Thursday, May 29, 2008

James Farragher Campbell has joined the Editorial Staff of The Never Plead Guilty Blog...


James Farragher Campbell, Esquire.

I am so excited to announce that top-notch San Francisco Trial Attorney, James Farragher Campbell will be joining the Editorial Staff of the Never Plead Guilty Blog.

James is, in many ways, the Jake Ehrlich of today and is a senior partner in Campbell, Demetrich & Jacobo located in San Francisco.

Fascinatingly, the reason James became an attorney was because he read one of Jake Ehrlich's books when he was a young man and was so inspired by The Master's career he decided to become an attorney and follow in Jake's footsteps.

James is the President of The American Board of Criminal Lawyers which is an exclusive members-only society of the nation's best criminal defense lawyers.  

James is also an extremely elegant and dapper Gentle Man who believes strongly in sartorial splendor as well as the notion that elegance knows no pain.

James Farragher Campell is pictured above in his San Francisco office.  Notice the walls are red like Melvin Belli's office.

James is going to have a column on the Never Plead Guilty Blog named "If Jake Were Here Today" where he will share what he thinks Jake's perspective would be today on many issues.

James is also going to share his legal expertise with us on different issues and bring us up to date on how legal issues have evolved since The Master practiced law.  

James will also be conducting some fascinating interviews with friends of The Master.

James Farragher Campbell is an excellent San Francisco attorney and has been a loyal friend over the years.

I am looking forward to his insightful participation in our exploration into the life, career and times of Jake "The Master" Ehrlich.

Welcome on-board James!!!

Jake Ehrlich III

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Howard Hughes On The Phone...

I remember having a conversation with a receptionist from my grandfather's office.

She said one time the phone rang and she answered the Phone "Garfield 1-4530"

She said a  man with a very masculine voice said "Jake Ehrlich, Please."  

She asked "May I tell Mr. Ehrlich who is calling?"  The voice on the phone responded "Tell him it is 'The Man.'"

She respond "Uh, who?"  The voice repeated "Tell him it is The Man!"  She asked, "Is Mr. Ehrlich expecting your call?"  He said yes.  "May I give Mr. Ehrlich your first name?"  

The voice said, "Just tell him it is The Man.  He will know who it is"

She put the stranger on hold and called my grandfather and told him she had a man on the phone who kept insisting that he wanted to speak with Jake and that his name was "The Man."

Jake said, "Oh, that is Howard Hughes.  Put him through."  So from that point forward whenever she answered the phone and the voice said it was "The Man" she would put him through.


Howard Hughes talking on the phone while shaving

Years later Jake was having a conversation with one of his proteges named Harry Waynright.  

Jake was complaining to Harry that he had not been sleeping well because his home phone would ring at 2 or 3 in the morning all the time and it would be Howard Hughes wanting to ask Jake for advice about one thing or another involving Howard Hughes' acquisition of Las Vegas casinos.

Harry said to Jake "I am always up late, why don't you give him my number?"  Jake did and Harry started taking the late night calls.  

After Jake told Harry about how Howard Hughes kept calling in the middle of the night, Harry asked Jake if he had sent Howard a bill?  Jake said no.  Harry said, "Why don't we send him a bill for $50,000 and see if he pays it?"  Jake agreed.

So they sent Howard Hughes a bill and he paid it.

Jake represented Howard Hughes for four decades.

Harry Wainwright...

Harry Wainwright was one of Jake Ehrlich's proteges. 

When Harry first became an associate of Jake's, Jake said in confidence to a family memeber, "Harry is the only man I have ever been afraid of.  He is so talented and smart, I had to keep him close because I did not ever want to have to go up against him in a court of law."

Harry was tuff as nails and damned proud of it.

As a matter of fact, Harry was an ace Air Force Pilot in World War II, and got shot down out in the Pacific Ocean.  The Japanese collected Harry from the ocean and put him in a Japanese concentration camp.

Of course, Harry escaped and was soon back up in the skies shooting down Mitsubishi fighter planes and bombers. When Harry retired from the Air Force he was a Major.

Harry Wainwright at the San Francisco Hall of Justice 

Harry was best friends with my father, Jake Ehrlich Jr.  

When I was a little kid I could not stand Harry because he was always really rough with me.  I remember he and my father Jake would watch Monday night football and drink Coors beer and scream at the TV set.

