George W. Latimer papers

George W. Latimer papers, 1926-2007

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Latimer, George
Title: George W. Latimer papers
Dates: 1926-2007 (inclusive)
19262007
Quantity: 10.25 linear feet
Collection Number: MS 0237
Summary: The George W. Latimer papers (1926-2007) consists of records and papers of civil court and court-martial cases handled by Latimer. Of particular interest are the files regarding the My Lai Massacre and Lieutenant William L. Calley, whom Latimer defended in 1974. Latimer was a lawyer and judge. He was elected as Utah State Supreme Court justice in 1946 and was a judge on the U.S. Court of Military Appeals in 1951.
Repository: University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions: Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

George W. Latimer was born in Draper, Utah, to John and Petria Jensen Latimer on 28 November 1900. He studied law and received his Doctor of Laws from the University of Utah in 1924. From 1924-1940 Latimer practiced law in Salt Lake City, Utah. He married the former Rhoda Carroll on 5 October 1929. In 1932, Latimer joined the Utah National Guard. During the second world war, Latimer served his country as a Colonel in the 40th Invantry Division of the United States Army (1942-1943). The following two years from 1944-1945 he was the Cheif-of-staff of the 40th Infantry Division. Following his war service, Latimer returned to his law practice until he was appointed a Justice of the Utah Supreme Court a position he held from 1946-1951. Following his tenure as a Justice, Latimer served as a Judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals. In 1961 he returned to private practice as a partner in the firm of Parsons, Behle and Latimer. From 1969-1974 he represented Lt. William Calley in a capital court case.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The George W. Latimer papers (1926-2007) consists largely of materials connected with Latimer's defense of William Laws Calley in his trial for murder in connection with the 1968 My Lai incident in Vietnam. Included are correspondence between the members of the defense counsel and the government prosecution; court orders, motions and petitions; materials related to the government investigation, such as depositions taken by the military investigative team; and hearings reports, trial records, and appellant exhibits. Also present are materials from the post-court martial appeals, including correspondence, motions, petitions, drafts, exhibits, statements, briefs, and government replies. Other materials relating to the trial of Calley include correspondence seeking Presidential clemency and consideration of the Calley case by the military Parole and Clemency Board; correspondence with people supporting Calley either morally or financially; information on two civil suits by Calley and one against him by the Buddhist Congregation of Vietnam; correspondence concerning articles or books to be written about Calley and drafts of the articles by John Sacks written from interviews with the lieutenant for publication in Esquire magazine; and news clippings about the trial. Additional documents regarding other court cases that involved Latimer are in the collection, as are briefs from court cases in which Latimer's law firm was involved.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Boxes 1-24 were donated in 1980 (8 linear feet).

Box 25 was donated in 1990 (0.5 linear feet).

Boxes 26-27 were donated in 1994 (1 linear feet).

Boxes 28-29 were donated in 2006 (0.75 linear feet).

Separated Materials

Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0467).

Processing Note

Processed by Marlene Lewis and Manuscripts staff in 1980-1990s.

Addendum processed by Matthew Weathered in 2013

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Calley Case Pre-trialReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
1	1-9	Legal Correspondence Letters exchanged between members of the defense counsel concerning the petitions and motions to be presented to the military court-martial in behalf of Lt. William L. Calley. Also included are letters from the Army prosecution panel relaying necessary information about witnesses and evidence.	1969-1970
1	10	Press Briefing Transcript of a press briefing held at the Pentagon on 17 December 1969 with Major General K. J. Hodson the Judge Advocate General regarding military justice.	1969
1	11	Westmoreland Statement Statement concerning events at My Lai by US Army Chief of Staff, General William C. Westmoreland, before the Special Subcommitte on Son My of the House Committee on Armed Services.	1969

