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Ruchell Cinque Magee (born March 1939) is an African American prisoner serving two life sentences in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Magee, widely recognized as an "accomplished jailhouse lawyer"[7], is best known for his role in the Marin County Civic Center shootout on August 7, 1970 and the trials that followed.

Magee has been described as "one of the most remarkable courtroom figures in American legal history". His "determination" to defend himself in the subsequent trials attracted nationwide attention and was labeled "history-making".

Magee's criminal trial was considered to be one of the costliest and one of the most closely guarded in San Francisco history.[Also described as one of the most peculiar and expensive.]

Background

Ruchell Magee was born March 1939 in Franklinton, Louisiana, a small town in Washington Parish near Bogalusa in which the Ku Klux Klan was once active. He lived with his mother, Elmar Magee, and step-father, Merley Magee, who was a railroad worker.

Magee was reportedly a seventh-grade dropout who was incarcerated for all but six-months after the age of 16. His arrest record goes back to when he was arrested at the age of 13 [circa 1952] for a $5 theft in Louisiana.

1956

In 1956, Magee was arrested at the age of 16 for what Jet magazine described as "having some kind of relations with a white woman" the facts of which were "subject to dispute". Magee claimed that the two had been going together secretly for six months and that she accused him of rape only after her neighbors caught them together.

According to Ramparts magazine, "an all white male jury convicted [him] of 'attempted aggravated rape' of a white woman with whom he had been living for six months." Magee was sentenced to 12 years and imprisoned at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. He was said to have weighed only 96 pounds and have been the youngest inmate when admitted to Angola. For Magee's protection, the warden reportedly "let" him spend the first six months of his term in solitary confinement.

After serving six years and eight months in prison, Magee served six years and eight months, then was paroled under the condition that he immediately leave Louisiana. His parents arranged for him to live with his aunt and uncle in Los Angeles.[Another reference states just his aunt.][Contradiction: Aptheker states Magee lived in LA for six months, however, this would have been impossible if he were released in 1963 and arrested on March 23, 1963.]

Magee, released in 1963, was on parole to the custody of his aunt in Los Angeles.

The Victoria Advocate reported that he was convicted in 1955 by an all-white jury.

1963

On March 23, 1963, Magee and his cousin, Leroy Stewart, were arrested by sheriff's deputies "for allegedly forcing their way into a man's car and stealing $10 from him". Magee and Stewart were charged with robbery and kidnapping with intent to rob.

Magee claimed that the charges were trumped-up by Brown due to a feud over a prostitute. He also claimed that he was severely beaten while in police custody that they were forced to convict him to prevent him from suing them. According to Ramparts magazine, Magee believed that the police, working with the courts and even his own lawyer, framed him to protect themselves.

According to Magee, on March 23, 1963, he paid a man named Ben Brown $10 for marijuana, then had him drive him and his cousin, Leroy Stewart, and a young women to another location in Los Angeles. There, Brown and Magee got into a "brief scuffle". [Aptheker paints a more innocent picture. She states that Magee got into an argument with a man who accused him of stealing $10 from him. She wrote that "[t]he car rolled during the altercation" and that this was technicality for a kidnapping charge.]

Magee was arrested, charged for kidnapping (committed during a robbery), tried, convicted of kidnapping, sentenced to life imprisonment, and sent to San Quentin. According to Aptheker, Magee wanted to plead not guilty, but his court-appointed attorney pleaded him guilty. She states that he objected and was "bound, gagged, and beaten".

In 1963, Magee was convicted for a $10 kidnap-robbery charge in Los Angeles and sentenced to life imprisonment, but remained eligible for parole.

The jury deliberated for three hours and found Magee and Stewart guilty on all charges. With a prior felony conviction on his record, the new conviction earned Magee a sentence of life imprisonment.

In 1963, he was convicted of robbery and kidnapping, sentenced to life imprisonment, and sent to San Quentin State Prison.

1965?

According to Bettina Aptheker, Magee taught himself to read with the United States Constitution as his primary text after he was sent to San Quentin. There, he reportedly also taught himself law. Magee eventually requested a transcript of his 1963 trial. According to Aphtheker, Magee discovered that the transcript was "doctored"; according to Ramparts magazine, he found that it was missing portions that referred to the issue of hospital records. Magee believed that those records supported his contention that he was beaten by the arresting officers and were crucial to his defense.

Magee was eventually granted a second trial after the California Courts of Appeal overturned the 1963 conviction based on an appeal filed by his court-appointed attorney. Ramparts and Bettina Aptheker reported that the conviction was reversed on the basis of a "technicality" and suggested that the appeals court ignored the "substantive issue of his appeal" (i.e. that he was framed and the conviction should be thrown-out entirely because it was obtained fraudulently).

The same judge presided over the second trial and appointed yet another public defender for Magee. Against Magee's wishes, his attorney pleaded that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. Reportedly no witnesses or evidence was offered in his defense and he was again convicted and sentenced.

Magee succeeded in having the decision reversed, but was retried and re-convicted two years later.

Magee was convicted for robbery and kidnap in 1965.

One newspaper columnist wrote: "A court appointed attorney, at a very earlier period in Magee's life, succeed[ed] in having him sent to prison after an altercation with a dope peddler."

Magee - who fought and lost lengthy court battles to have his case transferred to federal courts and to serve as his own attorney, as well as many other lesser legal filings - was reported to be self-educated in law.

[Role in Fred Billinslea's case.]

Magee was born and raised in Louisiana. Magee is originally from Louisiana.

Name

Magee would later [WHEN?] refer to himself as "Ruchell Cinque", taking the name of Joseph Cinqué who was a slave acquitted of mutiny on a Spanish ship in 1840.

Marin County Civic Center

Main article: Harold Haley

On the morning of August 7, 1970, Gary Thomas, the assistant district attorney for Marin County, was prosecuting the case of James McClain, an inmate at San Quentin prison who had been charged with assaulting a prison guard. Thomas was questioning Magee, whom McClain had arranged to be a witness, when Jonathan Jackson interrupted the court proceedings.

Initial reports

The following day, photographs of the perpetrators, including Magee, with their hostages appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the nation. According to one of the first Associated Press reports, Magee was on the witness stand when Jackson interrupted the proceedings. McClain held a pistol to Judge Haley's head and forced deputies to remove his shackles and those of Magee. McClain then sent Magee to free Christmas who was waiting in under guard in the corridor.

A UPI report published the day after the shooting indicated that Magee had been seriously wounded. The report said that he went out into the corridor and forced a guard to free Christmas as well as two other convicts who did not participate. It also said that he forced a young couple with a baby into the courtroom.

The AP report indicated that Magee had been seriously wounded, but another AP report released the same day said that he had been shot in the chest and hospitalized in fair condition. Two days after the shootout, Magee was reported in fair condition at Marin General Hospital with wounds in his back and neck.

Bettina Aptheker would later report that Magee was taken to Marin General Hospital where a bullet was removed from his abdomen, then returned to the San Quentin Adjustment Center three days later.

Pre-trial hearings

[Timeline of court hearings for Davis and Magee from November 17, 1970 through August 11, 1971 found here...]

Judge Joseph G. Wilson made a ruling on March 9, 1971.

On Friday, February 5, 1971, John P. McMurray "was named to preside over further preliminaries in the case".

After all Marin County judges disqualified themselves due to their friendship with Judge Haley, Judge John P. McMurray from Inyo County was brought out of retirement to preside over the pre-trial hearings for Davis and Magee. On Wednesday, March 17, 1971, Magee (who was chained to a chair that was bolted to the floor due to previous outbursts) was reported to have surprised even his own attorneys by presenting a handwritten petition seeking to disqualify Judge McMurray. After meeting in private with attorneys from both sides for nearly two hours, McMurray agree to allow Magee's affidavit and disqualified himself from the case. When Davis' chief counsel, Howard Moore Jr., attempted to ask for bail, Magee objected that further action by McMurray would be a violation of his rights. McMurray stated that he would not act any further in the case and indefinitely adjourned the proceedings. Although Magee's action stalled Davis' bail hearing, Moore claimed there was "no split at all" between the two defendants. (A day earlier, Magee had shouted sarcastically to Davis: "You're a real friend!") The case was then returned to the Judicial Council of California to find a new judge. Although the United States District Court for the Northern District of California previously refused a petition to take on Magee's individual case, Magee provided McMurray before his departure with another one asking that they take on the entire case.

According to one of his attorneys, the effect of the disqualification would mean that Magee would have a peremptory challenge in the selection of any new judge. Carrow commented that he had no advanced notice of Magee's petition. He remarked that it was a victory and said: "Mr. Magee is perhaps one of the most qualified nonlicensed attorneys practicing in San Quentin." Another of Davis' attorneys, Michael Tigar, complemented Magee's ability to raise good legal points despite having no formal legal education.

"On March 23, in an unusually speedy action, the California Judicial Council named Judge Alan Lindsay of the Alameda County Superior Court to hear pretrial motions." Judge Alan A. Lindsay from Alameda County was assigned to the Davis/Magee case on March 23rd.

On Wednesday, May 5, 1971, Superior Court Judge Alan R. Lindsay assigned Ernest L. Graves of Los Angeles as Magee's sixth court-appointed attorney after allowing Carrow and Bell to withdraw on the grounds that Magee did not trust them. [Need text and citation indicating that Carrow eventually returned as Magee's defense attorney.] On Thursday, May 6, 1971, Magee made a peremptory challenge of Judge Lindsay, and on Monday, May 10th, Lindsay ruled the challenge was valid and removed himself from the case.

On Thursday, May 13, 1971, Judge Richard E. Arnason was appointed to the case.[cite needed]

Interim

During George Jackson's alleged escape attempt on August 21, 1971, the master electronic locking device in the San Quentin Adjustment Center was tripped allowing Magee and twenty-six other inmates to be released into the cell block. He did not attempt to escape.

First trial

Magee was initially indicted with Angela Davis on charges of kidnap, murder, and conspiracy. Their trials were reportedly separated due to Magee's delays and outbursts. On June 4, 1972, Davis was acquitted of all charges. Although Magee would never receive the public support that Angela Davis did, his trial would be widely reported in the media. He was referred to in the media as the "other defendant" and "Angela's co-star".

On Tuesday, November 21, 1972, Colvin dropped the conspiracy charge against Magee after a motion was filed by Assistant Attorney General Albert Harris Jr. who said that it would "shorten the trial considerably". (Just before November 25, 1972, "Judge Dismisses 2 Counts For Trial of Ruchell Magee", "A judge this week reduced the list of charges against Ruchell Magee, whose trial is set to start Monday in the 1970 Marin County courthouse shooting case."[8])(Just before November 23, 1972, "Charge of Assault Against Magee Dropped".[9])

The conspiracy charge was later dropped[cite] and Magee faced charges of murder and kidnapping as the trial was scheduled to get underway. Both charges initially carried the death penalty, however, the death penalty was abolished in the interim. "Under California law, the State Adult Authority can release lifers on parole any time after they serve seven years - or can keep them in prison indefinitely." "It was suggested that the expensive trial of Magee could be scrapped and that the parole board could consider the Marin shootout in determining his release date. But the state's attorney general's office argued that Magee deserved a trial by jury if he was going to be incarcerated for life because of the shootout."

Preliminary hearings

Reporting on the "never ending series of motions" filed by Magee and denied by Colvin, Harold V. Streeter of the San Francisco Examiner described the preliminary hearings as "[having] become about as exciting as a television rerun." During the course of the hearings, Magee first attempted to have Colvin and Carrow removed from his case, and then have it transferred to federal court or out of California. There were reported to be only approximately 20 spectators. Not many press passes were desired.[10]

After Davis was acquitted, the prosecution dropped the murder charge against Magee.[This is not correct. Magee was tried for murder.]

In late January/early February 1972 while Magee was awaiting trial, preliminary pathology studies performed by two doctors hired for his defense indicated that Judge Haley before being struck by the shotgun blast may have already been dead from an "automatic pistol wound in the chest".

Magee was Davis' co-defendent until Davis was granted a separate trial. In late May/early June of 1972, Magee had his trial moved from San Rafael to San Francisco, and was ordered to appear before Superior Court Judge Walter F. Calcagno at San Francisco's Hall of Justice. At that time, he had been granted the right to defend himself against the charges.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Morton R. Colvin presided over Magee's trial. Colvin was the eighth judge to be brought into the case. Magee was defended by Robert D. Carrow, a former mayor of nearby Novato, California. Magee was also defended by Rommel Bondoc, an associate of Carrow. Los Angeles attorney Ernest Graves represented Magee from May 1971 to March 1972.

Security

In San Francisco, proceedings were held in the Department 21 courtroom on the third floor of the Hall of Justice, the same courtroom in which the Soledad Brothers were tried and acquitted just months earlier.

Magee's trial was one of the most closely guarded in San Francisco history. Spectators, including the press, were separated from the proceedings by a $15,000 floor-to-ceiling barrier constructed of metal, wood, and bullet-proof glass. Those wishing to view the trial reportedly were photographed and received an "intimate body search". Each visitor was searched and assigned a specific seat. Armed guards patrolled the courtroom floor in the Hall of Justice. "[T]he jury was locked-up each night." The courtroom was reported to be "heavily guarded".

Judge Colvin received around-the-clock protection from the police. On Friday, November 24, 1972, "police Sergeant Vernon McDowell disclosed that Colvin asked for protection after receiving threats through the mail." In November/December 1972, Colvin and his family was reported to be under police guard after the judge received threats through the mail.

Magee was flown by helicopter from San Quentin each day.

Outbursts

"Magee's trial [was] marked by frequent outbursts and many appeals." During jury selection and the prosecution's presentation of their case, Magee threw tantrums nearly every day - screaming at the judge and twice taking swings at his court-appointed lawyer. Magee was reported not to have spent one full day in the courtroom during seven weeks of jury selection and in the first three days of the trial. He spent most days in his holding cell. Magee did sit quietly for several weeks while his attorney's presented his case, and he testified for himself two days without incident.

Jury selection

Monday, November 27, 1972 was referred by sources to be the first day of Magee's trial. On that day, Magee was removed twice from the courtroom after slugging his court appointed attorney and calling the judge a "stupid dog". Jury selection also began that day.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Morton R. Colvin ordered Magee out of the court for ignoring his repeated warnings to be quiet. As he was being led out by the bailiffs, Magee shouted: "You are a stupid, dumb judge. I'd like to get my hands on you." Magee was permitted to return to the courtroom after the lunch break, but resumed his interruptions. Shortly thereafter, he lunged at Carrow while screaming, "Arrest this son of a bitch". Hitting him with his right arm, Carrow was knocked off of his chair. Bondoc, who was seated between Magee and Carrow, was also knocked over the back of his chair. Magee was subdued by the bailiffs and led again to his holding cell. ("San Quentin convict Ruchell Magee leaped from his chair and struck his court-appointed attorney before 12 startled prospective jurors Monday in a tumultuous beginning to his murderkidnaping trial."[11]) "After the outbursts, Colvin began the questioning of the first prospective juror from a panel of 125 veniremen." Colvin said that in order to insure a fair trial, the jury panel could expect to be sequestered in a hotel and away from their families over Christmas and New Year's.

Jury selection in Magee's trial took seven weeks. The jury, which included three blacks on a panel of six men and six women, was sequestered in a San Francisco hotel. ...the Jack Tar Hotel.

Ordered by Colvin, the jury was sequestered in a local hotel beginning January 5, 1973. Conjugal visits were allowed for those jurors who were married.[cite]

Juror	Occupation	Notes
Bernard Suares (foreman)	Example	age 50
Moses Shepherd	postal clerk	Acquit on both charges
William Irwin	"insurance man"	[The San Francisco Chronicle indicates that Irwin, not Chalmers, was the "holdout for conviction" on both charges.]
Hugh John Chalmers	Bank of California employee	Guilty on both charges
Ruth Feifer	Example	Example
David F. Smith	Example	[12]
Example	Example	Example
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"Mr. Jepson" was the number 2 juror.[13]

Pre-trial hearings and outbursts

Magee's trial began in December 1972.[This contradicts the above reference stating that the trial began on Monday, November 27, 1972.]

Magee was known for violent outbursts during the trial. Magee was known for constant outbursts during the trial. Magee was known for frequent outbursts during the trial.

On the grounds that he was not competent to act as his own counsel, Colvin rejected motions from Magee that would have allowed him to defend himself.

Magee was removed from court on the first day of the trial for shouting "stupid, dumb judge".[Other references cite the first day of the trial as November 27, 1972 or December 1972.]

Magee was removed from the courtroom for an outburst shortly after his trial began. When the judge denied his request to defend himself, Magee reportedly shouted, "Stupid, dumb judge!" He had previously been bolted to a chair and gagged.

Magee demanded daily that his court-appointed attorneys, Robert Carrow and Rommel Bondoc, be dismissed from the case and that he be allowed to represent himself. In December 1972, after spitting and taking a swing at his attorneys, Magee was ejected from court for the eight consecutive day. He was quoted as saying, "I can't even stand to look at this dog." Judge Morton R. Colvin ordered that he wear handcuffs during future appearances. Robert Carrow and Rommel Bondoc requested instead of handcuffing Magee that they be dismissed from the case, but Colvin declined the request.

Opening statements

After seven weeks of jury selection, opening arguments were slated to begin on Monday, January 15, 1973.

Magee was flown from San Quentin to the roof of the Hall of Justice in downtown San Francisco every weekday morning for the course of the trial.[14]

Magee was ejected from the court and placed in a holding cell for interrupting prosecutor Harris' opening statements to the jury. On Monday, January 15, 1973, Magee was brought into the courtroom prior to the jury's entrance with his hands manacled to a chain around his waist. He reportedly made a clenched fist salute which he could not raise above his chest because of the chains, and his supporters in the audience stood in response. Colvin declared that any further outburst or demonstration by a spectator would result in that person's immediate removal from the courtroom, and they would not be allowed to return to the trial. Colvin asked Magee if he would behave himself and Magee indicated that he would. (Colvin had ordered that Magee's wrist shackles be removed when he agreed to behave.) Colvin ordered Magee's handcuffs and manacles to be removed, and the jury was brought in. Colvin had warned Magee three times to not make audible remarks before the jury. When Magee continued making loud remarks to his counsel, Colvin ordered him to his holding cell. Magee then stood up and shouted to the jury that he had filed an appeal challenging the proceedings. Bailiffs hustled him from the courtroom to his holding cell where he could hear the proceedings through a loudspeaker in his holding cell. Jet magazine reported that Magee left the court peacefully.

The following day [i.e. Tuesday, January 16, 1973], Magee kicked a table and took a swing at Carrow, then was removed from court screaming obscenities at Carrow. (Around December 21, 1972 he took a swing at Carrow.)

In his opening statement, Harris asserted that the trial would show that Magee shot Haley and left him "dead in his judicial robes". According to Harris: "Magee committed murder with malice aforethought. They all shared the intent to kill Judge Haley in the event of an attempt to prevent their escape."

The prosecution asserted that Magee killed Haley inside the van and added that he would be guilty of first degree murder under California law even if another kidnapper had pulled the trigger.

Testimony

Witness	Date	Testimony
Example	Example	Example
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On Monday, January 15, 1973, the prosecution called San Rafael Independent-Journal photographer James J. Kean as its first witness. Kean captured the sequence of events in a series of photographs, twenty-two of which were introduced into evidence. Described as "startling clear". Described as "an explicitly graphic portrayal" of the "raid". In one photograph, Magee held five officers at bay in the Hall of Justice [No. It was the Civic Center.] corridor with a pistol. In others, McClain held a gun to the head of Haley, and Christmas herded Thomas and three women jurors as hostages. He testified that after exiting an elevator on the courtroom floor: "I saw a man come around a corner and he had what looked to me like a homemade bomb wrapped around the neck of Judge Harold Haley." "Another photo showed Magee holding two revolvers taken from officers." Kean said, "He was pointing them at people." Kean also quoted McClain as saying: Be sure and get a good picture of the judge." The perpetrators allowed Kean to tag along and take pictures of the two cameras he had brought with him.

On Tuesday, January 16, 1973, Magee's helicopter flight from San Quentin was delayed by a storm. Prior to the jurors entering the courts, Colvin asked Magee to refrain from further outbursts. Magee nodded in agreement, then protested: "I can't see my relatives." Colvin remarked that the issue could be addressed later. Magee gestured at his court-appointed attorney (Carrow?) and shouted, "Somebody get a gun and kill (him)", then overturned the defense counsel table, spilling papers onto the floor. "Colvin told him to be quiet at the start of the session and Magee leaped from his chair, viciously kicked the defense table, scattering papers and notes, then took a wild swing at Carrow. For the second time in two days, Colvin ordered Magee removed from the courtroom. Four deputies wrestled him out and into the holding cell where his shouted protests could be heard in court. Magee "was carried bodily from the courtroom... screaming threats" at Colvin and Carrow. Described as one his most violent tantrums, he was removed screaming threats and obscenities at Carrow. Because of his "screaming and banging on the walls" of his holding cell, Magee was eventually moved to a seventh-floor cell four floors above the court where he could not hear testimony. Colvin ruled that Magee would be manacled during future court appearances.

On Wednesday, January 17, 1973, Carrow moved for a mistrial on the grounds that Colvin made an "irreversible error" [the previous day] by moving Magee to the seventh floor jail instead of a holding cell next to the courtroom where he could hear the trial proceedings on a loudspeaker. Or on the grounds that Magee could not hear testimony. Colvin denied the motion pointing out that removal to the seventh floor jail was the result of "his own actions" and because he had been "screaming and banging on the walls". Colvin rejected the motion explaining that no Constitutional right was denied and stated that "[h]is removal resulted from his own actions". Magee appeared in court wearing manacles linking his wrists to a chain around his waist. After he heard the mistrial motion argument, he quietly asked to be moved to his holding cell where he could hear testimony with earphones. Moments after the jury was seated, Magee asked to be excused again to his holding cell. He left the courtroom before testimony started in the trial's third day. According to the Lodi News-Sentinel, led within a few feet of Colvin, Magee left the courtroom waving his chained hands menacingly at Colvin. "Deputies quickly grabbed Magee and forced him from the room." Colvin ordered the jury to disregard what they saw.

On Thursday, January 18, 1973, Marin County Deputy Sheriff David Mori testified that Magee held a gun on hostages in the hallway outside the courtroom.

On January 22, 1973, (a recently promoted Judge) Thomas would recount his story again in the trial of Ruchell Magee. Magee, who had been thrown out of every previous session of the trial, was reported to have sat quietly through Thomas' testimony while never taking his eyes off of him. According to Thomas, Magee shouted prior to the shooting, "Let's kill 'em all now", and that McClain had replied, "Let's cool it, keep your cool, everything's cool." He would again confirm that Magee was holding the sawed-off shotgun when it discharged and killed Haley. After testifying again that he shot Jackson, McClain, Christmas, and Magee after grabbing Jackson's pistol, he stated: "These were the only other shots fired inside the van and I wish I had killed Magee." In February 1973, Magee was denied the opportunity to cross-examine Thomas. Chained and shackled, Magee was sent to a holding cell while shouting: "When I get on the witness stand, I'm going to eat you up."

On Wednesday, January 24, 1973, Thomas admitted under cross-examination that he was mistaken when he told a grand jury that Christmas did not usher him and the other hostages from the courtroom to an elevator. Thomas insisted that Magee shot Haley. (The defense contends that Haley was slain by bullets fired from outside the van.)

On Monday, January 29, 1973, defense attorney Rommel Bondoc indicated for the first time that the defense may try to show that someone else killed Haley.

On Tuesday, January 30, 1973, San Quentin Sergeant Joseph Murphy testified that he ordered his men to block the Civic Center driveway. Murphy stated that San Quentin prison guards were under orders to prevent convicts from escaping, even if hostages were killed. He said that he was unaware that the Marin County sheriff's office had ordered all officers to holster their arms to protect the hostages. (The defense hopes to show that another convict fired the shot that killed Haley.)

On Thursday, February 15, 1973, the state rested its case. "The prosecution concluded its five-week presentation... by taking the jury down to the basement garage of the Hall of Justice for an inspection of the yellow van in which the bloodshed occurred." Carrow asserted that he would prove that Magee could not have fired the shot that killed Haley by showing that he was in a position within the van that made it impossible for him to fire the shotgun at the judge.

Around February 15, Colvin barred former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark from joining Magee's defense team. Colvin told Carrow that he would appoint only "who the court has confidence in, and an individual who the court is personally familiar with, and whose qualifications are known to this court" but "this in no way reflects upon Clark".

Around February 21st, "Judge Harold Haley was killed by a bullet in the chest not by a blast from the shotgun held by Ruchell Magee a pathologist testified".[15]

At the end of February 1973, Judge Colvin ejected 40 black spectators from the courtroom because they stood up at Magee entered. Colvin's initial order was not to allow them back in but he rescinded that order the next day.

The defense began it's case during the week of Sunday, February 25th / Monday, February 26th. The defense contended that Magee suffered from "diminished capacity" (a legal defense in California) due to racism and "unavailing efforts to free himself with hundreds of handwritten legal petitions.".

Renowned (nationally known[16]) psychologist Kenneth B. Clark reportedly studied 1,100 pages of letters and documents written by Magee, then interviewed him for 2.5 hours at San Quentin on Sunday, February 25, 1973. Two days later (on February 27, 1973), Clark testified that Magee felt he had been improperly imprisoned in 1963 and the lack of success in his legal battles made it so he "had absolutely no other choice" other than to participate in the escape attempt when the opportunity presented itself. According to Clark, Magee's intelligence was "indominable and unbelievable"[check spelling] and reports that his IQ was 75 to 85 were misleading.

Clark testified on Tueday, February 27, 1973 and said that Magee "had absolutely no other choice" but to join the escape attempt. Clark said that for Magee "to not have joined would have been to repudiate everything he stood for." Explaining that Magee spent seven years in prison attempting to vindicate himself for his earlier conviction, Clark said: "When society told him that all your writing and pleading ain't got you nowhere, he had absolutely no choice except trying to escape... He couldn't weight the alternatives, because there were no other alternatives."

(Clark testified that he was acting under diminished capacity.[17])

The defense team built its case on diminished capacity and argued that Haley was killed by a bullet outside the van.

Magee felt that he was unjustly imprisoned[cite] and stated that he was caught up in the escape attempt merely because he desired freedom.

[The California Supreme Court halted all proceedings while deciding whether Ramsey Clark could join the case. LA Times]

On Tuesday, March 13, 1973, Magee testified. Harris questioned him at length about the shooting. While questioned by Harris, Magee was reported to appear calm, deliberate, and relaxed, and looked jurors in the eye during his testimony. Explain why he took part in the escape, Magee said: "I couldn't get out any other way." Asked why he took one of the weapons, he answered: "My main purpose - trying to go free. I was doing what I could so I could get out of this repression."

(On March 13, 1973, Magee testified quietly. His handcuffs were removed. Firearms handed out to save his life.[18])

In March 1973, Magee testified that he did not shoot Haley and that he did not know who did.

In the first part of March, 1973, former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark officially joined Magee's defense team. Clark's earlier bid to serve as his attorney was rejected.

On Wednesday, March 14, 1973, the defense rested its case after a month long effort. Magee testified for two days. He explained to the jury that he joined the escape attempt for a chance of freedom after years of unavailing legal effort to reverse what he believe to be an unjust conviction in 1963 for kidnapping and robbery.

Summations

On Thursday, March 22, 1973, the prosecution completed its final ["completed" contradicts other sources that say Harris spoke on Friday and Monday] argument. Assistant Attorney General Albert W. Harris asserted to the jury that Magee was guilty of first degree murder even if they chose not to believe his shotgun blast did not kill Haley. Harris pointed out that the pistol shot that also hit Haley was fired by Christmas thereby making Magee an "aider and abettor" to his killing. Harris also touched on the defense's argument of diminished capacity and commented: "Lacking capacity is one thing, having intent is another." Harris also used the photographs taken by Roger Bockrath and Jim Kean to describe what he called "a portrait of a kidnapping in action." Harris derided the "diminished capacity" defense.

Harris started his summation on Friday, March 23 and finished it on Monday, March 26. Harris told the jury: "It's not up to you to dispense mercy. Your job is to find the truth as it related to the specific charges.

[Date contradictions for defense summation. Lodi paper puts it as March 23; Afro-American puts it as March 30 in essentially the same report.] On Friday, March 23, 1973, Clark and Carrow argued for the defense. In two hours of emotional argument, Clark reviewed Magee's life and earlier convictions. He claimed Magee had met adversity with "dignity and strength". Clark asserted that Magee thought he was aboard a "Freedom Ship". Clark said the group that seized the courtroom made Magee believe that "he was on his way home" after so many years of incarceration. He said: "The group represented a vessel going to freedom and he wanted to be on board." "He couldn't deliberate. He couldn't analyze. He was in a state of euphoria." Clark claimed Magee had "diminished capacity" at the time. Clark and Carrow both told the jury that "we will never know what happened in that van". Referring to the start of events, Clark said Magee "had to get up from that stand or lay down and die". Clark quoted Herman Melville in referring to the start of events: "Chance put Magee in that witness chair. Necessity compelled him to get up and his feeble free will was overwhelmed. Court was not a gentle place in the life of Ruchell Magee."

Former United States Attorney General joined the defense team late. Clark argued that Magee thought he was aboard a "freedom ship" and was not able to comprehend the situation sanely. According to Clark, Magee viewed it as a "freedom boat" carrying him from "slavery".

On Monday, March 26, 1973, Colvin gave his final instructions and Harris gave his final summation.

On Monday, March 26, 1973 shortly before the jury began their deliberations, Colvin refused to enter the transcript of "Magee's 1965 murder-kidnap trial" (this is an error in that he was not tried for murder in 1965) into the evidence given the jury. In his final outburst, Magee blew-up and was removed from the courtroom for yelling, "sick fools - playing this game with my life." As the Colvin ordered the jury to leave court, Magee was whisked to a holding cell screaming: "You're the kidnappers - holding me in slavery." Colvin then completed his instructions to the jury and sent them out to begin their deliberations. They deliberated for 4.5 hours and recessed until Tuesday.

On Friday, March 30, 1973, former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark offered the final summation for the defense. In two hours of emotional argument, Clark reviewed Magee's life and earlier convictions. He claimed Magee had met adversity with "dignity and strength". Clark asserted that Magee thought he was aboard a "Freedom Ship". Clark said the group that seized the courtroom made Magee believe that "he was on his way home" after so many years of incarceration. He said: "The group represented a vessel going to freedom and he wanted to be on board." "He couldn't deliberate. He couldn't analyze. He was in a state of Euphoria... he had diminished capacity at the time." Clark and Carrow both told the jury that "we will never know what happened in that van". Carrow asserted that Judge Thomas' eye witness testimony was incorrect and that his "recollection is in error".

Magee's attorney's also attempted to show that guns fired from others could have killed Haley.

The trial lasted four months. The trial lasted 11 weeks.

