Overview

Laurence Teeter was a California attorney who served as Sirhan Sirhan's defense lawyer for over a decade; pursuing appeals and new trial motions based on evidence he argued proved that Sirhan did not act alone in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy on June 5; 1968; at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Teeter's primary arguments centered on two key claims. First; he argued that the forensic evidence demonstrated the fatal shots were fired from behind Kennedy at point-blank range (approximately 1-3 inches according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner Thomas Noguchi; who performed the autopsy); while all witnesses placed Sirhan in front of Kennedy and never closer than several feet. The LAPD's own firearms examiner; DeWayne Wolfer; was later found to have conducted flawed ballistics testing; and the ceiling tiles from the Ambassador Hotel pantry; which some witnesses and investigators believed contained additional bullet holes beyond those accountable from Sirhan's eight-round revolver; were destroyed by the LAPD before they could be independently examined. Second; Teeter advanced the theory that Sirhan had been subjected to hypnotic programming ("Manchurian Candidate" theory); arguing that Sirhan's amnesia about the shooting and his behavior were consistent with a hypnotically-induced dissociative state. Several hypnosis experts who examined Sirhan supported this assessment; including Dr. Daniel Brown of Harvard Medical School; who concluded Sirhan had been "hypno-programmed." Teeter died in 2005 without securing a new trial for Sirhan. Investigative journalist Dan Moldea; author of "The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy;" initially concluded conspiracy but later accepted the lone gunman finding. The case remains one of the most disputed political assassinations in American history.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

2 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports