Discrepancy: In the movie, regarding the shooting at the Lafayette Grill, Rubin is shown leaving the bar early, turning down 2 women for a ride, and asking John Artis (who he claims he never met until this night) to drive him home. John Artis acts surprised and excited to be hanging out with "The Hurricane", and gleefully runs outside to chauffer Rubin. Upon seeing the police behind them, Rubin asks John if he had been drinking. They then show the police walk up to the car, "Oh, we didn't know it was you Mr. Carter." They said they were looking for 2 black men in a white car. "Any two will do?" replies Denzel's Carter. Now, in the book, here is Rubin's own version of the events. On the way to the Nite Spot to meet with his promoter regarding a possible fight, he picks up John Royster and John Artis. They end up at the night spot around 2am. "We wound up at the Nite Spot to meet up with Wild Bill Hardney, who was already there. He had brought two other people with him. Big John and Norris were their names. While I was standing there talking to them, a woman I knew named Cathy McGuire came over with her mother and asked if I would drive them home." He says in the book, that he did so and implied that at times he felt like a taxi service. He states that he drove them home about 2:15 and arrived back somewhere around 2:25. (The Lafayette murders took place at 2:30am). When asked where Rubin was at 2:30am, his reply was "That's when my money got funny. With my pocketbook on "E", I asked Wild Bill to come home with me while I picked up some more bread. It wasn't that I thought my wife would actually try to stop me from going back out, but knowing that woman, she might have just worked it out. So I figured it would be best to bring along some support." "On the way out of the club to my car, I saw John Artis again. He was standing by the door with Bucks, and I invited them along for the ride. What the hell, I thought. If my wife tried to put the slammers on me for the night, I could always tell her that I had to take them home." The movie also portrays Rubin and John Artis as the only two men in the car when they were stopped by the police.

Truth: Rubin knew John Artis before that night. They had been seen together several times prior. Also, when stopped by the police, there were three men in the car, John Artis (driving), John "Bucks" Royster (in the passenger seat), and Rubin Carter "laying down" in the back seat. It was also several months before Carter and Artis were arrested, as it took time to build an airtight case against the two men. Below is an accounting of the events by time according to an original homicide report from the day of the murders. 

2:30am : Four people are shot in the Lafayette Grill.
2:34am : Pat Valentine calls police to report the murders. Police are notified by radio to look for a white car with two "colored" occupants. 
2:40am : A white car containing Carter, Artis and a man believed to be John "Bucks" Royster is stopped by Officers Capter and DeChellis. Capter checks the registration and lets them go because there are three blacks in the car instead of two. He does this despite the fact that Carter is lying down in the back seat and could not be seen from the street. 
3:00am : After getting a more complete description of the getaway car, Officers Capter and DeChellis apprehend Carter and Artis and bring them to the murder scene for questioning.

Sworn testimony of Sergeant Capter, who pulled over Carter and Artis.
CAPTER: "Well, the first information we got was at 2:34 to look for a white car. ...That was from headquarters." ...
Q (BY MR. HULL): "Then you stopped this particular car at about 2:40 a.m. at 14th Avenue and East 28th Street?"
CAPTER: "Yes,sir."

Now, take a look at the different alibi's given from Rubin Carter and John Artis:

Within hours of the triple murder, Rubin Carter and John Artis were interviewed separately by police and gave conflicting stories regarding their whereabouts. This is one of the main reasons Detective Lt. Vince DeSimone considered them suspects from Day One. These stories would later change dramatically to provide Carter and Artis with a shaky alibi. (In 1976, four of their alibi witnesses admitted lying at the 1967 trial. Their recantations were obtained by a black investigator, Prentiss Thompson, who was working for a black assemblyman, Eldridge Hawkins. The assemblyman was writing a report on the case for the governor of New Jersey.)

Here is what Carter and Artis told DeSimone when interviewed on the day of the murders:

Rubin Carter                                          John Artis                             

Since Rubin's various alibi's aren't meshing, he decides to one further and writes to Catherine McGuire to "remind" her of what happened that night, and what times. Read his handwritten letter here. (Page 1)  (Page 2)

"Working" witness was on vacation

Note: The murders occurred at 2:30 a.m. June 17, 1966.

According to a prosecution brief from 1974, "Carter's defense counsel called as a witness Catherine McGuire [the woman to whom this letter is addressed], who had testified that at 2:15 on the morning of June 16, 1966, after she had asked him to do so, Carter drove her and her mother to their home, about three blocks from the Nite Spot, and that she sat in the car with him until about 2:25 or 2:30. She was reasonably certain of the times because her mother had to go to work the next day, and she and her mother were both looking at the watch. She had looked at the watch some four or five times that night, and left with Carter at 2:15 a.m. because her mother had to go to work the next morning.

Anna Mapes [McGuire's mother] likewise testified that she, her daughter, and Carter left the bar at 2:15 a.m. and that Carter left at about 2:25 after dropping them off. The witness testified that she was in a hurry to get home because she had to get to work the next morning.

By way of rebuttal to this testimony, the State produced testimony that Anna Mapes in fact was on vacation from her employment during that time and did not have to report to work.

(The two ladies themselves recanted the story at the second trial)

(photos and information from Cal Deal and Lona Manning's Websites; used with permission)

-Next up, witnesses and even more evidence.