Ronald Hughes
Encyclopedia
Ronald Hughes was a court-appointed attorney
who represented Manson family
member Leslie Van Houten
and an alleged Manson family murder victim.
in December 1969. Initially, he signed on as the attorney for Manson, but was replaced by Irving Kanarek
two weeks before the start of the trial.
Prior to representing Leslie Van Houten in the Tate-LaBianca murder trial, Hughes failed the bar exam three times before passing and had never tried a case. Hughes, a onetime conservative, was called "the hippie
lawyer" due to his intimate knowledge of the hippie subculture
. That knowledge occasionally served his client well. He was able to raise questions about Linda Kasabian
's credibility by asking her about hallucinogenic drugs, her belief in ESP
, her thoughts that she might be a witch, and her experiencing "vibrations" from Manson.
As attorney for defendant
Van Houten, Hughes tried to separate the interests of his client from those of Charles Manson, a move that angered Manson and may have cost Hughes his life. He hoped to show that Van Houten was not acting independently, but was completely controlled in her actions by Manson. This strategy contradicted Manson's plan to allow fellow "family" members to implicate themselves in the crimes, clearing him of all involvement.
Twenty-two weeks into the trial, which included outbursts and bizarre behavior from Manson and his co-defendants, the prosecution rested. Lawyers for the defendants stunned the courtroom by announcing that the defense also rested. Susan Atkins
, Patricia Krenwinkel
and Leslie Van Houten immediately shouted that they wanted to testify. Per Manson's instructions, the girls said that they wanted to testify to committing the murders on their own and that Manson had nothing to do with the crimes. Hughes objected and stood up against Manson's ploy and stated, "I refuse to take part in any proceeding where I am forced to push a client out the window." After Manson made a statement to the court, however, he then advised the girls against testifying. The defense then rested its case.
. According to James Forsher and Lauren Elder, two friends who accompanied Hughes on the trip, heavy rains mired their Volkswagen
in mud. Hughes' friends hitchhiked out, while Hughes decided to stay. As the rains continued, the wilderness area was evacuated. Campers had seen Hughes walking in the rugged terrain, and the Volkswagen was later found with trial transcripts in it, but there was no sign of Hughes.
Despite the disappearance, Judge Charles Older
ordered the trial to proceed and appointed a new attorney, Maxwell Keith, for Van Houten. The women angrily demanded the firing of all their lawyers, and asked to reopen the defense. Judge Older denied the request. By week's end, Hughes had been missing for 15 days. When the court reconvened, Manson and the women created a disturbance suggesting that Judge Older "did away with Ronald Hughes," which resulted in their being removed again from the courtroom.
returned death penalty
verdicts against all the defendants on all counts, news came that Hughes' badly decomposed body had been found wedged between two boulders in Ventura County. Hughes was positively identified by dental x-rays.
Due to the severe decomposition of the body, the cause and nature of his death was ruled as 'Undetermined'.
, Vincent Bugliosi
claims that Sandra Good
, an associate of Manson and a close friend of devoted Manson "family" member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, admitted that the "family" had killed "35 to 40 people" and that, "Hughes was the first of the retaliation murders."
James and Lauren Willett were associated with Manson for a time and were later found dead. Noting that individuals named "James" and "Lauren" were involved in both incidents, Bugliosi speculated that Manson’s associates had killed the Willetts because they were actually Forsher and Elder (Hughes's friends), and thus knew too much about Hughes’s death. He decided that it was unlikely that Forsher and Willett were the same man, citing apparent age differences, but continued to speculate that Lauren Elder was Lauren Willett.
In 1998, Forsher brought a defamation lawsuit against Bugliosi, alleging that Helter Skelter implied that he had participated in Hughes’s disappearance and death, a claim that Forsher denies. Forsher ultimately lost the initial case and subsequent appeals.
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
who represented Manson family
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
member Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Louise Van Houten is a former member of Charles Manson's "Family" who was convicted of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.-Life with Manson:...
and an alleged Manson family murder victim.
Tate-LaBianca murder trial
Hughes was among the first lawyers to meet with Charles MansonCharles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
in December 1969. Initially, he signed on as the attorney for Manson, but was replaced by Irving Kanarek
Irving Kanarek
Irving A. Kanarek is a retired criminal defense attorney best known for representing Charles Manson and "Onion Field" killer Jimmy Lee Smith....
two weeks before the start of the trial.
Prior to representing Leslie Van Houten in the Tate-LaBianca murder trial, Hughes failed the bar exam three times before passing and had never tried a case. Hughes, a onetime conservative, was called "the hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
lawyer" due to his intimate knowledge of the hippie subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
. That knowledge occasionally served his client well. He was able to raise questions about Linda Kasabian
Linda Kasabian
Linda Kasabian is a former member of Charles Manson's "family". She was the key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi's prosecution of Manson and his followers for the Tate-LaBianca murders, one of the highest-profile murder trials in American history.-Early life:Born as Linda Darlene...
