Read the whole story! The
introduction is here as a teaser -- but at the bottom of the page are
the links to the source.
- INTRODUCTION -
" Do we operate
under a system of equal justice under law?
Or is there one system for the average citizen and another for the
high and mighty? "
~ Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973
- Chappaquiddick
has been called "the most brilliant cover-up ever achieved in a
nation where investigative procedures are well developed and where
the principles of equal justice prevail, at least during some of
those moments where people are watching." ~ The Last Kennedy by Robert
Sherrill - The mysteries of the case continue to haunt
Ted Kennedy as well as the authorities who investigated them.
Charges of ineptitude and lack of diligence abounded, as did
insinuations that the machinery of justice crumbled beneath the
power and prestige of the Kennedy family. George Killen, former
State Police Detective-Lieutenant, and chief of a never-revealed
investigation, lamented that the failure to bring the case to a
satisfactory conclusion was "the biggest mistake" of a long and
distinguished police career. Senator Kennedy, he said, "killed
that girl the same as if he put a gun to her head and pulled the
trigger." ~ Senatorial Privilegeby Leo Damore
Cape Cod with Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick
Regatta Weekend - July 1969 ( excerpts from Senatorial
Privilege by Leo Damore )
- Every summer, the Edgartown Yacht Club
sponsored the Edgartown Regatta off Martha's Vineyard.
The Kennedys had been attending the regatta for years, and
their celebrations were the stuff of legend. Their 1966
regatta party had been "riotous," and 1967 equally festive,
leaving a rented cottage in shambles. The assassination of
Robert Kennedy had kept the family away in 1968, but in the
spring of 1969 plans were under way to resume the festivities.
The Lawrence Cottage ~ Chappaquiddick
- Two Kennedy boats, the Resolute and the
Victura, were entered in the 1969 races, and Ted Kennedy
felt that the weekend's festivities provided the perfect
situation to reunite the members of Bobby's campaign staff,
affectionately known as the "Boiler Room Girls" because
of the tough back room work they did.
Joseph A. Gargan
- Joseph Gargan, Ted Kennedy's cousin
and lawyer, agreed to make the arrangements. He reserved rooms
for the women at the Katama Shores Inn near Edgartown on
Martha's Vineyard. Teddy and the other men would be put up at
the Shiretown Inn. Gargan also searched for a cottage on the
water which would serve as the site for their cookout and
party after the races.
- When he discovered that all suitable accommodations on the
water in Edgartown had already been taken, Gargan settled on
the Lawrence Cottage on the nearby island of
Chappaquiddick. This cottage was near the beach, and
allowed the party-goers to stay through Sunday. "That's the
main reason I rented the place", Gargan said.
- The island, separated from Martha's Vineyard by a narrow
channel, was accessible only a ferry which operated between
the hours of 7:30 AM and midnight. Gargan's choice of
Chappaquiddick as the site for the party would ultimately lead
to disaster.
- Beginning in 1940, a young Joey Gargan
had been sent to spend summers in Hyannis Port with his cousin
Ted Kennedy. An overweight, good natured 8-year-old, Teddy was
delighted with his new playmate. Muscular and athletic, Joey
Gargan could take care of himself and, it turned out, Teddy
too.
- Used to doing chores, Gargan was handy with tools, something
alien to his cousin who couldn't change a tire on a bicycle or
use a screwdriver. So resourceful was his cousin, that Teddy
came to rely on him, confident that whatever the problem, "Joey'll
fix it."
- This relationship would continue into their
adult years, and was put to the ultimate test after the
accident at Chappaquiddick. For nearly 20 years, Gargan
suffered in silence from the wounds inflicted on him by the
tragedy that killed Mary Jo Kopechne.
Mary Jo Kopechne
At the Party:
Ted Kennedy:
US Senator from Massachusetts and co-host of the party at
Chappaquiddick
Joseph A. Gargan:
Lawyer, Ted Kennedy's cousin, and co-host of the party
Paul Markham:
Lawyer and former US Attorney for Massachusetts
Ray LaRosa:
Former fireman and Kennedy campaign worker
Charles Tretter:
Lawyer, head of the Boston Redevelopment Commission, and a
Kennedy campaign aide
John Crimmins:
Senator Kennedy's part-time chauffeur
The Boiler Room Girls:
Members of Bobby Kennedy's campaign staff:
Mary Jo Kopechne
Rosemary Keough
Esther Newberg
Susan Tannenbaum
Nance Lyons
Mary Ellen Lyons
* Note:
- Senator Kennedy would later explain that his wife Joan
did not attend the Regatta weekend because of "health reasons" (
she was pregnant )
Background:
- Following his brother Bobby's death, "a
general discouragement with Ted's off-hour antics" was being
privately expressed within the Kennedy circle. ~ The Education of Edward Kennedy by Burton Hersh
- Time reported that Ted had been drinking more
heavily since his brother's death, and "he has been a different
and deeply-troubled man". Those close to Kennedy saw signs of a
recklessness at odds with his expanding presidential prospects.
