A Spy in Canaan
Page 36
23 Even Withers’s defense attorney, Reed Malkin, didn’t know about the photographer’s previous work as an informant. “The first I heard about that was when it came out (in 2010) in the paper,” Malkin told the author on September 20, 2017. “When it came out it was a big surprise.” Had he known, he believes he could have used it as leverage. “I think I could have got them to drop the case,” he said. Why his client never told him is unclear. “I think he was concerned about his legacy and his reputation. I could see that he didn’t want anybody to know about that stuff with the FBI, probably more than anything to protect his family. I could see where he would have felt that would be detrimental to his family and his legacy.” Withers also may have been shaken by his closed-session appearance months earlier before the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
24 USA v. Ernest Columbus Withers and John Paul “J. P.” Murrell, CR-79-20009-1, Western District of Tennessee. See sentencing information and Withers testimony (August 7, 1979). Lee Hyden was convicted in connection with his previous role as a Shelby County commissioner.
25 Ibid., released: See “Conditions of Probation” form filed June 4, 1980, stating Withers was “released from prison on May 23, 1980,” and that his one year of probation now begins. fine: Ibid. Withers’s sentence also included four hours of community service a week. revoke his probation: Probation officer’s report of April 6, 1981, contending Withers “has not paid $2,500 fine.” Also, order of Judge Harry W. Wellford, May 1, 1981, admonishing Withers for “failure to pay the entire amount.” Withers told the court he “was taking steps to liquidate assets” to pay the fine.
26 Jet magazine, August 4, 1977, 6–7.
Chapter Six
1 Rickey Peete: Buser, “51 Months For Peete; Former City Council Member Learned Nothing In Prison, Judge Says,” CA, November 15, 2007, A1. Joe Cooper: Buser, “Informer Going to Jail For 6 Months; Cooper Helped FBI In Official Corruption Case,” CA, June 19, 2008, A1; and Perrusquia, “Tanner Said to Have Paid For Judge’s Florida Vacation; Cooper Says He Did Peete a Favor With Boss’ Credit Card,” CA, November 17, 2005, B3.
2 The author interviewed Withers about his involvement in the Clemency for Cash scandal in December 2006, for a series of stories on the legacy and impact of public corruption in Memphis. “People lust for gold, lust for money,” he said. Politicians are in it for the money, he said. Bagmen—the little guys like Withers—simply follow orders. “I was just doing what I was supposed to do,” he said.
3 Perrusquia, “Edwards Maintains Innocence,” CA, June 20, 1989, A1; Perrusquia, “Miss. Killer Edwards Dies In Gas Chamber,” CA, June 21, 1989, A1.
4 USA v. John Ford, Western District of Tennessee, exhibit 62a. During the twenty-five-minute undercover audiotape, played April 12, 2007, at the trial, Ford also said in a rambling discourse over drinks in a hotel barroom that he’d like to shoot a businessman. “I don’t mind shooting that motherfucker,” Ford told undercover agent L. C. McNeil. Unknown to Ford, the businessman he wanted to shoot was really a retired FBI agent posing as the corrupt owner of fictitious E-Cyle Inc. Ford also insinuated that he’d like to shoot his attorney, David Caywood, who represented him in the child support case that led to the ethics charges against him. “That motherfucker got me in all this goddam trouble,” Ford said.
5 shoved the citation: Perrusquia, “John Ford in Fracas at Airport Over Ticket: ‘I Am a Senator, You Can’t Lock Me Up,’ He’s Quoted,” CA, August 10, 1999. “legislative immunity”: Richard Locker, “Inquiry Says Trooper Ticketing Ford Needs Courtesy Counseling,” CA, March 3, 1994.
6 Perrusquia,