Jury deliberation and mistrial

The jury received the case on Monday, March 26, 1973. Magee shouted at the judge again.[19]

On Monday, March 26, 1973, Judge Colvin was scheduled to issue final instructions to the jury after the state's summation by Assistant Attorney General Albert W. Harris.

On Tuesday, March 27, 1973, after a day and half of failing to reach a verdict, Colvin ordered the panel to return to court to resume their deliberations.

Late on Wednesday, March 28, 1973, the jury reported in a note to Colvin: "The jury has irreconcilable differences in reaching a verdict on either count." After reconvening the court, he ordered the panel to resume their efforts and, noting that the trial had lasted four months, urged them to reach a verdict. (Newspaper said they had deliberated 12.5 hours that day?) The panel asked for a written copy of the instruction regarding the lesser kidnap charge and Colvin promised them that they would have it by the next day. Magee reportedly appeared encouraged by the presence of Angela Davis in the court.

On Thursday, March 29, 1973, the jurors deliberated for a total of 7.5 hours and interrupted it four times. They worked in a "rare night session" until 10pm. Asked by the jury whether "specific intent" was necessary for conviction for second degree murder and kidnapping charges, Colvin instructed them that it was necessary for second degree murder but not for kidnapping. That evening, Colvin denied a motion by Carrow to have the jury reveal whether it was deadlocked on each count and, if not, the status of deliberations.

Citing "irreconcilable differences", the jury of six men and six women announced that they were unable to reach a verdict in the first two days of deliberations. On April 1, 1973, after 40 hours and seven straight days of deliberation, Colvin called the jury into the courtroom on a Sunday and asked the foreman, Bernard Suares, whether a unanimous verdict had been reached on either of the two counts. Suares replied "no" on the kidnap charge and began to say "yes" on the murder charge, but changed his response to "no" after a chorus of at least three jurors corrected him. Colvin sent the panel back to the jury room to work out how many ballots they had taken. When they returned, Suares informed the judge that 10 ballots had been conducted on each count and were deadlocked 11-1 on both of them. (Another report indicated that they had deadlocked 10-2 on the murder charge and 11-1 on the kidnapping charge.) Colvin instructed the jury not to indicate which verdict the majority favored. Colvin sent the jury back again to resume deliberations with instructions to consider whether their doubt was reasonable.

The jury deliberated 57 hours over eight days; only 35 minutes on the eighth day. The jury deliberated 60 hours over eight days. At 11:15 am on Tuesday, April 3, 1973, the jury sent a note to Judge Colvin reporting: "They jury unanimously believes that it has tried earnestly but in vain to reach a verdict. The panel reported that they were split 11-1 on each of the charges and that deliberation was useless due to "irreconcilable differences". Colvin responded: "It appears to the court that the jury is hopelessly deadlocked and I will declare a mistrial. I now declare a mistrial and discharge the jury from this case." Citing the considerable time and expense involved in the trial, he added: "It is regrettable that 12 minds could not reach a unanimous verdict." Magee reportedly looked tired and said nothing while staring at the judge and jury. Colvin instructed the jury not to discuss the trial and set a date of April 6th for further hearings on the case.

On Monday, April 2, 1973, the jury reported for the fourth time that it was deadlocked.[20]

On April 3, 1973, Superior Court Judge Morton R. Colvin declared a mistrial after the jury announced for the fifth time that it was deadlocked on reaching a verdict on charges of murder and kidnapping. One member of the jury, Hugh Chalmers, stated that the panel did not accept Thomas' testimony. Chalmers remarked: "We think that what happened in that van was not as the pain-ridden Mr. Thomas thought they happened. We feel that the judge was already dead when the shotgun went off. I think Mr. Thomas was honest, but I think his story was twisted." [There are more comments from jury members in the preceding reference.] Chalmers also indicated that he thought the case should be tried again.

On Tuesday, April 3, 1973, a mistrial was declared after the jury reported it was hopelessly deadlocked after 57 hours.[21]

On (Wednesday, April 4, 1973), the jury reported for the fifth time that it was deadlocked and Colvin declared a mistrial.[22]

On April 3, 1973, Judge Colvin declared a mistrial after the jury reported for the fifth time that it was deadlocked. After eight days of deliberation, the jury informed Judge Colvin that it was "hopelessly and irreconcilably" deadlocked. The jury voted 11-1 to acquit on the murder charge and 11-1 to convict on the kidnap charge. Magee issued a brief statement thanking the jury and gave them a clenched-fist salute. Had he been convicted on either of the kidnap or murder charges, he would not have been eligible for parole.

The local press dubbed the jury's decision as "the million dollar deadlock".

Lasting 920 days from the day of his arrest to the mistrial, Magee's trial was reported to be one of the longest running cases in American judicial history. The trial reportedly cost the state of California an estimated $5,000 per day, or about $1 million. In addition to the expenses for lawyers, jurors, and court personnel, the 46 policemen and deputies hired for protection cost $2,607 per day and another $324 per day were spent on bodyguards for the judge. A military helicopter costing $209 per day was also hired to take Magee from San Quentin to the courthouse. The trial was reported to be one of the most costly in San Francisco history. Unofficial estimates put the cost of the trial at close to $1 million.

On Friday, June 15, 1973, California Governor Ronald Reagan signed into law a measure (SB467) appropriating $7.5 million for "emergency state expenses". Among the expenses was reimbursement to various counties for trials, including $500,000 reimbursement for Magee's.

Second trial

On April 14, 1973, a hearing/tentative retrial date was set for May 7th.[23]

In late April 1973, a California judge set Magee's date for retrial as May 29, 1973 in San Francisco. It was reported that Magee would only face charges of aggravated kidnapping. California Attorney General Evelle J. Younger specified that Magee would not be tried again for murder. Magee's attorney, Robert Carrow, said he would argue against another trial on the ground of double jeopardy.

On April 23, 1973, California Attorney General Evelle J. Younger announced that Magee would be retried on May 29th for aggravated kidnapping, but not for murder since the jury in his first trial voted 11-1 for acquittal. Younger asserted that the lack of capital punishment in California made the penalty for aggravated kidnapping greater than the penalty for murder. He pointed out that a conviction for first degree murder would at most result in life imprisonment whereas a[n aggravated] kidnapping conviction could get life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Carrow responded by stating that Younger's decision was "nothing more than bureaucratic obstinance, a waste of the court's time and of the taxpayer's money." Carrow asserted that the previous jury voted unanimously that Magee was not guilty of aggravated kidnapping and that a conviction of simple kidnapping would only result in a sentence of one to 25 years with the possibility of parole. Carrow pointed out that this would be inconsequential given the two life terms Magee was already serving.

