Francis Lee Bailey Jr. (June 10, 1933 – June 3, 2021) was an American
criminal defense
In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...
attorney.
Born in
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...
, Bailey first came to nationwide attention for his involvement in the second murder trial of
Sam Sheppard, a surgeon accused of murdering his wife. He later served as the attorney in a number of other high-profile cases, such as
Albert DeSalvo, a suspect in the "
Boston Strangler" murders, heiress
Patty Hearst's trial for bank robberies committed during her involvement with the
Symbionese Liberation Army, and U.S. Army Captain
Ernest Medina for the
My Lai Massacre. He was a member of the "
Dream Team" in
the trial of former football player
O. J. Simpson, who was accused of murdering
Nicole Brown Simpson and
Ron Goldman. He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century.
For most of his career, Bailey was licensed in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, where he was respectively
disbarred in 2001 and 2003 for misconduct while defending Claude Louis DuBoc, who had been accused of trafficking
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
. Following his disbarment, he moved to
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, where he ran a consulting firm. He later sat for the
bar exam
A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.
Australia
Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...
in the state of Maine. In 2013, he was denied a law license by the Maine Board of Bar Examiners, a decision Bailey appealed that same year where the appellate court overturned the initial license denial. The Board of Examiners appealed the appellate court decision, and in 2014 the original denial was upheld by the
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Between 1820 and 1839, justices served lifetime ...
.
Early life
Bailey was born June 10, 1933, in
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...
. His mother, Grace (Mitchell), was a teacher and nursery school director, and his father, Francis Lee Bailey Sr., was an advertising salesman.
His parents divorced when he was ten.
Bailey attended
Cardigan Mountain School
Cardigan Mountain School, also called Cardigan or CMS, for short, is an all-boys independent boarding school for grades six through nine, located on 62 Alumni Drive, Canaan, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded in 1945 on land provided b ...
and then
Kimball Union Academy, where he graduated in 1950. He studied at
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
but dropped out in 1952 to join the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
and later transferred to the
Marine Corps.
He was commissioned as an officer and, following flight training, received his
naval aviator wings in 1954.
He served as a jet fighter pilot, and then began to serve as a squadron legal officer at
Cherry Point, North Carolina.
He briefly returned to Harvard before being admitted to
Boston University School of Law in 1957, which accepted his military experience in lieu of the requirement for students to have completed at least three years of undergraduate college courses. While attending Boston University, he achieved the highest grade point average in the school's history.
He graduated with an
LL.B. in 1960 and was ranked first in his class.
Notable cases
Sam Sheppard
In 1954,
Sam Sheppard was found guilty in the murder of his wife Marilyn in a case that was one of the inspirations for the television series ''
The Fugitive'' (1963–1967).
In the 1960s, Bailey, at the time a resident of
Rocky River, Ohio, was hired by Sheppard's brother Stephen to help in Sheppard's appeal. In 1966, Bailey successfully argued before the
U.S. Supreme Court that Sheppard had been denied
due process
Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual p ...
, winning a re-trial. A not guilty verdict followed. This case established Bailey's reputation as a skilled defense attorney and was the first of many high-profile cases.
"Boston Strangler"
In 1964, Bailey defended
Albert DeSalvo for a series of sexual assaults known as the "Green Man" or "Measuring Man" incidents. Bailey later said that DeSalvo confessed that he had also committed the "
Boston Strangler" murders. DeSalvo was found guilty of the assaults, but was never tried for the murders.
Carl A. Coppolino
Carl A. Coppolino was accused of the July 30, 1963, murder of retired Army Col. William Farber, his neighbor and the husband of Marjorie Farber, with whom Coppolino was having an affair. He was also accused of the August 28, 1965, murder of his wife, Carmela Coppolino. The prosecution claimed that Coppolino injected his victims with a paralyzing drug called
succinylcholine chloride, which at the time was undetectable due to limited
forensic
Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...
technology. Bailey successfully defended Coppolino in the
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
case over the death of Farber in December 1966. However, Coppolino was convicted of murdering his wife in Florida. He was paroled after serving 12 years of his sentence.
George Edgerly
Bailey attended
Keeler Polygraph Institute in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, where he became an expert in
lie detector tests. It was in this capacity that he was enlisted by the defense in the case of George Edgerly, a mechanic charged with murdering his wife. When Edgerly's attorney was incapacitated by a heart attack, Bailey took over the defense. Edgerly—whose story was one of several that served as the basis for the television series and film ''
The Fugitive''—was acquitted.
He was later convicted of a series of other crimes, including the murder of General Motors representative Frank Smith in 1974 and a rape which took place in 1975.
Ernest Medina
Bailey successfully defended
U.S. Army Captain
Ernest Medina in his 1971
court-martial
A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...
for responsibility in the
My Lai Massacre during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. Medina was court-martialed for allegedly allowing the men in the company he commanded to murder My Lai
non-combatants
Non-combatant is a term of art in the law of war and international humanitarian law to refer to civilians who are not taking a direct part in hostilities. People such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligerent arm ...
. Medina claimed that he never gave orders to kill non-combatants, and that his men killed non-combatants of their own volition. Medina also testified that he was unable to stop the massacre because he did not become aware of it until it was too late. Medina additionally denied personally killing any Vietnamese non-combatants at My Lai, with the exception of a young woman whom two soldiers testified that they had found hiding in a ditch. When she emerged with her hands held up, Medina shot her because, as he claimed at his court-martial, he thought she had a grenade. Medina was acquitted, and subsequently left the Army. He later worked at an
Enstrom Helicopter Corporation
The Enstrom Helicopter Corporation is an American helicopter aerospace manufacturer, based at the Menominee–Marinette Twin County Airport in Michigan, United States.
The company was founded in 1959 by Mining engineering, mining engineer Ru ...
plant in which Bailey had an ownership stake.
Patricia Hearst

The prosecution of
Patty Hearst, a newspaper heiress who had committed armed bank robberies after being kidnapped by the
Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), was one of Bailey's defeats.
In her autobiography, Hearst described his closing argument as "disjointed" and said that she suspected he had been drinking. During his closing argument, Bailey spilled a glass of water on his pants. Hearst was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 22 months before her sentence was commuted by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
in 1977. She was pardoned by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
in 2001.
While Hearst was convicted at trial, Bailey did protect her from a further death-penalty prosecution. On April 28, 1975, members of the SLA had robbed a
Crocker Bank branch in
Carmichael, California
Carmichael is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, California, United States. It is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated suburb in the Sacramento metropolitan area, Greater Sacramento metropolitan ...
. Hearst drove one of the getaway cars.
A customer was killed when one of the robbers' gun discharged.
The Symbionese Liberation Army members participating in the robbery were therefore subject to the death penalty under the
felony murder rule. Bailey negotiated with prosecutors for Hearst to receive
use immunity in exchange for her testimony about the Carmichael robbery, thus protecting her from a possible death sentence.
As criminal defendant
A 1982 case found Bailey in the role of criminal defendant rather than defense attorney. The case was itself considered notable as one of the longest running
drunk driving cases in California history. Bailey was acquitted but may have faced legal defense bills of $100,000 along with a $50 fine for the lesser infraction of running a stop sign. He claimed that, despite the high cost of his defense, he wanted to fight the case not only for himself but for the "little man" who might not be able to afford such high legal costs. He also claimed that, despite Hearst's accusations to the contrary, he did not have a drinking problem when it came to defending clients. One member of Bailey's defense team,
Robert Shapiro, went on to work with Bailey on the defense of
O.J. Simpson.
Claude DuBoc
In 1994, while the O. J. Simpson case was being tried, Bailey and
Robert Shapiro represented Claude DuBoc, who in that case was found guilty of the drug trafficking of
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
. In a plea bargain agreement with the U.S. Attorney, DuBoc agreed to
turn over his assets to the U.S. government. These included a large block of stock in BioChem, worth approximately $6 million at the time of the plea deal. When the government sought to collect the stock, it had increased in value to $20 million. Bailey said he was entitled to the appreciation in payment of his legal fees. Since he had used the stock as collateral for loans, he was unable to turn over the stock to the government. In 1996, Bailey was sent to prison for contempt. After 44 days at the
Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee, Bailey's brother succeeded in raising the money to enable him to return the stock, and he was freed.
O. J. Simpson
Bailey joined the
O. J. Simpson defense team just before the preliminary hearing.
Bailey held numerous
press conference
A press conference, also called news conference or press briefing, is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalism, journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicia ...
s to discuss the progress of the case.
In a press conference prior to his
cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (known as examination-in-chief in Law of the Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Law of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Austra ...
of
Mark Fuhrman, Bailey said, "Any lawyer in his right mind who would not be looking forward to cross-examining Mark Fuhrman is an idiot."
His famous cross-examination of Fuhrman is considered to be the key to Simpson's acquittal. In front of a predominantly Black jury, Bailey got Fuhrman to claim, "Marine to Marine", he never used the word ''
nigger
In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...
'' to describe Blacks at any time during the previous 10 years, a claim the defense team later found evidence to refute. Ultimately, the statement that Bailey drew from the detective forced Fuhrman to
plead the Fifth in his next courtroom appearance. Bailey also attracted minor attention for keeping a silver flask on the defense table, which fellow defense attorney
Robert Kardashian claimed contained only coffee.
Bailey published a book about the Simpson trial shortly before his death, titled ''The Truth About the O.J. Simpson Trial: By the Architect of the Defense''.
William and Chantal McCorkle
British citizen
Chantal McCorkle, along with her American husband
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
, were tried and convicted in 1998 in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
for her part in a financial
fraud
In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
. The McCorkles sold kits, advertised in
infomercial
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...
s, purporting to show buyers how to get rich by buying property in
foreclosure
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...
s and
government auctions. Among the grounds for their conviction was their representation in the infomercials that they owned
luxury automobiles and
airplane
An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...
s (actually rented for the commercials), and their use of purported
testimonial
In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whe ...
s from satisfied customers, who were actually paid actors.
Chantal, represented by Mark Horwitz, and her husband, represented by Bailey, were each originally sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison under
mandatory sentencing
Mandatory sentencing requires that people convicted of certain crimes serve a predefined term of imprisonment, removing the discretion of judges to take issues such as extenuating circumstances and a person's likelihood of rehabilitation into co ...
laws. After two appeals, the McCorkles' sentences were reduced in 2006 to 18 years.
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
A strike to Bailey's credibility came when he took on the case of aggrieved families of passengers on
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007)In aviation, two types of Airline codes, airline designators are used. The flight number KAL 007, with the ICAO code for Korean Air Lines, was used by air traffic control. In ticketing, however, IAT ...
, which was shot down over the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in 1983. Though he made several public statements attesting to his commitment to the case, his
law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...
put in a much smaller number of hours on the case than did the two other law firms working on it. He aggravated other clients by traveling to
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
to discuss defending two men who were charged with blowing up
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...
over
Lockerbie, Scotland, even after undertaking the cause of the relatives of that bombing's victims. To the latter, the expedition to
Tripoli was a clear
conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
; Bailey denied that he intended to defend the Libyans, though a letter he had written to the U.S. Government suggested otherwise.
Koscot Interplanetary
Koscot Interplanetary and Dare to be Great were
multi-level marketing
Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial and sometimes illegal marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salarie ...
companies owned by Glenn W. Turner. In 1973, Turner, Bailey and eight others were indicted by a
federal grand jury on
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
and
mail fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
charges. The indictment said that Bailey had appeared in a film made for Turner's organization and had appeared with Turner at several rallies. A nine-month trial ended in a
hung jury
A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. A hung jury may result in the case being tried again.
Thi ...
. Charges were then dropped against Bailey. In 1975, Turner pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of violating securities laws and was given probation.
"Paul is dead"
Bailey was featured in an
RKO television special in which he conducted a mock trial, examining various expert witnesses on the subject of the "
Paul is dead
"Paul is dead" is an urban legend and conspiracy theory alleging that English musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike. The rumour began circulating in 1966, gaining broad popularity in Se ...
" rumor referring to
Beatle Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
. One of the experts was
Fred LaBour, whose article in ''
The Michigan Daily
''The Michigan Daily'', also known as "''The Daily''", is the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established on September 29, 1890, the newspaper is financially and editorially independe ...
'' had been instrumental in the spread of the
urban legend
Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not.
These legends can be e ...
. LaBour told Bailey during a pre-show meeting he had made up the whole thing. Bailey responded, "Well, we have an hour of television to do. You're going to have to go along with this." The program aired locally in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on November 30, 1969, and was never re-aired.
Television career
In 1967, Bailey became host of the short-lived
ABC television series ''Good Company'', a series in which he would interview celebrities in their homes in a format similar to
Edward R. Murrow's ''
Person to Person''. In 1983, Bailey again became a television host, when he was named the host of a short-lived syndicated television show called ''
Lie Detector''. Guests were questioned by Bailey and were then submitted to a polygraph test.
Personal legal issues and professional status
Drunk driving case
On February 28, 1982, Bailey was arrested for
drunk driving in California. He was acquitted, thanks in large part to the defense conducted by
Robert Shapiro, who employed Bailey on the
O. J. Simpson criminal defense team 12 years later. The drunk driving trial so enraged Bailey that he wrote a book, ''How to Protect Yourself Against Cops in California and Other Strange Places'', which alleged serious abuses by police and argued that driving under the influence of alcohol had become "a number, not a condition". He furthermore asserted that political pressure had motivated police to go after celebrities in particular.
Disbarment
Bailey's high public profile came both as a result of the cases he took on and his own actions. In 2001, he was disbarred in the state of
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, with reciprocal disbarment in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
on April 11, 2003. The Florida disbarment was the result of his handling of shares in a pharmaceutical company named Biochem Pharma
during his representation of
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
trafficker Claude DuBoc. Bailey had transferred a large portion of DuBoc's assets into his own accounts. Among these assets was a stock valued at about $5.9 million, which was supposed to be included in the forfeiture of assets that DuBoc made as part of a plea bargain.
The stock had been held by Bailey because it would be sold immediately if it came into government possession, but it was expected to rise dramatically in value. Bailey later refused to turn it over, saying that it was payment of his legal fees and not part of DuBoc's asset forfeiture. In addition, Bailey said that the stock was collateral for loans that he had received, and so could not be sold until the loans were repaid.
Bailey's defense of his actions was rejected by the court; the stock rose in value to about $20 million, and Bailey then argued that, if he turned over the stock so that it could be sold, he was entitled to keep the difference between what it was valued at when he received it and its new, higher price. After Bailey was imprisoned for six weeks in 1996 for contempt of court, his brother raised the money that enabled Bailey to turn the stock over to the government, and he was released. He was later found guilty of seven counts of attorney misconduct by the
Florida Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...
, and in 2001 he was disbarred. Massachusetts disbarred Bailey two years later.
In early 2003, a judge ordered Bailey to pay $5 million in taxes and penalties on income connected with the Duboc case. The judge later reversed the decision, although Bailey still had an unpaid tax bill of nearly $2 million, which he disputed. In March 2005, Bailey filed to regain his law license in Massachusetts but failed.
Application to practice law in Maine
In 2009, Bailey moved to
Yarmouth, Maine
Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland, Maine, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, Maine, North Yarmouth, it was part of the Massachusetts ...
, where he was a partner in the Bailey & Elliott consulting business with his girlfriend Debbie Elliott. In 2012, Bailey passed the Maine bar examination and applied for a law license; the Maine Board of Bar Examiners voted 5–4 to deny his application. The majority said Bailey had not proved by "clear and convincing evidence that he possesses the requisite honesty and integrity" to practice law.
