The Fatty Arbuckle case (1962)

I such examination I saw no bruises or other marks on her. I When I questioned her, she wasn't lucid. Her face had I a pink flush which isn't unusual in cases where too much I alcohol has been imbibed." In San Francisco on the 24th, rumors flew that Arbuckle t was preparing to take the stand. Curiosity was high as to I what his story would be. Crowds were increasing each i day, so that now the streets outside the court were I jammed with the curious. One of Hollywood's biggest stars and one of its most I beautiful, Alice Lake, volunteered to come to San FranI cisco and testify as a character witness for her friend I Roscoe Arbuckle. She was invited by McNab to come to I the trial. The court was so confused by the contradictory mediI cal testimony that it appointed three doctors to study the t case and submit some conclusion that could make sense | to the court. The doctor wrjo had originally treated Virginia in the hotel room also proved a strong defense witness. He said, "I constantly questioned Miss Rappe about her illness in an effort to ascertain the truth. She constantly reiterated that she didn't remember any sequence of events or when or how the pain started. Actually, she said exactly, 1 must have been intoxicated.' These were her I words." Brady jumped up and demanded those words be stricken out as hearsay. The court recommended they be kept in. But the defense was just warming up. McNab pulled I out all his stops now, digging up every imaginable kind of witness. He brought in an elderly woman who had been employed as a housekeeper by Virginia and her aunt for several years. She was a nervous, fluttery, thin-voiced witness who nevertheless gave the impression of honesty. She stated: "Miss Rappe, whom I loved, often had spells where she'd have severe pain, tear at her clothes, double up and cry. I would apply hot compresses to her abdomen. I never 99