On May 3, 1973, Magee was granted a change of venue for his trial over the objections of his attorney.

On May 15, 1973, (San Francisco) Superior Court Judge John A. Ertola transferred Magee's trial to Santa Clara County after viewing a list of possible locations provided by the State Judicial Council. Ertola did not specify a trial date. Davis had been acquitted in Santa Clara County the previous year.

In May of 1973, the state of California decided to drop the murder charge against Magee and stated that he would face a charge of aggravated kidnapping when the new trial began on May 29, 1973. [Difficulty proving he shot Haley?] The aggravated kidnapping charge would carry a sentence of life without parole.

Around May 25, 1973, Magee's second trial was set for June 29th in the Santa Clara County criminal legal building, in the same courtroom in which Davis was tried.

In late May/early June of 1973, Santa Clara Superior Court Judge William A. Ingram Jr. was named to preside over the second trial of Ruchell Magee.

On June 21, 1973, Robert Carrow filed a writ of prohibition arguing that the charge of aggravated kidnapping charge should be dropped on the grounds of double jeopardy, forbidden by the United States Constitution. Carrow submitted a statement from the foreman in Magee's previous trail which stated that the jury had voted 12-0 to acquit Magee on the charge of aggravated kidnapping. On June 26, 1973, the State Court of Appeal acted on the writ and stayed all trial proceedings involving Magee.

On August 4th or 5th 1973(per [24]), the California Court of Appeal (in San Francisco?) set a hearing date of August 23, 1973 to determine whether Magee's second trial should be transferred (from San Francisco) to Santa Clara County, and whether Magee should be allowed to change his plea. It was reported that his trial was to begin the following month (i.e. September 1973).

In August 1973 (probably started August 8, 1973) while awaiting retrial for kidnapping, Magee was reported to have gone on a hunger strike.

In September 1973, a state appeals court rejected Magee's claim that he should not face another trial due to double jeopardy. Although the jury in the first trial was deadlocked on charges of murder and simple kidnap, Magee claimed that they found him innocent of aggravated kidnap. The appeals court stated that Magee's claim was was based on an affidavit from the trial jury foreman, but that another jury member had stated under oath that the jury took no vote on an aggravated kidnap charge.

In November 1973, Carrow withdrew from Magee's case citing "personal reasons" and poor health.

In a December 4, 1973 letter that was published in the White Panther Party's newsletter, Magee charged that Carrow, whom he referred to as a "court appointed pig lawyer" and a "murdering pig with a lawyers[sic] name for disguise", had conspired with Judge Ingram to "trap" him with another court-appointed attorney. [Lot's more from this reference.]

On May 10, 1974, Magee pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated kidnapping charge. Judge William A. Ingram accepted the plea only after Magee promised to consult with a public defender and insisted that his plea was firm and voluntary. Two days later when San Jose Superior Court Judge William A. Ingram asked Magee if he were prepared for sentencing, Magee stated that he wished to enter a writ of prohibition and asked the court to withdraw the plea on the grounds that it was illegally accepted. Magee stated that his plea was made "under conditions of harassment and intimidation". Frank Katz of the public defender's office (Was he Magee's public defender?) stated that Magee's fate was in the hands of the federal courts.

On June 5, 1974, Magee's trial judge stated that Magee entered the plea "knowingly, understandingly and freely" and rejected his request to withdraw the guilty plea to aggravated kidnapping.

On June 7, 1974, the California District Court of Appeal ordered a delay in the sentencing of Magee.

In January 1975, the United States Supreme Court rejected Magee's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea. Magee argued that because his trial judge found him incompetent to plead his own case, he also should have been found incompetent to have plead guilty with the advice of his lawyer. The justices refused to hear his contention that his plea was made in anger and frustration and should be withdrawn.

(At least one other source states that Magee, after having rejected the services of several court-appointed attorneys, plead guilty while acting as his own attorney.)

On January 23, 1975, Judge Ingram in Santa Clara Superior Court sentenced Magee to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for aggravated kidnapping. (His appeal was turned down by the US Supreme Court.) Magee was reported to have remained quiet during sentencing; however, immediately afterward he called Angela Davis a "dirty snitching rat". Outside the Santa Clara County Courthouse, a group of demonstrators shouted "Free Ruchell!" Twenty-nine people were arrested for failure to disperse.

In December 1975, a judge in San Jose ruled that Magee could withdraw an appeal made for him by a court-appointed attorney.

Aftermath

In 1980, Magee was serving his two life sentences at Folsom Prison. On December 9, 1980, the California Board of Prison Terms in Folsom denied his request for parole stating that he was not suitable for parole "based on the seriousness of his offenses and his bad behavior in prison."

Magee was still incarcerated at Folsom in September of 1987. On March 23, 1988, Magee was again denied parole. According to a member of the Board of Prison Terms, he was turned down because "he has a record of more than 70 disciplinary reports" and "remains a management problem".

Magee survived his wounds and was tried originally with co-defendant Angela Davis. Their trials were later severed and Davis was eventually acquitted of all charges. Magee was convicted of simple kidnap and remains in prison to date – 46 years with no physical assaults on his record. An incredible jailhouse lawyer, Magee has been responsible for countless prisoners being released – the main reason he was kept for nearly 20 years in one lockup after another. Currently at Corcoran State Prison, he remains strong and determined to win his freedom and that of all oppressed peoples.

Incarceration: jailhouse lawyer and "political prisoner"

[Tie these sections together per Kiilu Nyasha's assertion that Magee is still incarcerated because he has helped to free other prisoners through legal means.] Magee has been incarcerated in Pelican Bay State Prison.

As of August 2009, Magee was serving his sentences at Corcoran State Prison. He reportedly had served his time "with no physical assaults on his record".

Jailhouse lawyer or vexatious litigant?

Kiilu Nyasha, columnist for the San Francisco Bay View, has described Magee as "an incredible jailhouse lawyer".