Court Orders, Motions, Petitions, RepliesReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
2	1	Court-martial Miscellaneous information about military trials, including regulations governing court-martial.
2	2	Court Orders Orders governing conduct of the witnesses and the trial.	1969-1970
2	3	Motions to Dismiss Motions filed in December of 1969 giving defense reasons to dismiss all charges against Lieutenant Calley. Including a copy of the motion to dismiss "all charges and specifications because the Court-martial lacks jurisdiction over the person of the accused.	1969
2	4-14	Motions to Dismiss	1970
2	15	Bill of Particulars	1970
2	16-19	Moton for Production of Information	1970
2	20-24	Motions, Petitions, and Replies Various defense motions and petitions seeking relief from the charges, access to witnesses and evidence and other legal material. Also included are the government replies to many of these motions.	1970
2	25	Brief on Constitutional Questions Brief which presents the defense view that a continuation of the proceedings would deny Lt. Calley his constitutional rights.	1970
2	26	Brief on Command Control Brief describing what the defense feels in unfair influence exercised by military authorities or the influence of statements of military commanders of the military court martial.	1970
2	27	Notes, Summaries Handwritten notes regarding the case and possible arguments, and summaries of witness depositions.	1970
2	28	Calley's Statements Drafts of statements made by Lt. Calley concerning the events at My Lai.

Witnesses and Accused StatementsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
3	1	Company Roster Roster for Company C of the 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th LIB, the American Division which was involved in Task Force Barker, the assault on My Lai.	1968
3	2-26	Witnesses and Accused Statements, A-O Depositions taken by military investigators concerning the events at My Lai. The statements, arranged alphabetically, range from heresay evidence, to remarks made by men involved in the assault force.
4	1-13	Witnesses and Accused Statements, P-W
4	14	My Lai Maps Maps drawn by witnesses to illustrate and show locations of events in and around My Lai.

Investigations, Trial RecordReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
5	1	Investigation, Trial Record Report of the investigation of the Department of the Army Inspector General on the "incident of 16 March 1968 My Lai (4), RVN.
5	2-5	Criminal Investigations Report The report itself is not included, only the "case progress forms" making up enclosures 6 through 14.
5	6-7	Article 39 (a) Sessions Transcripts of the hearings of 20 January and 23 October 1970.	1970
5	8	Article 32a Investigation List of written witness testimony offered at the Article 32 investigation hearing.
5	9	Charge Sheets This document details the charges brought by the United States Government against Lt. William Laws Calley.	1969
	item
5	1	Report of Investigation Bound Volume Volume 1, Transcript of Testimony (Quintuplicate) Report of Article 32 Investigation.
5	2	Trial Record Bound Volume Volume 1, Book 1. Article 32 Investigation, Allied Papers of the investigation hearings.
6		Trial Record Volume 1 books 2-3 Included of the Article 32 Investigation.
	Folder
7	1	Trial Record Volume 1, Book 2 Allied papers of the investigation hearings.
7	2-3	Trial Transcript Volume 3, Books 3-4
8		Trial Transcript Volume 3 Books 3-4
9		Trial Transcipt Volume 3, Books 5-6
10		Trial Transcript Volume 3, Books 7-8
11		Trial Transcript Volume 3, Books 9-10
12		Trial Transcript Volume 3, Book 11

Accused Copy TranscriptReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
13	1	Volume I, Trial Transcript
13	2-12	Volume I, Appellant Exhibits Appendices 1-7 and exhibits 1-22.

Legal Correspondence, Court Orders, Motions, PetitionsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
14	1	Legal Correspondence	1971
14	2	Court Orders	1971
14	3-5	Legal Correspondence	1972
14	6-10	Appeal Preparations, Motions and Motion Drafts	1972
14	11-12	Petition for New Trial	1972
15		Assignment of Errors, Statements and Brief	1972
16		Assignment of Errors and Hearing Government reply to assignment of errors and correspondence, motions, and information on the hearing.	1972

Grant of ReviewReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
17	1	J. Houston Gordon, Correspondence	1973
17	2	Petition for Grant of Review	1973
17	3-19	Brief	1973
17	20-26	Government Reply	1973
17	27	Court Order	1973

Review and ReplyReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
18	1-4	Incomplete Review Brief	1973
18	5	Final Draft Review Portions	1973
18	6-7	Incomplete Government Review Reply	1973

Petitions, Cross-AppealReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
19	1-12	Petition for Write of Habeas Corpus	1974
19	13	Petition for Revocation of Stay	1974
	Volume
19	1	Appeal	1974
	Folder
19	14-19	Cross-Appeal	1974
20		Circuit Court Appeal Appendix, Volumes 1-4 Includes extracts from district court record, testimony transcript, and some appellate, prosecution, and defense exhibits.

