Vincent Bugliosi

Vincent Bugliosi (IPAEng|ˌbuːliˈoʊsi, with a silent g) (born August 18, 1934, in Hibbing, Minnesota) is an American attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders. His most recent books are "" (2007), and "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" (2008).

Education

Bugliosi is a graduate of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1964, he received his law degree from UCLA, where he was president of his graduating class.

tyle

Bugliosi does not own a computer and at one time did all his research through library microfilm archives."The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" ISBN 978-159315-481-3(2008) Acknowledgments] More recently, he has relied on his virtual secretary, Rosemary Newton, to help with these tasks. He also writes his books entirely by hand and which Newton later transcribes.

Bugliosi, who is of Italian ancestry, is married with two children: Wendy and Vince Jr. He often refers to his wife, Gail, in his books, referencing her understanding and patience with him. He has also stated that he is an agnostic, although open to the ideas of deism.

Manson prosecution

As a Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney, he successfully prosecuted Charles Manson and several other members of his "family" for the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and six others. He lost only one of the 106 felony cases he tried as a prosecutor, which included winning 21 out of 21 murder cases. [ [http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/vincent_bugliosi The Nation:] Vince Bugliosi bio] He later authored (with Curt Gentry) a book about the Manson trial called "Helter Skelter". The book went on to be the biggest selling true crime book in publishing history with over 7 million copies sold. ["Helter Skelter" Back Cover ""biggest selling true crime book in publishing history"]

Political Candidate

In 1972, Bugliosi ran for Los Angeles County District Attorney against longtime incumbent Joseph Busch. Bugliosi lost in a bitter, sometimes nasty campaign.

Legal author and commentator

Bugliosi has been an outspoken critic of the media and lawyers and judges in major trials. His latest book is titled "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" in which he makes the case that President George W. Bush ought to be prosecuted for murder based on evidence showing he lied to the American people into waging a war of aggression.

"Outrage"

Bugliosi wrote a bestselling book, "Outrage", on the acquittal of O.J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, in which Bugliosi detailed the work of the district attorney, prosecutors, the defense lawyers, and presiding judge; he used these profiles to illustrate broader problems in American criminal justice, the media, and the political appointment of judges.

Bugliosi was very critical of prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden and pointed out many glaring mistakes that they had made during the trial. He faulted them, for example, for not introducing the note that Simpson had written before trying to flee. Bugliosi said that the note "reeked" of guilt and that the jury should have been allowed to see it. He also pointed out that there was a change of clothing, a large amount of cash, a passport and a disguise kit found in the Bronco of which the jury was never informed.

Simpson had made a very incriminating statement to police about cutting his finger the night of the murders. Bugliosi once again took Clark and Darden to task for not allowing the jury to hear the tape of this statement.

Bugliosi also said the prosecutors should have gone into more detail about Simpson's abuse of his wife. He said it should have been made clear to the mostly African-American jury that Simpson had little impact in the black community and had done nothing to help blacks less fortunate than him. Bugliosi pointed out that, although the prosecutors obviously understood that Simpson's race had nothing to do with the murders, once the defense "opened the door" by trying to paint Simpson falsely as a "leader" in the black community, the evidence to the contrary should have been presented, to prevent the jury from allowing it to bias their verdict.

He also has stated that, if he were prosecuting this case, he would have put at least 500 hours of preparation into his final summation, and that it was obvious that Clark and Darden had waited until the night before to prepare for it.

Bugliosi also spoke at length about the allegations that LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman had planted a bloody glove in order to frame Simpson. He argued that in order for Fuhrman to pull this off, there would have had to have been a broad-reaching conspiracy between Fuhrman and the other officers who worked the case. Indeed, while the defense made much of Fuhrman's racial slurs, it never proved that anyone planted evidence in the case.

Bugliosi also pointed out that it was highly improbable that Fuhrman and anyone else involved in the case would have tried to frame Simpson, as California law of the time provided that anyone who planted evidence in a death penalty case could have faced the death penalty themselves.

