Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
California Condor
Eben McMillan
/ June 1964
With Mrs. Gladys McMillan accompanying me, I left for
Bakersfield, Cal., at 8:15 A.M. where I was supposed to
meet with representatives of the District Attorney's Office
in regards to the handling of the Condor shooting
case. I was in the D.A.'s office waiting room at 9:55 A.M.
After a twenty-five minute wait I was met and led
to his office, by Mr. Tony Klein. Mr. Klein is an
assistant District Attorney. The first information he
wanted was a general description of the Condor
and its habits. He said he knew nothing of Condor
and wanted enough information whereby his knowledge
of the subject we were about to discuss would be such that
he would understand the problem more fully. I gave
Mr. Klein a brief summary of Condor whereabouts
and their present dilemma. He then asked for a
general resume of conditions and activities that led up to the
incident where the Condor was wounded. This I did.
Following this meeting with Mr. Klein, whereby we went
over all facets relative to the Condor incident, Mr. Klein
gave me his thinking as to what could assume
might develop in regard to setting a conviction. First
he stated that without a corpus delicti, or body of the
crime, such as the carcass of the bird, or other pertinent
evidence, it would be quite difficult to prosecute the case.
Without the body of the bird there would have to be a
confession from Bernice Harris that he saw Howard Binkley
shoot at the bird. This would be ample proof that Binkley,