Stephen Bingham
Stephen Mitchell Bingham, a legal services and civil rights attorney, was tried and acquitted in 1986 for his alleged role in Black Panther George Jackson's attempted escape fifteen years earlier from San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California, in 1971.
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[edit] Early life and education
Stephen Bingham was born to an accomplished family. His grandfather, Hiram Bingham III was a governor and a U.S. Senator from Connecticut as well as the discoverer of the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru.[1] His father, Alfred Bingham, was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1940 and served one term. Stephen attended Yale University and received a law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. He participated in Freedom Summer in Mississippi in 1964, and served in the Peace Corps. On his return to the United States he worked with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, and in 1968 he worked in the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy.[2]
Bingham married and divorced Gretchen Spreckels, the granddaughter of Adolph B. Spreckels and whose family founded the Spreckels Sugar Company.[1][3]
[edit] Defendant in San Quentin case
Bingham was accused of concealing a pistol in a tape recorder and smuggling it to Jackson in San Quentin's Adjustment Center. On August 21, 1971, Jackson used a pistol, an Astra 9-mm semi-automatic, to take over his tier in the Adjustment Center. In the failed escape attempt, six people were killed, including Jackson, three prison guards and two fellow inmates.
Following the incident, Bingham—who said he feared for his life because he believed he would be falsely accused of aiding Jackson's escape attempt and that a fair trial would be impossible—fled the country and lived in Europe for 13 years before choosing, in 1984, to return to the United States to stand trial. In 1986, Bingham was acquitted for his alleged involvement in the escape attempt. As Time Magazine wrote at the time, "During a ten-week trial, Marin County prosecutors argued that Bingham's flight was proof of his guilt. Defense attorneys contended that prison guards had slipped Jackson the gun, hoping that the incendiary black militant would be killed. Bingham, they said, fled to save his life. 'To understand this case,' declared Bingham's lawyer M. Gerald Schwartzbach, 'you have to understand 1971 . . . We're talking about a time when students were murdered at Kent State and Jackson State.'"[4][5][6]
Today, Bingham works at Bay Area Legal Aid in California, where he is a staff attorney in its San Francisco regional office, and specializes in welfare law issues.[7][8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Hatfield, Lary (January 7, 1985). "Last vestiges of radical movement will go on trial in Bingham case". The Day (New London, Connecticut: The Day Publishing Company): pp. 1, 4. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RDlSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RzYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4907%2C1089678. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- ^ Richard Rapaport, "Stephen Bingham, Defendant," This World, Jan. 5, 1966, pp. 10-12.
- ^ "Engagements: Gretchen Spreckels Betrothed". Eugene Register-Guard: p. 4E. April 18, 1965. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ODtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1174%2C3505491. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- ^ Time Magazine, American Notes Justice, July 7, 1986 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961653,00.html
- ^ The Associated Press March 16, 2005 "Defense attorney called a godsend by acquitted tough guy actor " By: Greg Risling http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050316-1932-ca-blakeattorney.html
- ^ The New York Times July 3, 1986 "Bingham Case: Trial Yields No Answers" By: Robert Lindsey
- ^ The Socialist Worker March 3, 2006 Page 4 Joe Allen interview with Stephen Bingham http://www.socialistworker.org/2006-1/578/578_04_GeorgeJackson.shtml
- ^ BayLegal Staff List accessed April 27, 2007 http://baylegal.org/about5.html