Presidents of the United States

He also condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in "Clinton v. Jones" and in the "Bush v. Gore" decision that decided the 2000 presidential election. He wrote a lengthy criticism of the latter case in an article for "The Nation" titled "None Dare Call It Treason," which was later expanded into a book titled "The Betrayal of America". Some of his criticisms are portrayed in the 2004 documentary "Orwell Rolls in His Grave". Regarding the former case, he wrote a book, "No Island of Sanity," in which he argued that the American people's right to have a president unburdened by a private lawsuit outweighed Paula Jones' interest in having her case brought to trial immediately.

He also believes that George W. Bush should be charged with the murders of over 4,000 American soldiers as well as over 100,000 Iraqis who have died in Iraq since the American-led invasion of that country because of the strong evidence that Bush launched that invasion under false pretenses. He has recently released a book, "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder", laying out this evidence and outlining what questions he would ask Bush at a potential murder trial. Bugliosi gave testimony at a House Judiciary Committee meeting on July 25, 2008, to consider impeachment proceedings for Bush.

Bugliosi is also a serious student of the John F. Kennedy assassination. In 1986, he played the part of prosecutor in an unscripted 21-hour television trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. The program, sponsored by London Weekend Television, required extensive preparations by Bugliosi and inspired him to later write a comprehensive book on the subject of the assassination. His 1612-page book (with a CD-ROM containing an additional 958 pages of endnotes and 170 pages of source notes), "" was published in May 2007. His book examines the JFK assassination in detail and draws on a variety of sources; his findings are in line with those of the Warren Report which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of the president. He has called "Reclaiming History" his "magnum-opus". A comprehensive essay attempting to refute"Reclaiming History" was written by Michael Green in 2007 and posted online to a 9/11 conspiracy theory website. [ [http://www.911research.wtc7.net/essays/green/BesmirchingHistory.html Besmirching History] Michael Green, Sep. 19, 2007.]

Works

Books

* "Helter Skelter" (with Curt Gentry) (1974) (Edgar Award, 1975, Best Fact Crime book)
* "Till Death Us Do Part: A True Murder Mystery" (with Ken Hurwitz) (1978) (Edgar Award, 1979, Best Fact Crime book)
* "And the Sea Will Tell" (with Bruce B. Henderson) (1991)
* "Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away With Murder" (1996)
* "The Phoenix Solution: Getting Serious About Winning America's Drug War" (1996)
* "No Island of Sanity: Paula Jones v. Bill Clinton - The Supreme Court on Trial" (1998)
* "" (2001)
* "" (2007)
* "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" ISBN 978-159315-481-3(2008)

In film

Bugliosi has had many of his books adapted to the screen, and as such appears as a character.
* "Helter Skelter (1976)" (portrayed by George DiCenzo)
* "And the Sea Will Tell (1991 TV)" (portrayed by Richard Crenna)
* "Till Death Us Do Part" (1992 TV) (portrayed by Arliss Howard)
* "Helter Skelter (2004)" (portrayed by Bruno Kirby)

Articles

* " [http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010205&c=1&s=bugliosi None Dare Call It Treason] " from "The Nation", February 5, 2001.

References

External links

* [http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2008/06/video-exclusi-2.html VIDEO: Bugliosi talk on 'The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder' in Los Angeles] June 25, 2008
* [http://www.hotpotatomash.com/2008/07/video-exlusive.html VIDEO: Bugliosi supports compassionate release of Manson Family member Susan Atkins] July 2, 2008
* [http://investigation.discovery.com/investigation/history/crimes-century/charles-manson/charles-manson.html VIDEO: Bugliosi talk's with Investigation Discovery about the Manson Family murders.] July 2, 2008
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/807/000023738/ Vincent Bugliosi profile, NNDB]
* [http://www.americanbooktour.com/book_reclaiming_history_part_1.asp Vincent Bugliosi video interview with the American Book Tour on the Kennedy Assassination]
* [http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/13/citing_iraq_war_renowned_attorney_vincent Vincent Bugliosi Interview on "Democracy Now!" regarding "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder"]
* [http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2008/7/15/2934/94912/ Interview on TYT.]