The director of the state hospital department indicated Thursday that a tape recording by Gov. Ear! K, Long made at the state mental hospital in Mandeville may have been obtained under false pretenses.
In a bulletin issued by Jesse H. Bankston in Baton Rouge at 11 a. m. Thursday, Bankston said that the governor's attorney was allowed to take the recording with the understanding that it would be used "for the attorney's information so he could more accurately present Gov. Long's case." Long's chief counsel if Joseph Arthur Sims, who released the recording to the press Wednesday. Bankston would not comment further on the matter. BULLETIN FROM BANKSTON Hospital sources said that Sims, who brought the recorder to Long's private room, had not mentioned anything specific about jj using the recording as a public appeal by Long for support in his bid for freedom Friday at a court hearing in Covington. „
The 11 a. m. bulletin from Bankston follows:
"Gov. Long's physician reported late this morning that his condition has not changed in the last 24 hours.
"Dr. J. Norris Palmer, pastor of the First Baptist church in Baton. Rouge, the governor's minister, will visit him in the hospital today.
"Two crates of North Louisiana peaches were delivered to the governor yesterday as a gift of the Louisiana Municipal Association. The governor said he was very pleased to receive them. RECORDER PERMITTED "The superintendent of the hospital permitted the governor's attorney to take a tape recorder into the governor's quarters yesterday with the understanding that the recording would be made for the attorney's information so he could- more accurately present Gov. Long's case.
"The superintendent also said that the law allows the governor to be examined by a physician of his own choice, under hospital supervision, but that care and treatment are the.sole responsibility of the hospital. (This reference was to a charge by Sims Wednesday that he was denied the right to place a doctor of the governor's own choosing at the governor's room 24 hours a day.)
"The department of hospitals, as a party to the legal hearing tomorrow, wishes to allow a full presentation of facts about the mental and physical condition of the governor.
"It is our hope that the attorney general's office will waive minor technicalities so that the governor's legal counsel may present all pertinent evidence.
PHYSICIANS LISTED
"We are asking that the physicians who have examined the governor in the hospital be available at the hearing.
"These physicians are: "Dr. Edgar Hull, associate dean and professor of medicine of the LSU school of medicine, a nationally known heart specialist.
"Dr. Robert Heath, professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and neurology at the Tulane school of medicine, a noted neurologist and research scientist in the field of psychiatry.
"Dr. Charles Watkins, professor and chairman of the department of psychiatry and neurology at LSU school of medicine, psychiatric specialist of international repute.
"Dr. Richard Paddison, professor of neurology at LSU school of medicine.
"Dr. Victor lief, instructor of psychiatry and medicine at Tulane school of medicine and a certified internist.
"Dr. Anthony Rousos, board certified psychiatrist on the staff of the hospital, the governor's attending physician.
"Dr. Charles Belcher, psychiatrist and acting superintendent of the mental hospital."
