Despite a defense argument that Jack Ruby was mentally ill when he shot Lee Harvey Oswald, a Dallas jury convicted Ruby of murder with malice on March 14, 1964. The death penalty was fixed by a jury that returned a verdict of “murder with malice” against the 52‐year‐old nightclub operator. The jury deliberated 2 hours 19 minutes.

Melvin M. BelIi of San Francisco, the chief defense counsel, jumped to his feet as soon as the sentence was read, and began a denunciation of the eight men and four women, all white Protestants, who had unanimously agreed on the death penalty.

“This was a kangaroo court, a railroad court, and everyone knew it,” Mr. Belli told his steadily diminishing audience. “Judge Brown went down the line for every motion the District Attorney made. He committed 30 errors.”

image 1: Bill Winfrey Collection, The Dallas Morning News/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

film: KRLD-TV/KTVT/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.