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4.2.12
WC: 191694

The Case I still can’t talk about: Chappaquiddick

There is one homicide case that I still can’t say very much about, even though all the principles are dead and the case is more than 40 years old. I was one of the lawyers involved in the Chappaquiddick case—the investigation of Senator Edward Kennedy for driving his car off a bridge on the Island (or peninsula of) Chappaquiddick, resulting in the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

1969 was an eventful summer. My family and I were on Fire Island anticipating watching a man walk on the moon. I had no idea how much more exciting the summer would become.

I received a call from one of Senator Kennedy’s aides, telling me that the Senator had been involved in a fatal automobile accident and asking me to make my way to Martha’s Vineyard—a place I had never visited. I was asked to become part of the legal team being assembled in anticipation of the upcoming criminal investigation. My job was to prepare a brief concerning the rights of the young women (they were referred to as the “boiler room girls”, because they had worked on Kennedy campaigns from an office that had once served as a boiler room) who had been vacationing on Chappaquiddick along with Senator Kennedy and several of his friends. The women who had shared a house with Mary Jo Kopeche were being subpoenaed to testify at an “inquest” regarding the tragedy.

There was very little law on the rights of witnesses or potential defendants at this sort of hybrid hearing which is neither a trial nor a grand jury proceeding. One important issue was whether or when their testimony, which might require them to divulge personal matters, would be made available to the media, which was seeking every possible tidbit of information—or gossip—about the events surrounding the tragedy. I worked with my colleague, Professor Charles Fried, and we produced a brief that succeeded in keeping the testimony of the women confidential during the course of the criminal investigation.

I also consulted with the lawyers responsible for trying to prevent Senator Kennedy from being charged with vehicular homicide or some other serious crime. We succeeded, and the Senator ultimately pleaded guilty to a relatively minor offense.

I remained close to Senator Kennedy until his death, consulting with him on numerous projects involving criminal law, constitutional law, judicial appointments, and human rights. Ken Feinberg, who served as his chief-of-staff and in many other capacities, recently told me that before anything involving these issues left his office, Senator Kennedy would tell his staff members, “check it with Alan.” It was high honor and privilege to assist so great a senator on so many occasions. The last time I was him was just months before his death when he invited me to sit next to him for several innings during the opening game of the Red Sox season at Fenway Park on April __, 2010.

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