Murder in Tombstone

August 30, 2004
The most legendary gunfight in the Wild West—the famous shoot-out at the O.K. Corral—took place in Tombstone, Ariz., on October 26, 1881. Lubet, professor of law at Northwestern University, provides an unusual account of the heretofore obscure court case that followed the gunplay, when local prosecutors with political connections to the Earp brothers' opponents, the Clantons and McLaurys (of whom only Ike Clanton survived), sought quite earnestly to send the Earps and John "Doc" Holliday to the gallows. "To the prosecutors," writes Lubet, "the Earps and Holliday were murderers—law officers out of control.... For the defense, the Earps were steadfast heroes—willing to risk their lives on the mean, dusty streets of Tombstone for the sake of order and stability." As Lubet makes clear in his detailed narrative, the tense, bitterly contested trial was nearly as charged as the shoot-out itself: filled with intrigue, fifth columnists and hidden agendas. The level of emotions may best be illustrated by actions after the acquittals: Clanton partisans shot Virgil Earp on a Tombstone street, crippling him for life, while Morgan Earp took a fatal bullet in the back. Wyatt and Doc, meanwhile, found it advisable to get out of town. Lubet's worthwhile account will interest Wild West buffs as well as readers interested in legal history. Agent, Lydia Wills.

Starred review from October 15, 2004
The prosecution said that it was first-degree murder, nothing else; the defense said that it was a proper discharge of duties and self-defense. The full truth will never be known, but Lubet (law, Northwestern Univ.) has given us a fascinating account of the legal strategy and maneuvering at the preliminary hearing (it was not a trial) of the Earps and Doc Holliday following the celebrated gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Utilizing the edited transcript of the hearing (the original longhand transcript has been lost and most likely destroyed), as well as the detailed daily accounts in the Tombstone Epitaph and Tombstone Nugget, Lubet analyzes the testimony and arguments to show how the defense team constructed a coherent, unified theory of defense and took advantage of every error and miscue by the prosecution to win its case. Lay readers as well as specialists will enjoy this well-written and accessible account, which is highly recommended for academic and public libraries.-Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette

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