what she did when the first doctor examined Rappe, Delmont replied, “I and the detective went around and drank all the gin and orange juice that was left in the glasses.” What to believe?
Other witnesses included Virginia’s boyfriend, Henry Lehrman, who testified, “I loved her very much. You know we were engaged. You know Arbuckle was an ignorant man. He had too much money and too much success. Now I hope the law punishes him.” Lehrman did not attend Rappe’s funeral, saying that he was “advised not to” but would not say who had advised him. Lehrman did send tiger lilies and proceeded to marry a different woman six months later. Arbuckle’s estranged wife, Minta Durfee, also chimed in, “I believe Roscoe is innocent. If they want me, I’ll go to the trial.” When asked about her opinion of Henry Lehrman, Durfee replied, “[He’s] tasteless and a climber,” and “He would never have married Miss Rappe, and he’s putting on a big show for all the publicity he can get out of it.”
Critics of Arbuckle would point out his mother’s grave was still unmarked despite all his fortunes. If he cared so little about paying proper respect for his own mother, why would he respect any other woman? Nora Arbuckle, Roscoe’s sister, told reporters that her brother was a kind person, and she knew he was innocent. Actor Rudolf Valentino said he’d always known Arbuckle to be a gentleman.
Prosecutors wanted murder in the first degree but the charges were reduced to manslaughter. Arbuckle could return home while he waited for the trial to begin. It was a small victory for the defense. The district attorney’s office, on the other hand, was outraged. They felt Arbuckle’s people had used money and intimidation in getting the charges reduced. Nurse Vera Cumberland claimed she was threatened and told not to testify. Zey Prevon changed the story she had originally told police. Now she claimed Arbuckle was a good guy, and she really didn’t see much at the party. Prosecutors felt she had been paid off and put their star witnesses under twenty-four-hour watch.
I have never done anything that I am ashamed of.
The first trial began. The defense called Betty Campbell, who had been at the party. During her testimony she said, “Fatty is not guilty. I am sure of it. During the party when I asked him where Virginia was, he said she wasn’t feeling well and he had sent her to the bedroom down the hall.” And, “He cared. It seems to me Virginia Rappe wasn’t feeling well even before she went into the bedroom.”
A strong witness for prosecution during the pretrial, Maude Delmont, was not called to the stand. Delmont was now facing legal woes of her own, as she was found to be a bigamist. Also, Delmont was known as “Madame Black”: she used girls by having them show up at parties and then claim a producer or director tried to rape them. They would use the allegations to extort money. The prosecution feared this would discredit her as a witness, so she stayed off the stand.
The prosecution brought in doctors who treated Rappe at the sanatorium to testify. It was their opinion that external force (rape) killed Rappe, not disease.
The defense opened their argument with claims Arbuckle was alone with Rappe for less than ten minutes. Anyone could have opened the door if there was trouble because Arbuckle never locked the door. Hotel detective George Glennon, the same detective Maude Delmont claimed she finished all the drinks with, gave his testimony, “Miss Rappe was in great pain. She was clutching at her abdomen and tearing at her clothes. I asked her if Arbuckle or anyone else had hurt her. She was indignant and swore no one had anything to do with it. She said Arbuckle had only been kind to her.”
Whenever possible the defense asked the same question, “Was Virginia Rappe drunk during the party?” The answer was always yes. One witness, Fred Fishbeck, replied, “Very.”
The original doctor to see Virginia Rappe at the St. Francis Hotel testified she had no bruises on her body when he examined her. Under oath he told the jury, “She constantly reiterated that she didn’t remember any sequence of events or when or how the pain started.” A former housekeeper also testified Rappe had “violent and threatening” spells of pain where she would tear at her clothes. Several more witnesses were called in who described Rappe going into spells of pain followed by tearing at her own clothes. These attacks were usually preceded by social or binge drinking. A valiant effort was being made to show the young woman’s death as a pre-existing condition.
Physical evidence was introduced. The prosecution claimed smeared fingerprints on a door proved Rappe fought to escape the bedroom. The defense called in a maid who said she had cleaned the suite, including the door in question. The fingerprints, the defense contended, could have belonged to anyone.
What everyone was waiting for finally happened. Roscoe Arbuckle took the stand to testify in his defense. His story was that he was merely trying to enjoy breakfast with friends when visitors descended onto his hotel room. He had intended to take a friend out for a ride in his car. When he went into his bathroom, he found Virginia on the floor. Worried for her safety he placed her on the bed and then went back to taking care of business in the washroom. When he checked on Virginia ten minutes later, he found she had fallen off the bed, so he called for help. During cross-examination, the prosecution did everything they could to poke holes in his story. They said his testimony was the seventh version of what he claimed happened that night. They called him a sex-mad pervert who raped a woman he couldn’t have. But Arbuckle stayed calm while answering questions and asserted that he was telling the whole truth when he recounted the series of events that took place that Labor Day weekend.
The jury began their deliberations. The first collection of ballots showed a count of eleven to one to acquit Arbuckle. The lone holdout was a woman who said she would continue to vote guilty until hell froze over. The final ballot tally still showed in favor of acquitting Arbuckle by ten to two. The presiding judge declared the jury hopelessly hung. There would be a second trial. Finding an impartial jury for a second trial was going to be difficult considering the heavy press coverage and sensational headlines during the first one.
Roscoe Arbuckle addressed the journalists and gave the following statement, “I wasn’t legally acquitted but I was morally acquitted. I am not guilty. I only tried to help Miss Rappe. I have never done anything that I am ashamed of. I have only tried all my life to give joy and happiness to the world. I hope the public will have faith in me and let me prove myself all over again.”
Arbuckle was allowed to prove himself all over again. The second trial began introducing all the same scenarios and evidence again. The biggest surprise for the second trial was the amended testimony of Zey Prevon, who initially said Rappe told her, “He hurt me.” This time Zey took the stand and said, “In the first trial I said I heard Virginia Rappe say, ‘I’m dying, I’m dying. He hurt me.’ That wasn’t entirely true. I did hear Virginia say, ‘I’m dying, I’m dying.’ I didn’t hear her say, ‘He hurt me’ or anything like that.” Zey Prevon continued, “Now you want to know why I lied? Well, Mr. Brady tried to force me to sign that little bit about ‘He hurt me.’ I didn’t want to. They locked me in a cell and said I’d never come out until I signed the statement.” First Delmont, now Prevon—prosecutors were losing all their star witnesses. “I had visions of spending the rest of my life in jail,” Prevon continued. “After I signed, they sent me home and guarded my house so I couldn’t leave. The days of the trial, they had me in the District Attorney’s office learning a script they had prepared for me.”
Prevon was told charges of perjury would be brought against her but they never were.
For a second time a jury was sent off to determine the fate of Roscoe Arbuckle. After thirty hours of deliberation, the ballots read eight votes not guilty and four votes guilty. After another fourteen hours of deliberating, the jurors took the vote to ballot again. This time the tide had changed: only three still thought the funny man innocent, and nine now thought him guilty. After more deliberating, the vote still didn’t change. Another hung jury was declared.
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