griffith j griffth, benefactor of griffith park was a terrible man
unless you think shooting your wife in the face is ok
all of santa monica hated him for that because she was the prettiest woman in the entire city
which is saying something because hoooo boy.
even back then.
griffith j went to jail for that. san quentin.
even though he used a defense that is no longer legal to even utter
your honor my client was totally drunk at the time.
didnt work for griffith j, and it aint gonna work for you.
weirdest part was, his lawyer, the one who tried that nonsense
had to do whatever he could because the prosecutor was the former governor of california
true story
drunk ass griffith j griffith wasnt even from the golden state
he was a former journalist from colorado who learned about alternatives during
the great gold rush
hauled ass down to mexico where he “found” a copper mine
mined the shit out of it and bought damn near all of the hollywood hills, los feliz
and a big ass house to annoy his hot wife.
like most angelenos, griffith was a transplant who spent money on things like mountains
which were totally impractical back then because you couldnt grow any fruits or vegetables up there
and they were filthy with wild animals who were just as dangerous as a newly rich coloradan with a gun and a bottle of jd.
earl rogers was his name
who
his lawyer.
was so good and so famous that they would later make a hit tv show after him
perry mason
why perry mason?
because earl rogers was from perry new york.
look it up for all i care.
earl had many famous cases including the one of clarence darrow that you might have heard of.
darrow was also a lawyer but he was accused of bribing a member of the jury during a very famous case, the one where these guys were being accused of blowing up the LA Times building which killed 21 people.
earl won, darrow went free and then was accused shortly thereafter of bribing another juror in that same case. earl won again.
but my favorite victory of his was he defended a man accused of murdering his wife and won by asking the jury to think of their own spouses. really think about them. and the jury said yeah not guilty.
afterwards his client wanted to hug him and earl rogers said, “get away from me you slimy pimp, you’re as guilty as hell and you know it.”
which is exactly why you should never worry what people think of you
history will forget almost everything
the only person anyone remembers out of this entire fascinating tale is
perry freaking mason
the fictional version of the late earl rogers who ran all of los angeles for a little while when the mayor got thrown in jail
but earl just doesnt sound as cool in an ozzy osbourne song
