Vickers Incident
McCall was later indicted by a grand jury for beating and kicking to death a black prisoner named Tommy Vickers in the county jail in April 1972. Governor Reubin Askew suspended McCall during the trial, but McCall was acquitted by an all-white jury in Ocala in neighboring Marion County after a lengthy trial ended with 70 minutes of deliberation. Critics have argued that the all-white jury never seriously considered the charges. Supporters claim that the charges made against McCall were fabricated and based solely on politics. The presiding Federal Judge stated that the charges brought against McCall appeared to have been false.
Read more about this topic: Willis V. Mc Call
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“In the extent and proper structure of the Union, therefore, we behold a republican remedy for the diseases most incident to republican government.”
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