19. Innocence Did Not Save This Once-Beloved Actor’s Career
The criminal case against Fatty Arbuckle fizzled when evidence of prosecutorial misconduct emerged. As it turned out, San Francisco’s District Attorney, an ambitious man with plans to run for California governor, had pressured witnesses into lying. The defense also obtained an exculpatory letter from the state’s star witness, Virginia Rappe’s friend who had first leveled accusations of assault. In it, she admitted that she had planned to extort money from Arbuckle. In the trial, the state produced little credible evidence, and medical experts demonstrated that Rappe’s bladder had been ruptured by an internal inflammation, not by an outside force.
The jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal, and a mistrial was declared. A second trial again ended in a 10-2 deadlock in favor of a not guilty verdict. A third trial was launched, and at its conclusion, the jury took just six minutes to return a unanimous verdict of not guilty. Arbuckle was thus exonerated, but his company in Hollywood was now not only awkward but outright toxic. His reputation and standing never recovered, and his career was effectively destroyed.