20 Things You Didn't Know About JFK
7. The Actual Trial
The trial was not as airtight or clear-cut as the film makes it seem. We are seeing this through the perspective of the prosecutor, mind you. The fact is that Garrison, a showboating D.A., brought a case against someone tangentially related to the CIA with no real evidence, only theories.
His key witness mentioned earlier, Perry Russo, gave testimony under the influence of sodium pentothal, or truth serum. Rumours of hypnosis also persist.
Though the film likes to make a big deal of the fact that the CIA admitted Shaw had worked for them, he had done so as an independent contractor to discuss his travels, mostly in Latin America.