The Press: Victory for Pearson

When Washington Lobbyist Charles P. Clark went on trial last week on a charge of punching Columnist Drew Pearson, he sprang an ingenious defense. Pearson, said Clark, had “verbally assaulted” him in his column when he charged that Clark had used undue influence to get Maine Senator Owen Brewster and Brooklyn Congressman Eugene Keogh to sponsor aid to Franco. Furthermore, said Clark, Pearson had menaced him with a “threatening gesture” just before he bopped Pearson in the lobby of Washington’s Mayflower Hotel. But Pearson, a Quaker whose personal manner is as mild as his column is ferocious, proved to the jury that he wouldn’t menace anyone. Clark was convicted, faces sentencing this week. Maximum: $500 fine and one year in jail.

Pearson’s victory turned out to be a severe blow to his journalistic pride. In examining the jurors for bias, the defense counsel asked the panel whether any of them ever read Pearson’s column. All twelve sat stonily silent. Then he asked whether any listened to Pearson’s radio show or watched his TV program. Under direct questioning, one woman finally admitted she had seen Pearson on TV, but didn’t remember much about him. Said Pearson wryly: “If I’d known we were going to get into all this, I’d never have brought the charge.”