San Rafael Shootout
The Facts Behind the Angela Davis Case By LAWRENCE V. COTJ
OnAug..7, 1970, 17-year-old Jonathan The love letters she wrote to Jack-
Jackson, observing a trial in Northern son (found in his cell after he was killec
California's Marin County courthouse, in his own escape attempt) would demon-
suddenly pulled a pistol from under his strate, Harris said, tbat Miss Davi;
raincoat,ordering everyone to freeze. As actually • considered herself marriec
stunned officials and spectators watched,- to Jackson. He said he would provi
he then distributed guns from a brief- that for many days prior to the court
case to three San Quentin inmates, "all of room incident Miss Davis and youn;
whom were in the courtroom in con- Jonathan Jackson were in each other';
nection with the charge that one of them, constant company, visited George Jack
James McClain, had knifed a San Quen- son at nearby San Quentin (presumabl;
tin guard. to apprise him of the developing con
spiracy to free him) and that when thi
As they moved outside toward an es- plan aborted, through unforeseen gun
cape van rented by Jackson, they shang- fire, Miss Davis acted - in the manne
haied five hostages, including presiding of a guilty person, panicked, fled thi
Judge Harold Haley, an assistant dis- area, hid out, then fled the state, alterec
trict attorney and three female jurors. her appearance and adopted false identi
A sawed-off shotgun was taped under the fication.
chin of the judge.
When Jackson, the fugitives and the Harris said the evidence would sho\
hostages began pulling away from the that the original Davis-Jackson pla
area in the van, a vicious gun battle probably called for the courtroom show
ensued between the four men and the down to take place a day before it ac
police. Before the shootout was over, tually did, but that the plan on August i
the judge's head had been blown off, was foiled when Judge Haley unex
A happy Angela Davis holds her first press conference following her acquittal. Writer
Jackson and two of the convicts, Mc- Cott, an expert on internal security matters, investigates some of the strange shenanigans
pectedly adjourned the court early am
Clain and William Arthur Christmas, behind the jury selection and the trial itself. Miss Davis had been charged with the pur- had the prisoners returned to San Quen
were mortally wounded. Two of the chase of the guns that took the lives of four people, including Judge Harold Haley, during tin. He also said the evidence wouli
hostages were wounded, one seriously, the 1970 Marin County Shootout. show Miss Davis constantly accom
and one convict, Ruchell Magee, sur- panied Jonathan as she cashed check
vived, and should come to trial shortly. fact, is a violent enemy of this coun- How was Miss Davis linked to all (presumably funds to fuel the conspi
try. She has condemned the "Ameri- these cases? The prosecution's thesis racy)—when she cashed a check in Lo
Upon discovery that Angela Davis had Angeles on July 29, when she cashed .
purchased the weapons smuggled into can oppressor" and called for libera- boiled down to this: Angela Davis, a $200 check the next day when she anr his own life and those around him, daughter of Mrs. Joan Hammer of San and he would establish, that Angela Both Conrads testified they saw Angela
rjjy to witness at arm's length the ex- Jose, and was staying in the Hammer Davis was at the airport that day, and give "Mitchell" the^money to buy the
losive disintegration of his longtime house, a center for Xhe Soledad Bro- left in a hurry.) 9-mm. rifle which sh'e later pronounced
iend, Judge Haley. Then, at the mo- thers defense movement, and one of the defective. Miss Conrad swore that on
lent when he had gained control in- others staying at the house, Mabel Ma- July 25 Angela had an escort- Jonathan
de the truck, he was struck down, and gers, was on close terms with Jonathan Jackson.
jrmanently maimed, by a wild shot Jackson and became a major prosecu- History of Guns Involved A San Diego police officer on patrol at
red by a San Quentin guard. tion witness. Mrs. Hammer visited the Mexican border the night of July
George Jackson at San Quentin August The state's next witness was Fred H. 30, 1970, testified he saw Angela and
.Attorney Leo Branton Jr. moved cau- 6, her conversation with the convict Wynbrandt, chief of the department
ously with the young D.A., for you Jonathan Jackson at the U.S. inspec-
interrupted by the visit of Jonathan.) of technical services of the state Bu- tion station th^t night. They told him
3 not clobber a crippled hero. He reau of Criminal Identification and In-
jinted out some minor inconsistencies Two more witnesses followed. San they were cousins and had been shop-
vestigation. ping in Mexico. They were riding in her
i Thomas' story, mostly having to do Rafael photographer Roger Alan Bock-
ith confusion over the names of Wil- rath said he watched the gun battle from blue Rambler when they were stopped.
Wynbrandt's testimony was long and Officer Jerry Hoover's testimony under-
im Christmas and Willie Reddicks. behind a car near the van, after being involved, but he was able to trace for
hen he got Ttooioas to admit that of the threatened by the cons, and he thought scored the close and continuing rela-
the jury the history of each gun in evi- tionship between the pair in the days im-
IO .357 magnums displayed on the table the fight opened with rifle fire from a dence, whether purchased by Angela
; could not tell which one he had used, San Quentin guard crouched behind mediately preceding the shootout, if
Davis or seized from a law officer, and not their habit of casually and inaccur-
hey were almost identical, and both a prison vehicle and that after the who held it and what happened to most
id been fired six times. guard's first three shots the van lurched of its bullets (and if recovered, where). (Continued on page 12)
> I Human Events / JU«E 17.1972 450
Another " Q " custodian, Robert L. "I\ow, i QOXI I warn to cniuauaa:, yuu
itely identifying one another. Ayers, supported West—indeed the or your family, but didn't you spend the he drove the two to the stalled van and
The next witness Harris called was "Diane Robinson" who accompanied evening of Aug. 6, 1970, with Jonathan because the man didn't know how to
i bearded lawyer from San Jose, John Jonathan August 4 and 5 was Angela Jackson in the Holland Hotel [Motel] start a vehicle on compression the wo-
rhorne. Thorne had been George Jack- Davis. in San Francisco?" man took the wheel. He identified the
son's attorney (authorities duly noted couple as Angela and Jonathan. He
A United Air Lines passenger agent pointed out Angela in the courtroom.
that the smuggled love letters from An- testified that he sold an airline ticket The question had all the subtlety of a
gela to George had been found by prison to Miss Davis in Los Angeles on Aug. 3, Black Panther fund appeal. The press On cross-examination Branton eli-
guards in an envelope from Thome's 1970, for an 8:30 flight to San Fran- row was stunned, then reporters cited that young Fleming had not been
office. Months later authorities would cisco. Asked how he could identify her scribbled furiously as Miss Magers' able to "positively" pick Angela's photo
reveal that details of an escape plan for as Miss Davis, he noted one of her out- attorney (she was permitted counsel) at the sheriff's office, and his grand jury
George Jackson were contained in yet standing personal markings—"the split conferred with the judge. When she was testimony had not been so authoritative.
another Thorne envelope which was in in her teeth was something that stuck permitted a reply it was a firm, "No." He described the woman he helped as
the trousers of James Carr left at a Santa in my mind." It was clear what the Davis defense "tall, slender, with a pretty good build on
Cruz dry cleaners by Betsy Hammer wanted to insinuate about the wo- her, an Afro hairdo and sun glasses."
Carr). The defense stipulated that indeed
this was Angela buying a ticket, and man's "warm and affectionate rela- A more forceful identification came
The prosecutor wanted Thorne to re- the prosecution's reason for witness tionship" with Jonathan. from Michael Vonada, a county fireman
seat on the stand a statement he had testimony to support something the who was at Fleming's station on August
;iven to state investigators months be- Later the prosecution could remove 6. Vonada said without hesitation that
defense would concede seemed to con- the burden placed on the witness by
fore: that on August js he was in his_ San vince the jurors that identifying Angela the customer was Angela Davis and
lose office and had received a phone Moore: she had never heard of the Hol- picked her out in court. He remembered
Davis—given her Afro, stature, earrings, land Motel until that day in court, she
:all from Angela Davis who told him gapped teeth and celebrity—was not a her at the station, said "hi" to her, stood
she and Jonathan Jackson were in town, had never gone to any hotel with Jona- next to her for a few minutes. He said
difficult feat. than, and she never accompanied him
passing through en route to Santa Cruz, she was "a young, black, Afro hair,
some 40 miles south, "to pick up some The next state's witness came from al- on any trip to Marin County Civic Cen- light-complected, good-looking young
things." most within the household of the Sole- ter or to San Quentin on August 6. lady. She was 5 foot 6 or 7 Her teeth
dad Brothers defense. She was Mabel Four witnesses then placed Angela were spaced apart She was smoking
Thorne resisted answering any of Magers, a young blonde originally from Davis with Jonathan Jackson in the a black cigar. . . . " Vonada said he
the prosecutor's questions, and was Kansas City, who for months had been vicinity of the Marin Civic Center on the helped Jackson look up the Hertz num-
accompanied by his own attorney, staying in the home of Joan Hammer, day before the Shootout, Wednesday, ber in the phone book.
who fired off salvos of objections, the Soledad Brothers activist and mother- and that August 6 was possibly the ori-
most of which Judge Arnason sus- in-law of the slain James Carr. ginally scheduled time for the kidnap-
tained. Thome's attorney was ping, if one believes that Judge Haley's
Charles Garry, often the mouth- Miss Magers' story revealed one
thing about Jonathan Jackson—he early recess foiled Jonathan's plan and
piece for Black Panthers in trouble forced postponement until Thursday. Even Gave Autograph
with the law. got around in her car—and it also
gave further support to the state's Alden Fleming, a husky wrestler type
Garry and Thorne maintained that theory that Angela Davis drove her- who runs a Mobil gas station across San Dennis Bosch, the mechanic at Flem-
anything Thorne said would violate the self to San Francisco airport. Pedro Avenue from the Marin Civic ing's, said he remembered the yellow
attorney-client relationship, first with Center, said that on August 6 at about van, and the two people associated with
Jackson, then with Miss Davis (who Miss Magers said she loaned her 1965 10 a.m. "a colored man and a colored it—"a good-looking young black with
later took the stand for but a Volkswagen to Jonathan on August girl" came to his station. The young
4, and didn't get it back again until late sharp-looking clothes" and a Negro wo-
moment to claim that she wanted Thorne man reported he had a rented Hertz man he described as "tall, slender, fair-
to represent her with publishers). August or early September, and then
under unusual circumstances. van and it wouldn't start. He didn't complexioned with Afro hair, wearing
Harris maintained that on Sept. 29, seem positive about what he should do, a black mini-skirt and boots."In one of
1970, when Miss Davis was still a fugi- Fleming said. "I wondered why she did the few slip-ups in the prosecution's
tive, Thorne appeared in response to a not come inside. He didn't know what presentation, Bosch was not asked to
subpoena at the attorney general's of- to do. I had to do everything for him. identify Angela Davis as the woman
fice, ^accompanied by his own brace The Car Mystery He gave me the impression he wanted who came to the station August 6.
of attorneys, Marvin Stender and Floyd some help from her, wanted the author-
Silliman. ity to do things." In questioning the station em-
She did not seem concerned that her ployes, attorneys Branton and
2 H y Branton said that Thorne car was missing for weeks. About its Fleming said he suggested calling" Moore seemed to stress to the jury
"suTbsRjuentry admitted he had been con- recovery she told a strange story: In Hertz and getting authorization to run that whites are not reliable in dis-
fused when at the attorney general's late August or early September she a bill for repairs up to at least $6. tinguishing one Negro from another.
office—the phone call came in July, not was asleep at the Hammer home when then Fleming sent his son, Peter, over
in August. When Harris finally was per- suddenly she awakened to find Georgia in a station wagon to "jump start" the Two witnesses, Frank Blumenthal
mitted to question Thorne, he asked, Jackson, mother of George and Jona- stalled truck. It was the.next day, when and David E. Lifson, employes of the
"Where were you Aug. 5, 1970?" Thorne than, standing beside her bed. They he beard about the Shootout that in- Eagle Loan Co., on San Francisco's
replied drily, "I have no memory what- talked about her car, and then a few volved a rented yellow- van, that he 3rd Street, testified that Miss Davis,
soever where I was that date." He could days later Mrs. Hammer drove the phoned the sheriff's office to provide accompanied by Jonathan Jackson,
not even remember if he was in the blonde north to San Francisco airport, the identification he had, Fleming said. showed up at 5 p.m. August 5 and she
United States. Thorne then consistently where they rendezvoused with Georgia Asked to identify Miss Davis, Fleming bought an inexpensive shotgun. She was
pleaded atrocious memory in slipping Jackson and drove through the caver- . approached her at the counsel table. recognized as the Angela Davis and
away from every question. nous parking garage until eventually "It's the lady here." gave one of the men her autograph.
Another state witness, Lt. Robert they came to her beige VW. She had The next witness was a San Quentin
no explanation how Mrs. Jackson would In cross-examination Branton asked,
H. West of San Quentin, brought the "Have you much experience in distin- guard, Gordon C. Farrell, who had been
trial back to the days immediately be- know where the car was. McCIain's escort at his trial August 6
guishing the feature characteristics of
fore the shooting. He testified he was in people you describe as colored people?" and 7, 1970, Farrell said Jonathan Jack-
Miss Magers said that when she got son visited the courtroom on the morn-
charge of mail and visitors at " Q " and in the car she found newspapers and "Yes," was the reply. Fleming allowed
saw Angela Davis and Jonathan Jackson as how he hadn't seen too many black ing of the 6th, and then again the next
trash, which she itemized to include morning. The morning visit of August 6
together just two days before the tragic a Coca Cola paper cup and an empty women with light complexions, but
events, and that Jonathan held a long added that Miss Davis was distinctive, is generally believed to have been a dress
cigar package (during 1970 Angela rehearsal for the real event, which prob-
conference with his brother while An- Davis smoked cigars). She threw out the with high cheekbones, big eyes. "After
gela waited outside the visitor's room, you've been around a person awhile, ably would have taken place that after-
trash. Her parking bill was $33. noon except for Judge Haley's early re-
registered under a phony name. you pick up the characteristics of their
The young woman said she first met face." He said she wore tinted glasses, cess.
West said that on August 5 Jonathan Jonathan in mid-July (thus she knew
appeared a t " Q " and signed in to visit but be didn't know what color because, Then James Layne, Haley's bailiff,
him but three weeks of his short Iifc):— he explained, he is color blind. (The was sworn, and told about Jackson com-
his brother at 11:50 a.m. He also signed Angela Davis had stopped by the Ham-
stating his companion was "Diane defense pounced on this fact later.) ing to court after 3 p.m. August 6 and
mer home in San Jose with him. Then leaving when told the trial had recessed.
Robinson.." Asked who accompanied she had run into him again at San Quen- Branton's cross-examination also
Jackson that day. West replied, "the brought out that Fleming had seen pic- Layne said Jackson carried a black bag
tin, when she had accompanied Mrs. and wore a knee-length coat.
lady sitting over there with the purple Hammer on a visit to George Jackson. tures of Miss Davis in the newspapers
clothes on," meaning Angela Davis. Then she had driven him to the airport before August 6 but had not recognized The next morning at 10:45 Layne said
West said that once during the visit on July 28 and she met him August her that day, and he challenged the very he saw Jackson again. Again the knee-
Angela stood up from her seat in the 2 at a Soledad Brothers rally in San reliability of the photographic lineup length coat, again the black bag. He
waiting room and walked over to a door- Francisco. that Fleming took at the sheriffs office took a seat. Then a few minutes later
way, where she could see both Jacksons. 10 days after the Shootout. He had "he removed a small black automatic,
The cross-examination was an ex- looked at nine photos; three were of An- turned and told me to freeze."
She was sneaking a peek. He told her hibition of brutality by Howard Moore
to return to her seat. Jackson signed gela, one of her sister Fania Jordan, Next on the stand was a Pacific Tele-
Jr., one of Angela's panel of lawyers. a Negro woman without Afro, one a
out at 2:15 p.m. He began suavely enough: Hadn't she hone Co. security agent, James J. Fin-
black woman about 55 years old, and negan, who brought company records
referred to herself on occasion as Mickey two of black women without Afros, and
West also said Jonathan visited Jackson? Yes, she replied. "That was which showed that at 10:44 a.m. on
George the previous day, also accom- one undescribed. August 6, 1970, a collect call had beer
because of your warm and close rela-
panied by "Diane Robinson," and that tionship with Jonathan Jackson, is that The service station owner admitted made from the Al Fleming Mobil ser-
he arrived- aXJl: 15 p.m. and left at 3:10 correct?" that at one point he had mistaken Fania vice station to the Hertz office in Sar
p.m. West stated that on the August for Angela (most observers would agree Francisco, that the call was made in the
4 visit he did not see the face of "Diane "Perhaps correct. I was returning that the sisters look remarkably like, nan^e of Jonathan Jackson, that it laslec
Robinson" but only the back of her a compliment." five minutes 41.5 seconds, and cost 4f
well, sisters). He had, in other words,
head, and he described her as a fair- "The relationship was warm and af- picked out four photos of the woman cents.
skinned black woman with an Afro fectionate, is that right?" who had come to his station—three
hairdo. "Yes." Angelas and a Fania. (Continued on next page
i
12 / Human Events / JUNEI7. 1972 45
K (continued from preceding page I tion—stipulated oy ine uciciisc—was
read from Dr. Irving Berris, an optom- Document," because it was found in 3:30. She said the question on protecting
\ ' Finnegan also confirmed one other etrist whose shop was across from the George Jackson's cell. The diary was Soledad House had come up and young
item of company record. Telephone Detroit Howard Johnson motel, who smuggled in to Jackson, and while it Jackson had participated in the talk;
number 588-9073 is located near said that on August 18 a man and wo- was written after Angela's capture, Har- there was some discussion about getting
; the American Airlines ticket counter man came in and he examined the wo- ris contended that it supported his theory weapons to protect the place, she said.
at San Francisco International Air- man's eyes. She said she was Mrs. Lor- that love and passion were the principal Attorney Branton asked her how
port. ean Poindexter. She paid for the glasses motives for Angela Davis to conspire she bacame interested in the Soledad
Harris' next witness was an ex-con- on the spot and picked them up the next to free George Jackson and that that defense, and she said a friend, attorney
vict, Louis F. May, who had in August day. love existed prior to the events of August Faye Stender, had told her about the
1970 operated a motorized tram that David Dennis, a Howard Johnson 1970 and continued until Jackson's death three convicts accused of murdering
took visitors from the main gate of the Motel clerk in New York, deposed that in his own escape attempt in August a guard.
prison to the prisoner-visiting area. May on October 8 Mr. and Mrs: George 1971. Cross-examining, Prosecutor Harris
said that on the day before the civic Gilbert registered at the motel. Mrs. Sample excerpts: "7/8 I'm totally in- brought out some details of Mrs. Cas-
center Shootout he had seen Jonathan Gilbert was a "tall, black, very good- toxicated, overflowing with you and tro's own participation in the Committee
Jackson and Angela Davis at the pri- looking woman." wanting you more than ever before. to Free Angela Davis,, that she had given
son, had seen them walking on a path- Then Harris put Harry Mursten, man- An hour and a half since the last em- a speech at a committee rally, that her
way, and had later seen them drive off ager of the Gold Lake Apartments of brace. You are in your cell. I am in luncheon companion Juanita Wheeler
in a yellow van, with Miss Davis facing Miami, on the stand and he testified that mine.... works for the People's World, the Com-
Jackson. He said as they drove by on on Sept. 4, 1970, Mr. and Mrs. David "You're still here. I see you, we are munist newspaper in San Francisco, and
the other side of a chain link fence he Poindexter of Chicago, accompanied one and this indestructible togetherness that that is where she met Mrs. Wheeler,
heard sounds of arguing coming from by June Hunzinger (Poindexter's they'll never be.powerful to wrest away and that she herself had written articles
the van. mother) rented an apartment, moving in from us. With words effortlessly at my for the People's World.
September 9. Poindexter said he was a command, like you, I'd be able to pour "Is there any other person in the
When defense attorney Moore turned out the thousand pages describing all
to substance, he succeeded in denting $15,000-a-year legislative assistant in world," asked Harris, "other than Jona-
Illinois and his wife was Lorean Poin- the nuances of all those vast feelings than Jackson who is now deceased, who
May's story. He got May to repeat a which have been accumulating over cen-
statement he had seen young Jackson in dexter. Mrs. Poindexter, said Mur- you say was present on the date you
sten, was "on the tall side, a light Ne- turies, today_infinitely magnified, achiev- saw Angela Davis?" "No," she replied
the van on August 5, although Jackson ing dimensions of concrete and now still
didn't rent the van until the 6th. May gro, very attractive, very intelligent, very thoughtfully, "I can't positively identify
friendly, very smartly dressed, with hair undiminished in their intensity." anyone."
said he had seen Jonathan August 3,4,5
and 6 at the prison, and that on the third pulled straight back and gathered back Later the same day she wrote, "That In other words, the entire luncheon
Angela was with him. Other testimony in a bun." He identified Poindexter so much love could exist anywhere, alibi would be supported only by her
has established that she had not flown to by photo, but was not asked to identify in any two people,, even between us, \ own words, and Mrs. Wheeler's, which
the Bay area until the night of the third. Angela. never realized. It makes me feel all flut- would come later.
A Fort Lauderdale auto mechanic, tery and kind of weak, not though in the
Another witness was the owner of the sense of succumbing to weakness, for Had she not been visited by FBI agents
Patrick Rogan, testified that Poindexter in September 1970, seeking information
Holland Motel on San Francisco's Lom- brought in a Toyota September 28 for it makes me feel so much stronger, with
bard Street, who testified that at 7:45 you my strength without end, my life- about the fugitive Angela Davis, and had
air conditioning service and that he was she not refused to open her door to them?
p.m. Aug. 6, 1970, a man named Jackson accompanied by a woman, "tall, with long husband.
driving a Ford, license T99889 (the Yes, it was true, she said, but she had
Hertz rental van) registered for two, skin not black-black, hair pulled back "The most perfect moments of my told them to see her in her attorney's
paid $16.50, and was assigned room 20. and spaces between her teeth." They life, that is what today was all about, office and they declined.
Mr. N,.K. Patel said he could not identify stayed more than an hour. a perfection screaming for more love.
Susan Castro was a virtual unknown
Jonathan Jackson from the photos dis- FBI agent Lawrence T. Monroe tes- "As I was pulling myself together (as to members of the press corps, and, il
played and could not say the vehicle tified about the arrest of Miss Davis at in Salinas in May of 1970).... I was seems, to Harris.
listed was a yellow truck. He did not the Howard Johnson Motel on New struck by a similar sense of inexorably
see the other occupant. York's 8th Avenue on Oct. 13, 1970. Actually, Sue Castro is known by
succumbing to you, just you, being ab- several names. She was known in the
He said she was wearing a wig, was sorbed by that huge beautiful man with
A Pacific Southwest Airlines ticket arrested with David Poindexter, and they early 1960s when she was active with the
agent, Marcia Lynn Brewer, was the whom I had instantly and unexpectedly radical Slate party at Berkeley as Susan
next witness, and said that on Aug. 7, had registered as Mr. and Mrs. George fallen in love....