's credibility by asking her about hallucinogenic drugs, her belief in ESP
Extra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
, her thoughts that she might be a witch, and her experiencing "vibrations" from Manson.
As attorney for defendant
Defendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
Van Houten, Hughes tried to separate the interests of his client from those of Charles Manson, a move that angered Manson and may have cost Hughes his life. He hoped to show that Van Houten was not acting independently, but was completely controlled in her actions by Manson. This strategy contradicted Manson's plan to allow fellow "family" members to implicate themselves in the crimes, clearing him of all involvement.
Twenty-two weeks into the trial, which included outbursts and bizarre behavior from Manson and his co-defendants, the prosecution rested. Lawyers for the defendants stunned the courtroom by announcing that the defense also rested. Susan Atkins
Susan Atkins
Susan Denise Atkins was a convicted American murderer who was a member of the "Manson family", led by Charles Manson. Manson and his followers committed a series of nine murders at four locations in California, over a period of five weeks in the summer of 1969...
, Patricia Krenwinkel
Patricia Krenwinkel
Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel is an American convicted killer and a former member of Charles Manson's murderous commune, known as "the Family". During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as "Big Patty", "Yellow", and "Mary Ann Scott", but to The Family she was most...
and Leslie Van Houten immediately shouted that they wanted to testify. Per Manson's instructions, the girls said that they wanted to testify to committing the murders on their own and that Manson had nothing to do with the crimes. Hughes objected and stood up against Manson's ploy and stated, "I refuse to take part in any proceeding where I am forced to push a client out the window." After Manson made a statement to the court, however, he then advised the girls against testifying. The defense then rested its case.
Disappearance
On November 30, 1970, Hughes failed to return from a trip taken during a recess the judge ordered prior to final arguments. Hughes decided to take a camping trip in a remote area near Sespe Hot Springs, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. According to James Forsher and Lauren Elder, two friends who accompanied Hughes on the trip, heavy rains mired their Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
in mud. Hughes' friends hitchhiked out, while Hughes decided to stay. As the rains continued, the wilderness area was evacuated. Campers had seen Hughes walking in the rugged terrain, and the Volkswagen was later found with trial transcripts in it, but there was no sign of Hughes.
Despite the disappearance, Judge Charles Older
Charles Older
Charles Herman "Chuck" Older was a member of the American Volunteer Group "The Flying Tigers" and one of its Aces. In his distinguished military career, he served in both World War II and the Korean War...
ordered the trial to proceed and appointed a new attorney, Maxwell Keith, for Van Houten. The women angrily demanded the firing of all their lawyers, and asked to reopen the defense. Judge Older denied the request. By week's end, Hughes had been missing for 15 days. When the court reconvened, Manson and the women created a disturbance suggesting that Judge Older "did away with Ronald Hughes," which resulted in their being removed again from the courtroom.
Death
The search for Hughes continued despite doubts that he would be found alive. On March 29, 1971, the same day the juryJury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
returned death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
verdicts against all the defendants on all counts, news came that Hughes' badly decomposed body had been found wedged between two boulders in Ventura County. Hughes was positively identified by dental x-rays.
Due to the severe decomposition of the body, the cause and nature of his death was ruled as 'Undetermined'.
Controversy
In his book Helter SkelterHelter Skelter (book)
Helter Skelter is a true crime book by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. The subject of the book is the 1969 Manson Family murders and Bugliosi's own prosecution of Charles Manson and his followers....
, Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi is an American attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders. His most recent books are Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy , The Prosecution of George W...
claims that Sandra Good
Sandra Good
Sandra Collins Good a long-time member of the Manson Family and a close friend of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Good's Manson Family nickname is "Blue," given to her by Charles Manson because of her blue eyes....
, an associate of Manson and a close friend of devoted Manson "family" member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, admitted that the "family" had killed "35 to 40 people" and that, "Hughes was the first of the retaliation murders."
James and Lauren Willett were associated with Manson for a time and were later found dead. Noting that individuals named "James" and "Lauren" were involved in both incidents, Bugliosi speculated that Manson’s associates had killed the Willetts because they were actually Forsher and Elder (Hughes's friends), and thus knew too much about Hughes’s death. He decided that it was unlikely that Forsher and Willett were the same man, citing apparent age differences, but continued to speculate that Lauren Elder was Lauren Willett.
In 1998, Forsher brought a defamation lawsuit against Bugliosi, alleging that Helter Skelter implied that he had participated in Hughes’s disappearance and death, a claim that Forsher denies. Forsher ultimately lost the initial case and subsequent appeals.