hired Franklin and Vlahovitch and a third person, the shooter, to kill the Simpsons in order to stop them from testifying against Joe. They were all convicted and sentenced to death. The case went up to the State Supreme Court and, as affirmed on appeal, sent back for execution. You should read the opinion which sets out the acts heading up to the conviction. All you have to do is google 58 Cal 2nd 304. The case is lengthy with many issues, such as a denial of the attorney’s request for a continuance, denial of separate trials and sufficiency of the evidence for some examples. So the defendants were set for execution, but about 20 minutes before they were to be gassed to death, there was a last-minute stay because the defendants claimed the main witness against them lied and so did his girlfriend, but the Supreme Court, after reviewing the hearing testimony, said no dice, you stay convicted, but because a new case became published disallowing certain evidence submitted on the issue of life or death, the State Supreme Court reversed the death penalty and sent it back for a retrial on the issue of life or death. You may and should read that opinion by again googling “People v Rosoto 62 Cal 688 ” (4/24/1965.) That is when I came into the picture. Donald Franklin’s attorney, Sam Drizen, had been appointed a judge of the Superior Court, so Franklin needed a lawyer, and it was me. To me, all I had to do was read the acts set out in the original opinion. and use my experience, but this being Orange County and all, and with the defendants being from out of the state, (Rosoto and Franklin from Washington state and Vlohitch from Washington and LA,) after all is said and done and no issue as to guilt, who would not expect a jury of farmers, Republicans and basic law-and-order people not to render a verdict of death? To me, easy money, even though I would still do my best
The Orange County jail at that time was a bunker-like structure almost like a pill-box; today, it’s a big and modern building. The Court House at the time, and it is still standing, is what you would expect, a grand three story structure with the DA’s Office located there and about four old time large and impressive courtrooms with beautiful woodwork, judges’ chambers, the bench and witness chairs and counsel tables looked like something out of an old Hollywood film and even cannons on each side of the entry steps to set off the building. There were other courtrooms around the area in buildings that appeared to have been former residences. One would see in the morning the bailiffs escorting a chain of prisoners to the outlying courts, and the courts inside of the courthouse had their own holding cells for the prisoners.
Time to meet the client and his co-defendants. Beforehand, I had met with and talked to Franklin’s former lawyer, Sam, now Judge Drizen, and his description of Franklin gave me pause for concern. Oh well, a guy’s got to do what I got to do
So, to get into the jail, you first walked into a small entry, with sheriffs behind a counter on the right, you identify yourself, request a visit, and in this case with all three defendants, show your ID. They would open a large steel door, you walk through, no visiting rooms, just find a place amid the turmoil and do the interview. Because I asked for all three of the defendants, they decided to put me in a laundry room just off the whole holding area and then in comes the three defendants. Franklin was huge, about six two or three and well over 200 pounds with a bald head and a huge red beard and mustache. Vlohovitch was even bigger, at least six ten and well-built. Joe Rosoto was about my height, but with shoulders twice as big. I introduced myself as having been appointed to represent Franklin, and I noted Rosoto was staring at me, and his eyes were black as coal. I told them I was a former DA in LA, I was experienced in Capitol cases, I had read the earlier opinion, this would be a tough case, and they did not have to accept me as Franklin’s attorney if anyone of them objected. Joe’s eyes softened and they all said it was OK for me to come aboard. (Later I told my friend, attorney Paul Caruso, about my experience and that I had never seen eyes so scary as Joe’s. Paul laughed and said what I saw was “The Sicilian Stare,” and when confronted with it, one does get scared. Also, what the heck was I doing, letting myself be locked up with three guys convicted of a brutal murder without any guards around to prevent an attack.
Next, what I discovered from a simple motion for discovery of any favorable evidence. Turned my life around and saved the defendant’s
Marshall
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