...disagree again! I hope I am not being terribly obstinate, but my sense of fair play does extend to the cowboys a little more than those sleazy Earps.

You might find I have little respect for the lazy Prosecution lawyers and the Vaudevillian Defense attorney, but I seem to see things from a different angle.

Which reminds me; you young whippersnappers need to stop thinking the minute you hear a number like 70 or 80 you think 'dementia' right away. It's true that people my age do come out of Wal-Mart and can't quite recall where we left our car. But if we have been mentally active in one way or another most of our lives, we remember outstanding events, dates, and people probably better than you guys do. My concern is your readiness to write off, so to speak, Frank Vaughn's recollections of people and events in a turbulent time. Slow down!!

Now, to the lawyers. You said you doubted that Will McLaury was asleep at the switch and you are quite right. But, I'd like you to consider another side of the coin. Think about his relationship with his brothers. He had not seen them in probably seven years or so. The family apparently split because of the father's re-marriage so there was a falling out. However, it appears they kept in touch over the years and Will and the boys wanted to return home for a wedding and reconnection. Doesn't sound like there was lasting bad feeling there. Will knew his brothers were ranching but had no reason to think it was other than honest enterprise until he got word about the shootings.

The shock had to be debilitating so far away and with no real communication. He decided it was serious enough t6o leave his young children, who had lost their mother recently, in the care of others and search out the truth of the situation and also see what could be done about burial, property, ect.

On the way, he experienced an accident with the stage turning over. We don't really know if he was hurt in any way but it had to add to his anxiety.

He gets to town and is told the case is active and his brothers are worthless outlaws and cow thieves, and he doesn't know who is a friend and who isn't.

He is a lawyer, true, but like the others on the panel, he is not a criminal lawyer. The Prosecution seemed to be made up of men who were business consultants in mining law and enterprises. The Defense lawyer brought in was a little more experienced and more of a showman and fast-talker. Will was clearly in over his head, emotionally involved and grieving, and unfamiliar with the momentum and political influences of the town. He was at a clear disadvantage but tried to involve himself the only way he knew how.

It is only logical he would gratefully connect up with the one survivor who could give him more information about his brothers and how the situation developed.

So I am suggesting 'give the guy a break.' I have more to say, as usual, on the side of Ike's testimony but my fingers are falling off!
Joyce