Defense
After weeks of investigation, Jaworski decided to charge 43 soldiers, all of them African American, with rioting, a crime with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Three of the men – Luther Larkin (1921–1948), Arthur Hurks (1921–1991) and William Jones (1924–1992) – were also charged with first-degree murder, and faced a possible death sentence. It was the largest number of defendants in a single United States Army trial during World War II.
The defendants were provided just two lawyers among them, who were given just ten days to prepare their cases. The lead defense attorney, William Beeks (1906–1988), later became a federal judge. He was assisted by Howard Noyd, a former football player from Iowa.
Without much time, defense lawyers decided to focus most of their energy on trying to keep the soldiers from the gallows.
Read more about this topic: Fort Lawton Riot
Famous quotes containing the word defense:
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”
—Barry Goldwater (b. 1909)
“Of all my Russian books, The Defense contains and diffuses the greatest “warmth”Mwhich may seem odd seeing how supremely abstract chess is supposed to be.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“From a bed in this hotel Seargent S. Prentiss arose in the middle of the night and made a speech in defense of a bedbug that had bitten him. It was heard by a mock jury and judge, and the bedbug was formally acquitted.”
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)