Lenny Bruce Trial: 1964

Yet another adjournment—this time so that Judge John Murtagh could take his summer vacation—gave the prosecutor ample time to line up his own witnesses. When the trial reopened, John Fischer, editor of Harper's magazine, and the Reverend Daniel Potter, executive director of the Protestant Council, both opined that Bruce's work was obscene. Testimony concluded July 28, after One year before his obscenity trial in New York, comedian Lenny Bruce is denied entrance to England "in the public interest." (AP/Wide World Photos) which Judge Murtagh instructed counsel that the bench would consider written briefs instead of the customary oral closing arguments.

On November 4, the court reconvened to deliver its verdict. Bruce, who had remained silent throughout, chose this moment to dismiss his lawyers and belligerently insist that he be allowed to conduct his own defense. Judge Murtagh denied the request and read the verdict. "The court, Judge Creel dissenting, finds the defendants Lenny Bruce and Howard Solomon guilty. The court by unanimous vote finds the defendant Ella Solomon not guilty." Sentencing was deferred until December 21, 1964, at which time Bruce received four months Solomon was fined.

The verdict seemed to unhinge Bruce. He became obsessed with appellate litigation. Those legal wheels were still grinding when, on August 3, 1966, he was found dead in his Hollywood home, a hypodermic syringe nearby. An autopsy revealed the presence of morphine. Death was recorded as accidental.

Lenny Bruce's trial attracted immense publicity, a torrent of self-righteous indignation from protagonists on either side of the debate, and still no firm understanding of what constitutes obscenity. At its conclusion, Bruce's life and career were in shambles—vivid proof that free speech is never free, and often costly beyond measure.