The Associated Press

Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 19:00:17 PST

NEW ORLEANS -- A former investigator for Jim Garrison, whose Kennedy assassination probe was 
fictionalized by Oliver Stone in the movie ``JFK,'' was thrown in jail Tuesday for giving secret records to 
a federal panel.

A judge also was considering contempt charges against a television reporter who obtained the secret grand 
jury transcripts from investigator Gary Raymond and aired the names of witnesses who testified decades 
ago. Shortly after Harry Connick succeeded Garrison as District Attorney in 1974, he ordered Raymond 
to destroy the records of Garrison's grand jury proceeding.

Instead, Raymond put the files in the trunk of his car, then kept them hidden for 21 years. He wasn't sure 
what to do with them -- until Connick told the Assassination Records Review Board last June 28 that the 
files had disappeared when Garrison left office.

``Not only is the man lying about these records, but he is trying to pin it on Garrison's people,'' Raymond 
said.

Raymond went to WDSU-TV reporter Richard Angelico with the files, and asked him to pass them on to 
the review board. ``These documents are an important part of the historical record of the Kennedy 
assassination because they were part of the Garrison investigation,'' said Tom Samoluk, spokesman for 
the review board.``They involve an important and much-studied chapter of the Kennedy assassination 
story.''

But Criminal District Judge Frank Marullo ordered Raymond jailed for six months, the maximum, for 
violating a state law regarding the secrecy of grand juries. He was taken into custody and released shortly 
after posting a $10,000 bond. He remains free during his appeal.

Marullo said he was inclined to find Angelico in contempt, but would rule on Feb. 22 after studying court 
cases regarding reporters' rights.

Raymond said he only went to Angelico because the reporter knew who to contact on the review board. 
He said he knew nothing of Angelico's plan to report on the transcripts.

``If Mr. Angelico wanted to have some fun with Harry Connick, that was his business,'' Raymond said. 
``Connick was embarrassed and he deserved to be.''

Samoluk said the board, which now has the records, wants to release them to the public. But Connick 
wants them back on the grounds that state law guards the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. ``We have 
not released them,'' Samoluk said. ``We intend to clarify their legal status before we do anything with 
them.''

The board was created by Congress in 1992 in an attempt to address any public concern that the 
government has not divulged all it knows about the assassination. Its job is to uncover any new records 
related to the assassination and review for possible release those records the federal government wants to 
keep secret. It can delay release only until 2017, the deadline set by law. So far, hundreds of thousands of 
Kennedy assassination records have been logged with the National Archives.

http://jfklancer.com/Garrison.html