Accepting an assignment from Life to cover Ted
Kennedy after his brother's assassination, writer Brock Brower
concluded that the insecurities, fatalism and fast-living showed
Ted was seeking to escape the inevitable candidacy for President.
"Some thought his drinking had got beyond the strains it was
supposed to relieve," he said. ~ Senatorial Privilege by Leo Damore
- John Lindsay of Newsweek saw "an all
too-familiar pattern emerging." Kennedy was slipping out of
control toward some unavoidable crackup.
Senator Kennedy's Driver's
License had Expired
- Senator Kennedy's driver's license had expired on February
22, 1969 (nearly 5 months before the accident) and had not been
renewed.
- Although driving with an expired license was only a misdemeanor,
it did provide the evidence of negligence needed to prove a
manslaughter charge in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
- The license problem was "fixed" by officials at the Registry of
Motor Vehicles, under the direction of Registrar Richard
McLaughlin, before the legal proceedings began.
Ted Kennedy's Driving
Record:
- Ted Kennedy had a record of serious traffic
violations. Their nature formed a pattern of deliberate and
repeated negligent operation. Particularly bothersome was a June,
1958 conviction for "reckless driving."
- On March 14, 1958,
Deputy Sheriff Thomas Whitten had been on routine highway patrol
outside Charlottesville, Virginia, when an Oldsmobile convertible
ran a red light, sped off, then cut its tail lights to elude
pursuit. A license check revealed the car belonged to Edward M.
Kennedy, a 26-year-old law student attending the University of
Virginia. Kennedy had previously been fined $15 for speeding in
March 1957.
- Whitten was on patrol at the same intersection a week later, he
testified, "And here comes the same car. And to my surprise, he
did exactly the same thing. He raced through the same red light,
cut his lights when he got to the corner and made the right turn."
Whitten gave chase. He found the car in a driveway, apparently
unoccupied. Looking inside, he discovered the driver, Teddy
Kennedy, stretched out on the front seat and hiding. Whitten
issued a ticket for "reckless driving; racing with an officer to
avoid arrest; and operating a motor vehicle without an operator's
license (Mass. registration.)"
- Kennedy's attorneys were able to win numerous postponements, but
eventually he was convicted on all charges and paid a $35 fine.
Court officials never filed the mandatory notice of the case in
the public docket, however, and Kennedy's name had not appeared on
any arrest blotter. Instead, a local reporter discovered the case
when he spotted 5 warrants in Kennedy's name in a court cash
drawer.
- Three weeks after his trial, Ted Kennedy was caught speeding
again, and still operating without a valid license.
- In December 1959, Kennedy was stopped again for running a red
light and fined $10 and costs. In Whitten's view, "That boy had a
heavy foot and a mental block against the color red. He was a
careless, reckless driver who didn't seem to have any regard for
speed limits or traffic ordinances."
- The offenses in Virginia had occurred on
Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts driver's license, but mysteriously
neither the Registry of Motor Vehicles nor the office of probation
in Cambridge had any record of the out-of-state convictions. Had
it been revealed at the inquest, the Senator's history of
negligence and reckless driving would have been further evidence
to support a charge of manslaughter in the Chappaquiddick
accident.
~ Senatorial Privilege by Leo
Damore
Manslaughter in
Massachusetts :
"Any person who wantonly or in a reckless or grossly negligent
manner did that which resulted in the death of a human being was
guilty of manslaughter, although he did not contemplate such a
result." In other words, negligence in exposing another to injury
by doing an act, supplied all the intention the law required to
make a defendant responsible for the consequences.
- "It's
automatic in Massachusetts when a person is killed in an accident
for the prosecutor to bring an action for criminal manslaughter."
~ Joseph Gargan
- Less than a week after the accident at Chappaquiddick, the Oregonian (Portland, Oregon ~ 7-24-69 ) reported an
accident in Salem, Oregon, in which a car crashed through the
chain on a ferry while crossing the Willamette River. A passenger
riding in the car had drowned, but the driver escaped from the car
and swam to shore. The driver was charged with negligent homicide.
Much of the
information found on these pages was emailed to me, often without credit
to the original author. Credit will be given to the author and links to
the original material when known
