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T29 Photocopy of a two-page letter to Judge Joe B. Brown from Melvin Belli
T29 Photocopy of a two-page letter to Judge Joe B. Brown from Melvin Belli

T29 Photocopy of a two-page letter to Judge Joe B. Brown from Melvin Belli

Object number2010.027.0799.0001
Date11/27/1964
ClassificationsDocuments
Author Melvin Belli
ObjectDocument
Credit LineThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection/Estate of Melvin Belli
MediumPaper
Dimensions11 × 8 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm)
Collections
DescriptionPhotocopy of a two-page letter to Judge Joe B. Brown from Melvin Belli in San Francisco, California, dated November 27, 1964. In this letter, Belli addressed the fragile mental state of Jack Ruby, referring to Ruby's condition as "psychotic" and in "need [of] medical attention badly." Belli attempted to appeal to Judge Brown's decency and Christianity in order to get Ruby the psychiatric and medical treatment that he needed so that the convicted murderer does not commit suicide while in custody. At one point Belli writes, "...I do know that if this boy [Ruby] isn't given some medical psychiatric attention directly we're not going to have this tragic figure alive by the time his case gets through the Appellate Courts and neither you nor I want this to happen." This letter was originally stapled inside the front cover of a soft-bound copy of an Amicus Curiae brief for Jack Ruby by Melvin Belli filed in the Criminal Court of Appeals in the State of Texas in the matter of Ruby's appeal, Jack Ruby vs. The State of Texas. [See item 2010.027.0799.0002.]