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| 314 | hauptmann’s ladder Wilentz Closes The following morning, more people than ever crowded into the courtroom. some concluded that this was because david Wilentz was giving his closing argument, while others thought it was because it was a holiday, lincoln’s birthday.1 Whatever the reason, the courtroom was packed beyond its limits. Wilentz was ready for his big moment. he was dressed in a dark blue doublebreasted suit with a striped blue tie and a handkerchief in the breast pocket. his shirt was bright white with a high collar. his hair was dark and slicked back. he looked dignified and very serious. When ed reilly started his closing, he cited scripture from st. matthew. Wilentz wasted little time responding. holding a bible, he approached the jury and said, “‘Judge not, lest ye be judged,’ my adversary says, but forgets the other biblical admonition , ‘and he that killeth any man shall surely be killed, shall surely be put to death.’”2 placing the bible on the table, Wilentz continued, “For all these months since october , 1934, not during any moment has there been anything that has come to surface or light that has indicated anything but the guilt of this defendant, Bruno richard hauptmann, and no one else. every avenue of evidence, every little thoroughfare that we traveled along, every one leads to the same door, Bruno richard hauptmann.”3 This was a dramatic, albeit factually inaccurate, beginning. almost all of the evidence collected pointed to hauptmann, but at least one significant piece, the signature of J. J. Faulkner, did not. even to this day, the identity of J. J. Faulkner remains a mystery.4 notwithstanding this error, Wilentz continued his assault on hauptmann. “now, what type of man,” the prosecutor firmly asserted, “what type of man, would kill the child of Colonel lindbergh and anne morrow? he wouldn’t be an american. no american gangster and no american racketeer ever sank to the level of killing babies.”5 pointing his finger directly at hauptmann, Wilentz thundered, “oh, no, it had to be a fellow that had ice water in his veins, not blood. That is the first thing. it had to be| 314 || 36 | Wilentz Closes | 315 | a fellow who had a peculiar mental makeup, who thought he was bigger than lindy, that when the news of the crime came out he could look at the headlines screaming across the page just as headlines screamed across the page when lindy made that famous flight.”6 a man who would commit this crime was “an egomaniac, who thought he was omnipotent,” Wilentz continued, telling the jury that such a man would be secretive and the kind of person who kept the truth from his wife.7 he would be the kind of person who would undergo hardship, such as making three attempts to stow away on a boat to illegally enter the country. he would be the kind of man who would burglarize the home of a mayor in Germany by entering the second story using a ladder. it would be a man who pointed a gun at women pushing baby carriages.8 The person who committed this crime would be “an animal lower than the lowest form in the animal kingdom, public enemy number one of this world, Bruno richard hauptmann. We have found him and he is here for your judgment.”9 Wilentz was using the criminal background of the defendant and pieces of testimony to try to convince the jury that only a person of hauptmann’s character would commit such a crime. Though this type of argument may have been common in 1935, it is not permitted today. a prosecutor making such comments before a jury would almost certainly have any conviction overturned. The summation is supposed to be based upon the evidence and not the opinions of the prosecutor on the character of the defendant. some have suggested a more sinister intent behind the prosecutor’s words. The trial took place between the two world wars. This was a time when anti-German sentiment ran strong. many believe that Wilentz was using racial bigotry against hauptmann . in fact, sir ludovic Kennedy goes so far as to suggest that Wilentz saw himself as the “standard-bearer for persecuted German Jewry with hauptmann (the former machine-gunner) personifying nazi brutality and arrogance.”10 The comment, “he wouldn’t be an american,” was certainly improper, but does not quite reach the grandiose level of perverted racism suggested...

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