# Why was Jack Ruby's conviction overturned?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-jack-rubys-conviction-overturned/529021>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 15, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-jack-rubys-conviction-overturned/529021 "2010-02-15T01:57:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-jack-rubys-conviction-overturned/529021/1 "2010-02-15T01:57:59Z")

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my friend wants to know

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-jack-rubys-conviction-overturned/529021/2 "2010-02-15T02:12:03Z")

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From Wikipedia: [Ruby v. Texas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_v._Texas)

> [@](#):
>
> The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled on October 5 1966 that the refusal of the trial court to grant the motion for change of venue made it impossible for Ruby to obtain a fair trial, overturned his conviction and death sentence, and ordered that he be retried in some location other than the Dallas area. Arrangements were underway for a new trial to be held in February 1967, in Wichita Falls, Texas, when, on December 9, 1966, Ruby was admitted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, suffering from pneumonia. A day later, doctors realized he had cancer in his liver, lungs, and brain.
> 
> Ruby died on January 3 1967.

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-jack-rubys-conviction-overturned/529021/3 "2010-02-15T04:23:53Z")

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So it ws not so much an overturning, in the colloquial sense of “his conviction was overturned and he was set free,” as it was a finding that he did not receive a fair trial under the circumstances, so the conviction was overturned and he was remanded for a new, fair trial. (Which he died prior to receiving.)

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-jack-rubys-conviction-overturned/529021/4 "2010-02-15T05:13:12Z")

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I wonder if change of venues were common back then? I know they’re done today, but even still there hard to get in this day and age, with the Internet and everyone having access to news from all over

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**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-jack-rubys-conviction-overturned/529021/5 "2010-02-15T07:21:03Z")

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> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> I wonder if change of venues were common back then? I know they’re done today, but even still there hard to get in this day and age, with the Internet and everyone having access to news from all over

I’m not sure that access to news is the relevant factor, but rather the strength of local feeling in a community or in some cases the racial makeup, if race is a factor in the crime charged.