by SCOTT PARKS / The Dallas Morning News
H. Louis Nichols, a Dallas lawyer who died Sunday at 94, sat knee to knee with Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy died in Dallas.
The story of how he came to share a few one-on-one moments with Oswald centers on the sense of professional responsibility Mr. Nichols felt as president of the Dallas County Bar Association in 1963.
Dallas police arrested Oswald several hours after the assassination on a Friday afternoon. Once Oswald was in jail, it was unclear to the world whether he wanted or had requested an attorney. It also was unclear whether the FBI or police might be keeping him from an attorney while interrogating him.
By 2 p.m. Saturday, Mr. Nichols began receiving calls from Dallas attorneys concerned that Oswald did not have an attorney. Esteemed law school deans from "back East" were calling to express concern that only a legal backwater would deny an attorney to a murder suspect, Mr. Nichols' friends told him.
The situation was puzzling. Mr. Nichols was a civil lawyer unfamiliar with criminal law. Oswald, who was indigent, couldn't pay a lawyer. In 1963, criminal suspects in Texas had no right to a court-appointed lawyer before they were indicted.
Still, Mr. Nichols concluded that even a pariah like Oswald deserved representation. And it was up to him as bar association president to see if the accused killer wanted a lawyer. So, Mr. Nichols cleaned up, got dressed on a Saturday afternoon and drove to the city jail.
After navigating his way through a horde of reporters and television cameramen, he went to Police Department offices and announced that he was there to speak to Oswald. Accompanied by Police Chief Jesse Curry, Mr. Nichols took the elevator to the sixth floor of the Police and Courts Building, where he found the prisoner by himself in a small cell between two empty cells. A police guard sat just outside the cell door.
"So, he sat on one bunk and I sat on the other. Maybe three or four feet apart," Nichols told a lawyer for the Warren Commission, a prestigious group of government officials who investigated the assassination.
Nichols described Oswald, who was dressed in white T-shirt and slacks, as calm and rested. He had a bruise over one eye but appeared to be in good health. He said that police were holding him "incommunicado" and that he did not know what had happened to the president, Mr. Nichols told the Warren Commission.
Oswald said he wanted a New York lawyer named John Abt or a lawyer associated with the American Civil Liberties Union to represent him. Oswald also wanted a lawyer "who believes as I believe, and believes in my innocence."
"What I am interested in is knowing right now, do you want me or the Dallas Bar Association to try to get you a lawyer?" Mr. Nichols asked Oswald.
"No, not right now," he replied.
Mr. Nichols, who was 47 at the time, left the jail cell confident that he had done his duty as bar association president. The next morning, Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald on live national television.
Mr. Nichols' family describes him as a humble man and a hard-working attorney who didn't formally retire until age 91.
"As someone who sat knee to knee with Lee Harvey Oswald, he believed he was a part of history," said Martha M. Nichols, his daughter.
Jennie Nichols, a granddaughter, recalled the day she brought her grandfather to her fifth-grade class for show and tell.
The kids were studying the Kennedy assassination, and Mr. Nichols was happy to tell them his story.
"That day, he was show and tell," Ms. Nichols said.
Services for Mr. Nichols will be at 11 a.m. today at Park Cities Presbyterian Church.
In addition to his daughter and granddaughter, survivors include his wife, Elaine Nichols; a son, David Nichols; and another granddaughter.
Source: Dallas Morning News
H. Louis Nichols, a Dallas lawyer who died Sunday at 94, sat knee to knee with Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy died in Dallas.
The story of how he came to share a few one-on-one moments with Oswald centers on the sense of professional responsibility Mr. Nichols felt as president of the Dallas County Bar Association in 1963.
Dallas police arrested Oswald several hours after the assassination on a Friday afternoon. Once Oswald was in jail, it was unclear to the world whether he wanted or had requested an attorney. It also was unclear whether the FBI or police might be keeping him from an attorney while interrogating him.
By 2 p.m. Saturday, Mr. Nichols began receiving calls from Dallas attorneys concerned that Oswald did not have an attorney. Esteemed law school deans from "back East" were calling to express concern that only a legal backwater would deny an attorney to a murder suspect, Mr. Nichols' friends told him.
The situation was puzzling. Mr. Nichols was a civil lawyer unfamiliar with criminal law. Oswald, who was indigent, couldn't pay a lawyer. In 1963, criminal suspects in Texas had no right to a court-appointed lawyer before they were indicted.
Still, Mr. Nichols concluded that even a pariah like Oswald deserved representation. And it was up to him as bar association president to see if the accused killer wanted a lawyer. So, Mr. Nichols cleaned up, got dressed on a Saturday afternoon and drove to the city jail.
After navigating his way through a horde of reporters and television cameramen, he went to Police Department offices and announced that he was there to speak to Oswald. Accompanied by Police Chief Jesse Curry, Mr. Nichols took the elevator to the sixth floor of the Police and Courts Building, where he found the prisoner by himself in a small cell between two empty cells. A police guard sat just outside the cell door.
"So, he sat on one bunk and I sat on the other. Maybe three or four feet apart," Nichols told a lawyer for the Warren Commission, a prestigious group of government officials who investigated the assassination.
Nichols described Oswald, who was dressed in white T-shirt and slacks, as calm and rested. He had a bruise over one eye but appeared to be in good health. He said that police were holding him "incommunicado" and that he did not know what had happened to the president, Mr. Nichols told the Warren Commission.
Oswald said he wanted a New York lawyer named John Abt or a lawyer associated with the American Civil Liberties Union to represent him. Oswald also wanted a lawyer "who believes as I believe, and believes in my innocence."
"What I am interested in is knowing right now, do you want me or the Dallas Bar Association to try to get you a lawyer?" Mr. Nichols asked Oswald.
"No, not right now," he replied.
Mr. Nichols, who was 47 at the time, left the jail cell confident that he had done his duty as bar association president. The next morning, Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald on live national television.
Mr. Nichols' family describes him as a humble man and a hard-working attorney who didn't formally retire until age 91.
"As someone who sat knee to knee with Lee Harvey Oswald, he believed he was a part of history," said Martha M. Nichols, his daughter.
Jennie Nichols, a granddaughter, recalled the day she brought her grandfather to her fifth-grade class for show and tell.
The kids were studying the Kennedy assassination, and Mr. Nichols was happy to tell them his story.
"That day, he was show and tell," Ms. Nichols said.
Services for Mr. Nichols will be at 11 a.m. today at Park Cities Presbyterian Church.
In addition to his daughter and granddaughter, survivors include his wife, Elaine Nichols; a son, David Nichols; and another granddaughter.
Source: Dallas Morning News
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1 comment:
For anyone who might be interested, here's a live TV interview with H. Louis Nichols on 11/23/63, just minutes after Nichols had talked to Lee Harvey Oswald at Dallas City Hall:
PART 1:
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=zzs3M7LwsJc
PART 2:
http://YouTube.com/watch?v=TtAyFCd5fdU
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