On day when I was 18 years old I had a conversation with Harry and and I said something about a friend of mine. 

Harry interrupted and said, "You think you have friends!?!"

I said yes.

Harry asked me how many true friends I thought I had?

I defensively said, "Well, quite a few."

Harry laughed and asked "How many!?!"

I said, "Probably about 6 or 7 true friends."

Harry responded "Look, you are lucky if you can count all of your friends on one God dammed hand–and that is if you have three of your fucking fingers blown off!!!!"

Years later when I was in law school, I had  another conversation with Harry where I asked him some serious questions.

I said "Look, I want to know the bottom line on my Grandfather Jake.  I know there is much more to him than meets the eye but I can't figure it out?"

Harry said, "I am not going to spell it out for you.  You are going to have to figure it out yourself, but I will give you a clue to get you started:  Murder Inc."

In my Naiveté, I asked Harry what Murder Inc., was?

He said, "I am not going to spell it out for you.  You are in law school, go look it up. It is all there in the California Reporter.  All you have to do is look it up!!!"

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Vincent Hallinan & Jake Ehrlich Debating whether God Exists

This photo is from a live television debate between San Francisco Attorney Vincent Hallinan and Jake Ehrlich arguing about whether or not God exists.

This One Speaks For Itself...


United Nations Ambassador George Killion and Jake Ehrlich

George Killion was one of Jake Ehrlich's best friends.

George Killion was the President of American President Shipping Lines and went on to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

George was the CEO and on the Board of Directors for MGM and was involved in the creation of the show Sam Benedict which was based on Jake Ehrlich.

In the years that Killion was the U.S. Ambassador to the United States, he headquartered his offices in Jake Ehrlich's Law Offices.

This photo was taken in Louis Lurie's San Francisco Office.

Saints & Sinners Publicity Shot

Jake Ehrlich was a huge Philanthropist.  He developed an extremely successful charity organization to take care of school children named Saints and Sinners.  This is a publicity shot that was taken in front of a San Francisco Cable Car.

Jake Ehrlich with the Shah of Iran

Elizabeth Spencer, Shah of Iran, Mae Jeannie Peterson, Artie Samish, Jake Ehrlich.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Jake Ehrlich and Louis R. Lurie

Jake Ehrlich and Louis R. Lurie with Entertainer Liberace...

Louis Lurie was Jake Ehrlich's best friend.  Louis Lurie owned and lived in the Mark Hopkins Hotel on top of Nob Hill in San Francisco.  In this photo they were having lunch at the Top of The Mark.

Jake Ehrlich with Raymond Burr

The TV Show Perry Mason was based on Jake Ehrlich's career.  Actor Raymond Burr who played Perry Mason lived with Jake for two weeks to learn his mannerisms.

Melvin Belli, Jake Ehrlich and Author Alex Hailey

F. Lee Bailey with Jake Ehrlich

Attorney, F. Lee Bailey was a Protege of Jake Ehrlich Sr.  

I had a conversation with Lee and he said "Jake and I only ever had one argument, and that was whether or not cross-examination could be taught.  Jake proved me wrong."

Lee also said, "Mel Belli used to introduce me as his illegitimate son, and Jake used to introduce me as his son."

Jake Ehrlich the Prize Fighter...

Jake Ehrlich put himself through law school by boxing as a Prize Fighter.  He loved boxing.

Jake Ehrlich and Jack Dempsey

Jake Was Pals with world Champion Heavyweight Boxer, Jack Dempsey. Tax Attorney Tevis Jacobs is standing behind Jake Ehrlich Sr.


A Couple of Great Jack Dempsey quotes:

"You're in there for three-minute rounds with gloves on and a referee. That's not real fighting."

"A Champion is someone who gets up when he can't."

Claudette Colbert

Signed Photograph from Actress and friend Claudette Colbert

Monday, May 12, 2008

Thank Heaven For Little Girls....


Maurice Chevalier and Louis Lurie had the same birthday and used to celebrate it together.  Here is the gang singing "Thank Heaven For Little Girls."

From Left To Right:
  • Unknown
  • George Christopher (Mayor of San Francisco)
  • Unkonwn
  • Maurice Shevalier (French Actor, Singer and Popular Entertainer)
  • Unknown
  • Jake Ehrlich
  • Unknown

The Gang

From left to right in Louis Lurie's San Francisco Office:
  • Loius Lurie (Jake's Best Friend and Soulmate)
  • Jake Ehrlich
  • Joe Alioto (Mayor of San Francisco)
  • Henri Lewin (Hilton Holtels Director)
  • Unknown
  • Fred Furth (Attorney & Another Protege of Jake Ehrlich)
  • Scott Carpenter (NASA Astronaut & Aquanaut)
  • Unknown

Melvin Belli, Jake Ehrlich and Nate Cohn


Melivin Belli was another Protege of Jake Ehrlich's.

They were close friends and had a fascinating relationship. Melvin was nicknamed "The King of Torts."


Pictured above from left to right: Melvin Belli, Jake Ehrlich, Nate Cohn. All Three were San Francisco Lawyers and close friends.

Ferry Building Story.  And Jack Ruby story.  Melvin on Star Trek.  Jake taught him the art of showcasing.  Example the Pantages Broom Closet.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Jake Ehrlich with Actor Edward G. Robinson

Joe Alioto Mayor of San Francisco with Jake Ehrlich

Lou Lurie was very unhappy with how Joe Aliot0 allowed Markets Street to go to hell.

Jimmy Durante and Jake Ehrlich

Jake Ehrlich with American Singer, Songwriter, Pianist, Comedian and Actor Jimmy Durante.

Jake Ehrlich with Rex Bell, Lt. Governor of Nevada

Jake Ehrlich pictured below with hist two grandsons, David and Joseph Cherney along with the Lt. Governor of Nevada, Rex Bell.

Prior to becoming the Lt. Governor of Nevada, Rex Bell was a Western Movie Star. 

The Pantages Trial [Case File]

This was the case that made Jake's career because Walter Wintchell kept writing about it.  Kennedy offered her $5000 but she only ever received $500.

Eunice Kennedy woke up from a coma and kept asking for Jake Ehrlich.

The way they won the case was by building a mack up of the broom-closet and proved that non-consentual sex could not have occurred in the closet.

Unice Pringle's land lady in Garden Grove, CA got her to come to course and when Unice saw the landlady she broke up.


Jake Ehrlich with Joe Dimaggio

In the Photo below, as a Joke, Jake was brought out in a wheelchair to throw out the first pitch.

Jake looks exactly like Buster Keaton in this image:


Two famous San Franciscan's together at Funston Park in the San Francisco Marina to get a San Francisco Police Athletic League charity baseball game started.  Jake was the lead attoney for the San Francisco Police Officers Association for over 40 years.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Can you teach somebody to think like you do?

I remember one time Grandfather and I were having a conversation and I asked him if he thought he could teach others to think and perform the way he did and he said  "I can't teach you to do what I do, but I can teach you how to bob and weave."

Jake Ehrlich Sr. was a prize fighter before he was a lawyer so this answer did not come as a surprise.

Then I asked him if he had ever met anybody like himself and he responded "There is nobody like me!!! Nobody can duck and weave and shadowbox like me."

It may sound like like he was bragging, but as Dizzy Dean the great baseball player once said, "It ain't bragging if you can do it."

The Innocent Are Not So Innocent...

One time I was watching the TV show Dragnet, and Grandfather happended to walk by the TV when Dragnet said "The names have been changed to protect the innocent. "

Grandfather laughed as he walked by and said under his breath: "No one is 100% innocent."

Howard Hughes Censorship Case with Jane Russell: The Outlaw [Case File]


The Outlaw
Directed by Howard Hughes
Starring Jane Russell







In 1943 Howard Hughes directed and released a highly controversial movie name "The Outlaw" staring the stunningly beautiful bombshell, Jane Russell.

The Outlaw launched Jane Russell's career and turned her into a Hollywood movie-star. The western genre movie is about a fictional relationship between Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid and their feud over a beautiful woman named Rio.

Howard Hughes was obsessed with Jane Russell's beauty, breasts and cleavage and wanted to sleep with her but she was happily married and devoutly Catholic. I know this because when I was a child, I asked Jane about this. More on that later.

To make a long story short, the film was considered to be way to racy and was censored in theaters across the United States. Howard turned to my Grandfather Jake and asked him to take the case. When they first discussed the case they had a huge ego clash.

Howard being a strong alpha male told Jake that he was close friends with William Randolf Hearst and he thought they should try and embarass the censors in the court of pubic opinion through the media.

Jake disagreed and told Howard the only way he would take the case was if Howard allowed Jake to handle the case in any way he saw fit. Howard was shocked because he was used to dictating to everybody. Jake and Howard argued back and forth and Howard finally agreed to trust Jake.

Jake subpoenaed paintings from the San Francisco De Young Museum that were considered to be classical masterpieces and had them placed under cloth covers in the court room.

When the trial began, Jake addressed the jury and said, "Ladies and Gentlmen of the jury, we bring our children and grandchildren to the De Young Museum and expose them to these paintings and tell them they are masterpieces that have marked the upward surge of mankind!!!"

He then had all the cloth covers removed to expose paintings of completely naked men and women in all kinds of strange and awkward sexual postions.

Then Jake said to the jury "Do you mean to tell me that we expose our children to this artwork where they see completely naked women, yet the fact that Howard has exposed a few inches of Mrs. Russell's bosom is somehow pornographic!?!"

The just immediately stopped Jake and dismissed the case. The judge then apologized to the jury for wasting their time.

On the surface the case may have seemed to be inconsequential, but the first ammendment implactions were deeply profound. Had this case gone in the opposite direction, the entire sexual revolution of the 60s may not have occurred.

Decades later in 1956 Jake took on the case of the Howl and the Censor which also had deeply profound long term first amendment implications.

Back to the Jane Russell story. When I was a child, members of my family were friends with Jane Russell. One day we were getting ready to go out to dinner with Jane and I asked my Aunt, Dora Jane, who was Jake's daughter, why Jane Russell was so famous and what her background was.

My aunt said she was a huge Hollywood Movie star and that there was a huge contravereay about whether or not she had an affair with Howard Hughes. Keep in mind at the time, i was twelve years old.

We were all sitting at the dinner table at a San Francisco restaurant named the Brazen Head in the San Francisco Marina. I was bored out of my skull with the adult conversation taking place which I could not relate to.

I kept staring at Jane Russell and I remember thinking to myself, "She is supposed to be some gorgeous sex bomb?" All I really new of Jane was that I used to see her on TV doing bra commercials which was just about as interesting to my 12 year old mind as walking on broken glass barefoot.

This just did not make sense to me because at the time I remember Jane had short hair almost cut like a man. There was a quite break at the table and I turned to Jane and said "So is it true that you had an affair with Howard Hughes?"

You should have seen the expression on Jane's face!!! and the table went completely silent. You could have heard a pin drop. I caught her and everybody at the table completely off guard!!
Jane starred at me with this look of shock on her face and then suddenly realized I was just a naive child with apparently no sense of fear around touchy subjects. She started to giggle and then everybody at the table started to laugh. I could not figure out what was so funny?

After Jane stopped laughing, she turned to me and said "No. We did not have an affair. I am not saying he did not want to, but I was happily married and not interested.


Speaking of the J.F.K. Assassination, in later articles we are going to be looking into Jake's relationship to the case. As a matter of fact, when Oswald was arrested, his mother called Jake and asked him to represent her son. Of course before Jake could answer, Oswald was dead. The next day Jake got a call from Jack Ruby's brother asking him to represent her brother.

Jake was the first lawyer to interview Jack Rubenstien after he killed Oswald.

Also, kind of fascinating as the following article points out, Howard Hughes basically invented the underwire bra to emphasize Jane Russell's bosom as you will see. What a world!!!

The following is from an article in Wikipedia:

The Outlaw is a 1943 western movie, directed by Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks (uncredited), which turned Jane Russell into one of Hollywoods movie legends. The film also starred Jack Buetel, Thomas Mitchell, and WAlter Houston.

Although the movie was completed in 1941, it was released to only a limited showing two years later. It did not see a general release until 1946. The delay was a result of Hughes defying the Hays Code, which set the standard of morally acceptable content in motion pictures. By showcasing Jane Russell's breasts in both the movie and the poster artwork, The Outlaw became one of the most controversial pictures of its time. Hughes even created a new type of bra just for this movie.

In 1941, director Howard Hughes, while filming The Outlaw, felt that the camera did not do justice to Jane Russell's large bust. He employed his engineering skills to design an underwired, cantilevered bra to emphasise her assets. Hughes added rods of curved structural steel that were sewn into the brassiere below each breast. The rods were connected to the bra's shoulder straps. The arrangement allowed the breasts to be pulled upward and made it possible to move the shoulder straps away from the neck. The design allowed for any amount of bosom to be freely exposed.