Parole and Clemency Board, Correspondence, Allied Cases, MiscellaneousReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
21	1-2	Parole and Clemency Board, Correspondence and Petitions	1971-1973
21	3-11	Correspondence	1969-1973
21	12-17	Calley vs. Talbott	1970
21	18	Buddist Congregation vs. Calley	1971
21	19	Calley vs. LaVerne	circa 1973
21	20	Incomplete Legal Documents
21	21	South Vietnam Chronology
21	22	Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 15, No. 1	1969
21	23	James Houston Gordon, Resume

Articles and News ClippingsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
22	1-7	Esquire Interviews, Correspondence and Article Drafts	1969-1973
22	8	Norman J. Weber Article Draft, letter, and press release.
22	9	News Clippings	1969-1989

Latimer Court CasesReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
23	1-17	United States vs. Fleener Trial record, exhibits, and appeal process materials.	1970
23	18	United States vs. Borys Includes United States Court of Military Appeals opinion.	1969
23	19-22	Allen vs. VanCanfort Appendix for a writ of habeas corpus.

Seminar, Competition, MiscellaneousReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
24	1-5	Senior Seminar on the Laws of War Course description, reading list, and case examples.	1970
24	6-8	National Moot Court Competition Rules and respondent and petitioner briefs.	1971
24	9	United States Steel Corporation vs. Industrial Commission of Utah, Plaintiff's Brief
24	10	Kennecott Copper Corp. vs. Industrial Commission of Utah, Defendant's Brief
24	11	Diana L. Jones vs. Magna Oil Corp., Plaintiff Memorandum
24	12	Miscellaneous Court Cases
24	13	Physicians Drug Manual	1969
24	14	George Latimer, Biographical Material

Personal and Trial MaterialsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
25	1	Biographical Materials
25	2-3	Correspondence	1950s-1960s
25	4	News Clippings
25	5	Civilian Life, Manuscript
25	6	Judicial Career, Manuscript
25	7	Lt. Calley's Case, Manuscript
25	8	Military Career, Manuscript
25	9	Utah National Guard	1926-1982
25	10-13	Lt. Calley Trial News clippings, media dialog, and periodicals.	1969-1970

My Lai TrialReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
26	1	Turkish Criminal Code
26	2	Hearing Aid Dealers Committee and Board Minutes	1982; 1984
26	3	Personal Materials News articles, retirement and military records, and miscellaneous.
26	4-5	News Articles
26	6	Statements, Briefings, and Documents	1969

Weyman E. WootenReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
27	1	Memos and Correspondence
27	2	Legal Documents Affidavits, case summary, brief, and records proceedings.	1974-1980
27	3	Court of Appeals Documents Motions, appeals, orders and answers.

Personal MaterialsReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
28	1	Various Typewritten Family Histories
28	2	Handwritten Family History
28	3	Death Documents
28	4	Personal Information and Mementos
28	5-7	Correspondence	1926-1972
28	8-9	Correspondence, Lt. William Calley Incident	1973-1974
28	10	Correspondence	1976-1992
28	11	Awards and Citations	1922-1985
28	12	Statements of G.W. Latimer Contained in Hearings Before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations	1956
28	13	Military Appointments and Various Documents	1925-1986
28	14	Photographs
28	15	The Calley Case-Research and Reflections
28	16-17	Newspaper Clippings
29	1	Awards	1965
29	2	Correspondence	1998
29	3	Family Histories and Genealogical Records: Latimers and Carrols	2007
29	4	Manuscript, Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL	2007
29	5	Newspaper Clippings	1941

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