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| COPPOLINO AND F. LEE BAILEY |
Dr Coppolino was being tried for the murder of his wife. He'd already been tried--6 months earlier--for another murder in New Jersey and found not guilty thanks to the brilliant witness cross-examination by his attorney F. Lee Bailey. That charge alleged that Dr Carl had murdered the husband of his lover. The victim had been injected with a chemical that sent him on his way. Coppolino's wife died of the same chemical being injected. What a coincidence!
Ken Mulling and I were assigned chauffeur duty for a key witness, Dr. Milton Helpern. Helpern, from the NY Medical Examiner's Officer, was world renowned. He'd been called in to do autopsies on the exhumed NJ husband, and Coppolino's wife.
In Jersey, F. Lee had pretty much taken the Doctor's testimony apart, one of the key reason's Coppolino was acquitted. Probably for that reason Helpern despised Bailey and badmouthed him at every opportunity.
"A squeaky-chair lawyer," Helpern would say. This from a trick he claimed Bailey employed of finding the squeakiest chair in the courtroom and claiming it for his own. Then, when he wanted to take attention away from the witness, he'd rock in the chair making an annoying racket. (This ploy is originally attributed to Clarence Darrow)
"The worst attorney I've ever seen." he'd say. "Never took a case unless it meant big headlines and an imbecile could get them acquitted." There were those who would disagree, F. Lee being counsel for The Boston Strangler, Sam Shepard, Patty Hearst and, much later, O.J. Simpson.
But, Doctor Helpern got his revenge in Naples. Instead of finding a jury pool of sleepy rustics Bailey had hoped for, he discovered most were retired professional folks, much above the normal for a jury pool. And, there was no way they couldn't have known about the media saturated New Jersey trial and the controversy over the verdict. So, even though Bailey did his best to discredit Helpbern again, it didn't take and Coppolina was convicted of 2nd Degree Murder.
F. Lee and Helpern both stayed at the old Golfing Buccaneer Hotel on the corner of Mooringline and US 41. Bailey held court at the bar each evening and was a popular attraction for the locals. Helpern, much the elder, went straight to his room and stayed there. That was probably for the best since it kept the two from encountering each other. I'm sure Bailey would have cooled it, but the old Doc may have gone after him. Seriously!
Ken Mulling and I were assigned chauffeur duty for a key witness, Dr. Milton Helpern. Helpern, from the NY Medical Examiner's Officer, was world renowned. He'd been called in to do autopsies on the exhumed NJ husband, and Coppolino's wife.
In Jersey, F. Lee had pretty much taken the Doctor's testimony apart, one of the key reason's Coppolino was acquitted. Probably for that reason Helpern despised Bailey and badmouthed him at every opportunity.
"A squeaky-chair lawyer," Helpern would say. This from a trick he claimed Bailey employed of finding the squeakiest chair in the courtroom and claiming it for his own. Then, when he wanted to take attention away from the witness, he'd rock in the chair making an annoying racket. (This ploy is originally attributed to Clarence Darrow)
"The worst attorney I've ever seen." he'd say. "Never took a case unless it meant big headlines and an imbecile could get them acquitted." There were those who would disagree, F. Lee being counsel for The Boston Strangler, Sam Shepard, Patty Hearst and, much later, O.J. Simpson.
But, Doctor Helpern got his revenge in Naples. Instead of finding a jury pool of sleepy rustics Bailey had hoped for, he discovered most were retired professional folks, much above the normal for a jury pool. And, there was no way they couldn't have known about the media saturated New Jersey trial and the controversy over the verdict. So, even though Bailey did his best to discredit Helpbern again, it didn't take and Coppolina was convicted of 2nd Degree Murder.
F. Lee and Helpern both stayed at the old Golfing Buccaneer Hotel on the corner of Mooringline and US 41. Bailey held court at the bar each evening and was a popular attraction for the locals. Helpern, much the elder, went straight to his room and stayed there. That was probably for the best since it kept the two from encountering each other. I'm sure Bailey would have cooled it, but the old Doc may have gone after him. Seriously!
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