Regardless, the emphasis on her breasts proved too much for the Hollywood Production Code Administration, which ordered cuts to the film. To obtain the Boards' required Seal of Approval, Hughes reluctantly removed about 40 feet, or a half-minute, of footage that featured Jane Russell's bosom. He still had problems getting the film distributed, so Hughes schemed to create a public outcry for his film to be banned. The resulting controversy generated enough interest to get The Outlaw into the theaters for one week in 1943, before being withdrawn due to objections by the Code censors. When the film was finally released in 1950, it was a box office hit.

Ironically, Russell later asserted that she never wore Hughes' bra, and that Hughes never noticed.[1] [2]

Even after Hughes did an "end-run" around the censors, the film was banned on a local level by several towns.

The film was colorized twice.

If you want to read a fascinating article on the history of the Bra and how wearing one contribute to women developing breast cancer, click here.


The Outlaw [1943]

You can watch the entire historic Outlaw movie directed by Howard Hughes, starring Jane Russell right here:

Sam Benedict TV Series...

Unknown to the audience at the time, grandfather wouldn't allow SAM to wear his handkerchief trademark or his cufflinks.  This is why.  Grandfather never carried anything with him to court and insisted the series follow some guildlines. 

When the producers didn't meet grandfathers' expectations he was very upset.  Then the network placed the show in a timeslot and the story could not be developed properly.  The series only lasted a short time.  

After going over the audio transcript between grandfather and the producers I found they didn't follow any of the information he gave them.   Maybe we will have to reproduce these stories and get it right.

Sally Rand, The Beautiful Fan Dancer...



Jake Ehrlich defended the world famous Fan Dancer, Sally Rand.

Treasure Island for indecent exposure which he got overturned, freedom of expression.


Story about Girl Who Played Jake Sr. in the Howl

Ronald Reagan with Jake Ehrlich Sr.

This Picture of Jake Ehrlich Sr., was taken in 1943 with his pal and future American President, Ronald Reagan.  

The irony is that the woman in the center is Jake Ehrlich III's Maternal Grandmother, Evelyn Bramy.  In other words, and this is confusing, but this photo has Jake Ehrlich III's Paternal Grandfather, Jake Ehrlich Sr., with his Maternal grandmother.



Jake Ehrlich III with President Ronald Reagan.

Billie Holiday sings the Blues

In this Photo Jake Ehrlich and Billie Holiday are awaiting the verdict for her narcotics possession charges. 

It turns out that Colonel George White who was a Federal Agent and CIA operative had apparently framed Billie Holiday by getting her boyfriend to set her up.

Jake Ehrlich got conviction overturned on appeal.

Photo of Jake Ehrlich Sr., on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

Side by Side, What a Trip...

Hey Joe, I was tripping on how similar the old man's facial expressions in these two photographs.

Here is a photo of me with Grandfather on my 5th Birthday

Here is a Photo of Jake Ehrlich Jr.


Here is a photo of my father Jake Ehrlich Sr.

Great Photo of The Master in his office...

Jake Ehrlich with Alvin Malnik and George Raft

Here is a great photo of Jake Ehrlich with one of his proteges, Attorney Alvin Malnik of Miami Florida.

The signature on this photo reads:

To Jake,

Truly a "Master" in all respects.

With much admiration and freindship.

–Al Malnik
Pictured in the photo below are Alvin Malnik, Jake Ehrlich and the movie star George Raft.

It is amazing how much in these photos Al Malnik looks like Al Pacino's character, Michael Corleone from the major motion picture, The Godfather. Every time I see, the Godfather Part 2, where Micheal and his family have moved to Lake Tahoe in the early 1960s to start building up Las Vegas and Reno, I think of this photo of Al wearing the sharkskin suit. They look so similar and so cool!!!

In the Godfather 2 Al Pacino looks exactly like Al Malnik

As a matter of fact, in the Godfather part 2, Francis Ford Coppola has a character named Hyman Roth who is based on the real life Myer Lanske. Ironically, Al Malnik was Myer Lanske's attorney many, many years ago. Reality is stranger than fiction!

Today Al is an extremely successful entrepreneur and great philanthropist.