• Justice Black Considering Time Extension for Watson

Justice Black Considering Time Extension for Watson

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 10 – Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black is weighing an appeal that Charles Denton Watson be given more time to fight against being returned to California in the Sharon Tate murder case.

Lawyers for Watson, 24, repeated arguments that the young Texan cannot receive a fair trial in California as they appealed to the jurist yesterday.

Black was asked to let Watson remain in jail at McKinney, Texas, beyond Saturday, the date set by a court order for the Collin County sheriff to deliver him to Los Angeles officers.

If Black rejects the request, Watson may go on trial without the Supreme Court first considering his contentions he is entitled to a hearing in Texas on his argument that newspapers, magazines, radio and television have so publicized the August, 1969, murders of the actress and six others that a fair trial in California is impossible.

Watson’s lawyers cited a copyrighted story in the Los Angeles Times last Dec. 14 in which a co-defendant, Susan Atkins, gave what the newspaper called “exclusive details of two nights of murder.” They said Los Angeles police helped the Times set up the interview.

Watson, from Copeville, Texas, was indicted last December in all seven murders. Texas Gov. Preston Smith has granted a request by California Gov. Ronald Reagan that Watson be extradited.

His case has been severed from the current trial of Charles Manson and three women also accused of killing the actress and the six others.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals protected Watson from extradition until Saturday. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans declined to extend the deadline while rejecting Watson’s plea for a hearing in Texas.

Unless Black acts, Watson could be extradited and brought to trial in California before an appeal could be considered by the Supreme Court.

This entry was posted in Archived News. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *