Sunday, July 25, 2021
Historian Alecia Long has written an excellent blog post on the role of photographs in Garrison's investigation.
"The three men pictured in the photo above are (from left) Lester Otillio, a policeman assigned to the D.A.’s office as an investigator, James Alcock, the ADA who would argue most of the state's case against Clay Shaw at his 1969 trial, and John Volz, also an ADA who eventually became a prominent federal prosecutor."
"One thing that’s very clear in NOPD annual reports is that, as the 1960s got underway, arrests of men who were gay or were cruising for sex with other men rose precipitously. One result is that many had their names and addresses printed in the newspaper. And, while charges were often dropped (an issue I explore in the book) many were processed and had mug shots taken and rap sheets created. Even if they were quickly released, police and investigators in the local District Attorney’s office had a very rich trove of photographs of gay men on which to draw."
You can see some of the mug shots in Alecia's blog post.
Alecia Long's book, Cruising for Conspirators: How a New Orleans DA Prosecuted the Kennedy Assassination as a Sex Crime, will be released in mid-September.
I've got my copy on order. Please order your own copy. This is a very important book, and deserves to be in your library.