Jim Garrison Quotes
I derive no pleasure from prosecuting a man, even though I know he's guilty; do you think I could sleep at night or look at myself in the mirror in the morning if I hounded an innocent man?
Garrison, Jim. "Playboy Interview: Jim Garrison." Interview by Eric Norden. Playboy, Oct. 1967.
Watkins was the first Dallas County Black DA. He was being interviewed because DNA testing proved that a man who had served 30 years in prison for rape and robbery, could not have committed the crime, and he had just been released. Watkins quotation was very significant because it set forth a philosophy that while extant in other areas of the country is almost unheard of in Texas, where there have been more innocent men convicted than in any other state. DAs in Texas usually fight every attempt to examine old evidence with modern tools.
James Carothers Garrison was the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana, from 1962 to 1973. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best known for his investigations into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and prosecution of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw to that effect in 1969, which ended in Shaw's acquittal.The author of three books, one became a prime source for Oliver Stone's JFK in which Garrison was portrayed by Kevin Costner, while Garrison himself made a cameo as Earl Warren.