Bailey appealed, petitioning the
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Between 1820 and 1839, justices served lifetime ...
to review the denial. In March 2013, a two-day hearing was held by Supreme Judicial Court Justice
Donald G. Alexander in which Bailey's suitability to practice law was examined. Justice Alexander filed a 57-page ruling on April 19, 2013, stating that Bailey "was almost fit to practice law, except for an outstanding tax debt of nearly $2 million".
Bailey was allowed to move for reconsideration of the decision "if
eoffer
da plan to repay the nearly $2 million he owes in back taxes to the federal government".
Initially, the government had claimed that Bailey owed $4 million in back taxes. However, representing himself before the tax court, Bailey was successful in having the amount owed reduced to $2 million.
In June 2013, Bailey's attorney,
Peter DeTroy, filed a motion for reconsideration of the decision. After oral arguments were heard on the reconsideration, Justice Alexander granted the motion, stating that "
general survey of the state precedent on the debt payment issue suggests that the existence of a debt, by itself, may not result in a finding of lack of good moral character .... Rather, findings of failure of proof of good moral character tend to be based on misconduct regarding effort—or lack of effort—to pay the debt, or misconduct referencing the debt payment obligation in the bar admission process."
This cleared the way for Bailey to obtain a Maine law license. However, Maine's Board of Bar Examiners appealed Justice Alexander's decision to the entire Supreme Court, minus Alexander.
On April 10, 2014, the Maine Supreme Court voted 4-to-2 to side with the Bar Examiners and reverse Justice Alexander's decision, which continued to prevent Bailey from practicing law in Maine.
In 2016, Bailey lived in Maine and operated the Bailey & Elliott consulting business.
Personal life
Bailey was married four times. His first marriage, to Florence Gott, ended in divorce in 1961; his second marriage, to Froma Portley, lasted until their divorce in 1972; his third marriage, to Lynda Hart, lasted from 1972 until their divorce in 1980; and his fourth marriage, to Patricia Shiers, lasted from 1985 until her death in 1999. He had two sons from his first marriage and another son from his second marriage.
Death
In approximately 2019, in his mid 80s and in the final years of his life, Bailey moved to
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
to be near to his son Scott, who had assisted Bailey in several of his business ventures over the years.
[ After a period of ill health, he died of an unspecified cause in a hospice center in Atlanta on June 3, 2021, just one week prior to his 88th birthday.] He was buried at the Georgia National Cemetery, a veterans cemetery in Canton, Georgia. His epitaph reads "The defense never rests."
In popular culture
Bailey was portrayed by Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been Nathan Lane on screen and stage, on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Na ...
in the 2016 miniseries '' The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story''.
In Ezra Edelman's 2016 documentary '' O.J.: Made in America'', Bailey is featured heavily through interviews and archive footage of the Simpson murder trial, particularly his cross-examination of Mark Fuhrman. In his interview, Bailey continued to assert that Fuhrman deliberately planted the incriminating glove on Simpson's estate in an attempt to frame him. When asked by Edelman what motive Fuhrman would have, Bailey responded that Simpson had married a white woman, which he described as "a capital offense in Fuhrman's eyes".
Bailey is portrayed by Luke Kirby in the 2023 film '' Boston Strangler.''
Publications
; Non-fiction
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
; Fiction
*
; Magazine
* '' Gallery'', publisher (1972). (In October 1972, Bailey became "the showcase publisher of ''Gallery'', a new magazine based on ''Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' and '' Penthouse'', but later dropped out as publisher.)
References
External links
F. Lee Bailey Consulting
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, F. Lee
1933 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
Boston University School of Law alumni
American criminal defense lawyers
Disbarred Massachusetts lawyers
Harvard College alumni
Disbarred Florida lawyers
Military personnel from Massachusetts
O. J. Simpson murder case
People from Waltham, Massachusetts
United States Marine Corps officers
United States Naval Aviators