Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

The Wizard and Amy Joyce weigh-in on Tom Howard, and they do not like him.

Wizard:  

Another thing about Howard:  

People regularly say that Ruby or Ruby's family retained him as Ruby's attorney, but that's not true - neither did.  At one point George Senator claimed that he had, through his lawyer friend Jim Martin.  However in the end, Ralph Paul said that he had called Tom Howard after hearing about the incident from employees that heard about it on the radio.  That doesn't make sense because Howard was acting as Ruby's lawyer before it was even announced who did the shooting.  Howard supposedly called a judge to obtain a writ for Ruby's release from the County jail before Oswald had even reached the hospital.  Why didn't he stay with his client and make sure he didn't talk?  Why didn't he ensure his rights weren't being violated (like that he was kept fully clothed)?  Most importantly, why didn't Howard call for the writ from the City police station instead of leaving?

Amy Joyce:

Yes, there were two witnesses to Howard being there.  And originally Howard had said he was having lunch at the time of the incident.  This is why I've always thought that Howard was in on it and placed there (as Ruby's lawyer), to help convince Ruby that he had done it.  He was an awful man.  That same lawyer that gave vital ammunition to the prosecution in front of the press the next day and got into trouble with the bar association for it:  

 “A Dallas Bar Association grievance committee met three hours last night on charges that Tom Howard, attorney for Jack Ruby, had violated legal ethics by discussing Ruby’s case with the press … No charges had been placed against District Attorney Henry Wade.” (New York Post, Dec. 6).