Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-10-14
GILES
Governor Asked to Weiqh
information on Rape Victim

minutes elaboration. Judge
Evans, sentencing him to death
on November 20. 1862. said
THE court has given this case
a great deal of consideration.
Appeals Lost
Appeals by the Giles brothers
and Johnson were made x
Maryland Court of Appeals. bu'
lost. An attempt to secure
United States Supreme Court
review of the Giles case wa
rebuffed.
The Giles brothers we're Il
be executed in the week of July
Is, but Gov. Tawes granted {
stay of execution pending the
outcome Of the johnson appeal
Since then, Johnson's execu'
ton has been set for the weel
of october 81.
! Under pressure from attor'
neys and citizens. Gov. Tawei
agreed to the clemency hear
ing, which will begin at 1875
am. tomorrow.
At the hearing, members o
the Giles-Johnson Defens,
Committee headed by Mrs
Harold F. Ross Of Silver Sprin;
and attorneys for the thret
young men will formally pres
ent the evidence" they believe
makes the Giles and johnson
stories Of the alleged rap
| plausible.
Full Pardon Asked
Much of the new evidence
was gathered by DR.. Harold A
Knapp, a Defense Department
operations analyst who became
interested when he learned tina
the three men were sentenced
to death. Originally planning
brief letter Of protest, he be
came so interested that he pu
together and mimeographed
$50 page plus document CALM
for full pardon Of the defen
dents.
At the center Of his argumer
and those now of the othe
citizens is the background an
character Of the l6-year-ol
girl. After DR.. Knapp called o
|, Arthur A. Marshall, Jr., Primo
Georges County States At
torney, for information abou
the girl. the prosecutor sen
a confidential letter to Gov
Tawes containing certain in
formation from County record
about her.
The information was late
released to defense attorney
who included it in their sup
plement to a petition for elem
ency they gave the Governor
and allowed DR.. Knapp to us
it in his document.
I DR.. Knapp requested a fu,
pardon for the three men, pri
marily on the ground that, a
he states it: IF (the victim
were a victim of rape, then tn
boys must be considered vic
tins Of seduction"
DIR. Knapp's Conclusion
In his conclusion to a $50
page-plus appeal for pardon
DR.. Knapp wrote:
From what is known abou
them (all involved parties,
must be concluded that the
! all acted very much like them
selves. Yet by an extraordinar
chain of events, three peacefl
citizens of Maryland, who ha
; been spending an evenin
swimming and fishing nes
their homes ended up on Deaf
t Row, convicted of the heiniou
crime Of rape.
And, in no small part
/ happened because a 16-yeal
/ old sexual adventures, out {
, parental control, was II mile
: from home at midnight, in tt
J back seat of a parked car wit
a 21-year-old known trouble
. maker. 4"
What is before the Govel
l nor is not really a matter I
q clemency," he wrote, but or
S of redressing a great wror
done by the State of Marylar
against the defendants.
The necessary facts for
= full understanding of this ca
+ were not available to Il
v juries," he charges. THE mo
important of these facts a
1 contained in the police recorl
Y of a juvenile complainant, al
e would evidently not have be-
v admissible in court.
2 Unworthy of Relief"
d yet" he continues, 1.-The
records taken together with t
IS transcripts Of the two tris
= cast more than reasonak
|, doubt on the veracity of t,
o testimony against the defen
ants. Accordingly, they must
o considered not guilty of t
d crime for which they we
,e convicted"
n Attorneys Stedman PreSco
10 jr., and Hal Witt presented t
d girls sexual history and poll
lg record in supplement to thu
If petition for executive clemenC
re They are attorneys for t
t Giles brothers.
n This new evidence" tn
t, commended, virtually prov
y that petitioners told the tru
at their trial, while the pros
h cutrix lied, about certain CT
cial matters which 60 to t
lie very heart of the case agar
y petitioners.
IS "Furtsr, the new eviden