Gilbert. In her handbag, he said, he Witkovsky. She worked for Root &
' 1970, and a few minutes before 2 p.m., Branch, the beginning of many Berkeley
Angela Davis ran up to her counter at found numerous credit cards in the name "Love you, love you with love even
of Lorean Robinson and Lorean Poin- radicals' careers. She was married foi
^ t h " K»dMirni gate and bought a ticket more unbounded, even more uncon- some time to a~pTomItient young stai
to Los Angeles, hurriedly writing out a dexter (Lorean was the name of Poin- querable. Your life-long wife."
dexter's late wife). ascending in the Communist party.
check for $16.50. Miss Davis had no lug- Marvin Markman, who had already
gage, she stated. She recognized Miss The love diary had originally amounted established his anti-American creden-
Davis because of the gap in her teeth, All this testimony was designed to to 18 pages; at the judge's instruction tials by leading the American delegatior
she said. show guilty flight, hiding out under it was pared down to seven pages, then to the Communist-sponsored Worlc
aliases, efforts to disguise and evade. reduced to three pages, which is what Youth Festival at Vienna in 1959. Susar
Later, under Branton's cross-examina- the jury saw.
tion, Miss Brewer conceded the 2 o'- (her real first name is Susajuenna) di
clock plane left 13 to 20 minutes late that Harris made another attempt to ex- That was the prosecution's case. After vorced Markman, and in 1966 marriec
day, and she acknowledged that a week tract testimony from attorney John a routine request for a directed verdict David Castro, vice president ol
after the shootout, when investigators Thome, who was again represented by of acquittal, and a denial, the defense American Documentary-Films, whicl
came around, she had no memory of the his own counsel, Charles Garry. Thome began. Miss Davis would never testify sponsors, in the U.S., films from Cubs
Angela Davis ticket sale. She explained, still suffered from fuzzy blackout of the in her own behalf, where she would be and distributes such "documentaries'
"I couldn't remember because of all the memory, but when Prosecutor Harris subjected to cross-examination. as CBS' "The Selling of the Pentagon."
publicity. . . . I couldn't remember if it read from a statement given in the at-
was that particular day. So I went back torney general's .office in September Sue Witkovsky followed the usual path
and double-checked and there was the 1970, when a nationwide search was The defense also used an invaluable of campus revolutionaries in the early
' record of the $16.50 check and I knew underway for Angela, in which Thome tactic: It did not present its list of 1960s—from Slate, where she was
then I had had some transaction with recounted receiving a phone call witnesses to the prosecution until the thrown into contact with such budding
Angela Davis that day... it was my first from her on August 5 (passing through day before their testimony, thus at revolutionaries as Mike Myerson (a
check of the day." San Jose with Jonathan en route to every step the prosecution was kept DuBois Club founder, a Hanoi and
Branton suggested Miss Davis wasn't Santa Cruz), Thorne reached for an in the dark about defense witnesses.
(Continued on nextpagej
in a hurry—"She was in a hurry all answer. Yes, but that statement was
right," responded the ticket clerk—and in error. He had checked his records; First witness for Angela Davis was
Miss Davis might have had luggage the phone call couldn't have been in Susan Castro, identified as the director
but Miss Brewer might not have seen
it.
August, it must have been before July 21.
Harris had just about finished his
of the Mission Child Care Consortium,
part of the Model Cities program in I ORDER COUPON
case, circumstantial as it was: Angela San Francisco.
Harris' next move was to show what i
Angela Davis did after she left San Fran- Davis had owned all the guns used in the Mrs. Castro testified that on August 5,
escape try; she was in almost continuous I Copies of this June 17 Issue, containing
cisco. Much of the facts were conceded two days before the shootout, when ! the article, "The Facts Behind the Angela
in stipulations by the defense. company with Jonathan Jackson for Quentin guards West and Ayers said I Davis Case," are available at the follow-
days before the kidnapping; she had Miss Davis was with Jonathan Jackson j ing special prices: O35< each • 10 for $3
A deposition from Robert Loman of cashed several checks in the Bay area 1
Chicago who said that on Aug. 14, 1970, at the prison under the name of "Diane - D50 for $12.50 D100 for $20 D500 for
and Jackson had disbursed large sums Robinson," and was there from noon $100 (Please check quantity and enclose
a tenant in his Chicago building, David for an unemployed man; she was in the to 2 p.m., why in fact Miss Davis was payment. Order filled same day received.)