According to Nyasha, Magee used his legal abilities to earn a second trial in 1965. Nyasha reported: "Magee had deluged the courts with petitions for seven years contesting his illegal conviction". She has asserted: "Under nearly constant persecution, Magee was known to have helped a myriad of prisoners win their release through writs and petitions." According to Nyasha, Magee initiated a wrongful death suit in the case of Fred Billingsley/Billinslea. She has also stated: "Magee has been responsible for countless prisoners being released – the main reason he was kept for nearly 20 years in one lockup after another".

In California, Magee has been classified as a "vexatious litigant". In 1971, Samuel Conti, a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, noted that Magee filed 10 unsuccessful lawsuits in the first four months of 1971. From 1984 to 1987, judges rejected at least nine more labeling them frivolous.

"Political prisoner"

[A number of leftist individuals or organizations consider Magee to be a political prisoner.]

Bettina Aptheker has labeled Magee a "political prisoner".

The Revolutionary Worker published by the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA called Magee a "prominent political prisoner".

Dylan Rodríguez, assistant professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside and a founding member of Critical Resistance, has written that Magee is "widely acknowledged as one of the longest-held political prisoners in the United States and the world."

The Prison Activist Resource Center also notes Magee in their list of "Political Prisoners and POW's in the US"

Activist inmate Marilyn Buck wrote that Magee was initially a "social prisoner" whose active opposition to "the racism and inhumane conditions inside prisons" led to his recognition as a political prisoner.

Support for release

A writer for the San Francisco Bay View has asked that readers get involved in freeing Magee.[25]

Other

At one point in the first trial, Haley's body was exhumed and a second autopsy was performed by renowned pathologists from Vienna and Baltimore. Ramparts reported that the examination of the pathologists proved conclusively that Haley was killed by the gunshot to the chest and not by the shotgun blast.

Renowned African-American psychologist Kenneth Clark (psychologist) testified at Magee's trial. He asserted that Magee "lacked the capacity to form the intent to commit that crime".

Courtroom artist Rosalie Ritz sketched Magee in his jail cell.

Magee claimed himself to be falsely imprisoned as a slave, and deprived of his constitutional rights he had the right to take his freedom. Magee requested that Judge X read the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to the jury at the end of his trial, but his motion was denied.[Verify the date and that the judge was Judge Colvin.]

Bettina Aptheker asserted that the Angela Davis trial raised public awareness of prison conditions, which in turn affected the trials of Magee and the Soledad Brothers.

In May 1974, Magee was praised in a letter sent to the Los Angeles Times following a bombing by the Weather Underground.[26]

Anthony Bottom (Jalil Abdul Muntaqim) reported that he was once held at the San Quentin Adjustment Center between Magee and Charles Manson.[27]

The Ruchell Magee trial cost the San Francisco police department $289000 according to a statement submitted to city Controller Nathan B Cooper

[Finish citing assertions from pages this article. First page done.]

Errors

According to Kiilu Nyasha, Magee was convicted of simple kidnap. [Magee was actually convicted of aggravated kidnap.] According to Bonnie Kerness, Director of the Criminal Justice Program of the American Friends Service Committee: "Ruchell Magee spent over 21 years in solitary confinement."[28] According to Bettina Aptheker, Magee was sixteen years old at the time of his first arrest: "aggravated attempted rape" of a white woman. [Another source refers to a $5 theft at the age of 13.]

Other references

• by Kiilu Nyasha August, 18 2004
• [29]
• Who killed Judge Haley?
• 42 YEARS NOT ENOUGH! Ruchell Cinque Magee Denied Parole
• "Ruchell Cinque Magee: Sole Survivor Still" by Mumia Abu-Jamal

Legal

• Larry M. WEST et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. R. K. PROCUNIER, Director, California Department of Corrections, et al., Defendants-Appellees - December 15, 1971

"...between January 1 and March 31, 1971, Magee had filed 10 complaints or petitions in the Northern District of California"

• Ruchell Magee, Petitioner and Appellant, v. Louis S. Nelson, Warden, Respondent and Appellee United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. - 455 F.2d 275 - February 7, 1972
• Yarish v. Nelson , 27 Cal.App.3d 893 - September 22, 1972
• Magee v. Superior Court , 34 Cal.App.3d 201 - September 11, 1973
• Ruchell Cinque Magee, A-92051 v. K Clark, et a - August 13, 2010

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Vanita Anderson

Vanita Witherspoon Anderson (born circa 1958 or 1959) was an American woman present at San Quentin prison during an escape attempt in which George Jackson, three prison guards, and two inmates were killed. Anderson was the daughter of attorney reported to be active in left wing militant affairs in her home city of St. Louis.

Anderson disappeared after the escape attempt. Police believed that she obtained the gun used by Jackson in the escape attempt from Black Panther captain Randy Williams. They noted that she had cashed a welfare check in Berkeley during the month following the prison uprising, then placed a hold on the checks in an attempt to locate her.

In January 1972, Vanita Anderson was reported to have been a suspect in the hijacking of a PSA flight to Cuba.> According to the report, Anderson had been living at the Black Panthers headquarters in Berkeley prior to the San Quentin uprising and was thought to be in hiding in the Easy Bay. The report said that her husband, Julius, had begun divorce proceedings in Alabama. It indicated that she had an eight-month-old son with William Lee Roberts who was possibly connected with the Black Panthers.

In a 1972 newspaper interview, Vanita Anderson indicated that she did not travel to San Quentin with Bingham and that it was merely coincidental that she was there the same time he was. According to Anderson, she was working as an investigator on the Soledad Brothers case and was there to see Jackson independently. She said, "It was my recollection that [Bingham] was already in the visitors' room when I got there." Anderson stated that the guards were not going to allow her to visit Jackson due to her having had visitation with him earlier in the week, but that Bingham said his visit would be brief and that she could have the remainder of his visitation time. The report stated that she "emphatically disclaimed advance knowledge of the smuggled gun or tape recorder."

Prison guard Bernard C. Betts testified that Anderson brought a tape recorder with her, but that he closely examined it – including the battery compartment – before allowing it to be brought into the prison. Guard Dan Scarborough later testified that Anderson offered Bingham her tape recorder.

After the incident at San Quentin, Anderson moved to Texas, then to Los Angeles. She refused to testify, stating that she would invoke the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution if called as a witness.

Guard Bernard C. Betts testified that Anderson brought a tape recorder with her, but that he closely examined it – including the battery compartment – before allowing it to be brought into the prison.