Law & Order in the City of Angels - Corruption, Attempted Murder, and a Little Mayhem in the City of Angels

It was around 10 a.m. on January 14, 1938, when Harry Raymond went out to his garage in Boyle Heights, turned the key on the ignition of his car and his engine bolted out of the hood of his car, filling Harry’s body with 186 pieces of shrapnel. The explosion was loud enough to hear throughout the neighborhood. Harry was rushed to the hospital where he received 100 stitches and was treated for multiple fractures and chest punctures.

Law & Order in the City of Angels - Jury Tampering, Bribery, and a Little Courtroom Murder: The Julian Pete Swindle

On July 14, 1930, Frank Keaton entered Department 39 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for a civil case between The First National Bank, and Hollywood film producer David O. Selznick. On the stand was banker Motley Flint. Keaton listened in the spectator’s section to Motley’s testimony, and once he finished and stepped down from the witness stand, Keaton shot him three times with his .38 Smith & Wesson – Flint fell dead! What angered Mr. Keaton, and brought him so far to the edge that he would shoot Motley Flint dead? The Answer is “The Julian Pete Swindle”.

Law & Order in the City of Angels - Will the Real Perry Mason Please Stand Up?

by Pebbla Wallace, LACHS Board Member

The most famous courtroom television drama in the history of courtroom dramas will always remain, in the opinion of this writer, the series Perry Mason, which starred Raymond Burr from 1957-1974. Although the drama depicted a fictional criminal defense attorney who won almost every case, what you may not know is that the character was based on a real-life criminal defense attorney name Earl Rogers who practiced in Los Angeles from 1897 to 1918.