Poindexter, told him that Angela Davis vicinity of the Marin Civic Center the
was coming to Chicago and would later with her. She had lunch with Angela
day before the shootout; she had a ro- that day, from noon until 2:30 or 2:45
go to Detroit. In Poindexter's apartment mantic interest in freeing George Jack-
he was introduced to Miss Davis. He at the home of Juanita Wheeler on Wil-
son as well as a revolutionary's interest lard Street, near Frederick, in San Fran-
said he saw them again the next day and
saw them leave on the 16th (this occurred
in freeing the Soledad Brothers; the cisco (this is near San Francisco's Gol- M*tu.
slain Jonathan's wallet contained the den Gate Park, a half-hour's drive from
the day after a warrant had been issued number of a public telephone at San City. .SUM. -ZIP.
in Marin County charging Angela with San Quentin).
Francisco airport; the escaping cons
murder knd'fcidnapping). said they were going to the airport; An- After a leisurely lunch, said Mrs. Cas-
A Detroit motel clerk, Donald Tracy, gela was at the airport that day and de- tro, she drove Angela to Soledad House HUMAN EVENTS
testified by deposition that on August 17 parted in a seeming panic. in the Potrero district of the city and 422 Fir* Street, S.E.
Mr. and Mrs. David Poindexter regis- showed Angela around the facility, and W u U « t n , D.C. 20003
tered, and left August 19. He identified Just before he rested his case Harris later Jonathan Jackson joined them and 6/17/72
Poindexter by photos. Another deposi- was permitted to introduce Angela's volunteered to drive Miss Davis back to
•453 JUNE 17.1972 / Human Events / 12
{continued Jrom preceding page I iiouceu me missing weapons tur m nuiiuwu anpoii, auu lie taiucu nei j |
least a week. luggage inside and watched as she went information that might have con-
. Havana visitor and now New York boss vinced a judge that the prisoner
of American Documentary Films and a to the PSA counter at 1:45 p.m. and
To Harris' cross-examination Mrs. bought a ticket to Los Angeles. should be granted bail.
prominent Communist) and Terence Mitchell acknowledged that Angela kept
"Kayo" Hallinan. her clothes and books there and even
Bloice's testimony directly contra- Bloice also accounted for Angela's ac
When in 1965 Hallinan began his ill- stayed overnight sometimes, even though tivities the night of August 5, right afte
starred San Francisco School of Social she moved out in mid-July. She also ad- dicted that of the eyewitnesses who
placed her in Marin County on the 4th the shotgun purchase on Third Street
Sciences, Susan was a functionary for mitted that twice investigators from He and Miss Davis, along with Mrs
the school, even wrote a letter to the the attorney general's office had come and 6th, also suggested that Angela
wasn't in a hurry at the airport, that Wheeler, had had dinner together at th<
People's World soliciting office space for to question her about any knowledge home of a friend, Lynne Hollander
the Marxist academy (it finally wound she might have about the Marin shooting she bought her ticket in an orderly fash-
ion, that she had luggage, that she (Miss Hollander, who was an activis
up in rooms furnished by the wealthy but that she had declined to respond in Berkeley's convulsive Free Speed
Hallinan family). About the same time to any of their questions on the grounds didn't drive Miss Mager's car there,
that she had had an iron-clad alibi— Movement in 1964, is the public rela
she was selected as a delegate from San ofself-incrimination. tions director for the Soledad Brother
Francisco for a Women for Peace con- accompanied by friends all the time—
for all the time eyewitnesses placed her Defense Committee.) (One wonders—
tingent going to Washington to agitate Mrs. Mitchell seemed to support don't Communists ever eat out?)
for peace (Women for Peace in San elsewhere..
the defense's construction that Jonathan
Francisco was closely allied with Wo- Jackson was not only a kidnapper and a
men Strike for Peace, but the Bay area Bloice has a unique background tha
gunman but a thief as well. She had, It also revealed something about Harris could not have known. For man;
had a pronounced attraction for CP Mrs. Mitchell said upon cross-examina-
rather than "peace" types). Bloice—for 19 months the Communists years Bloice was observed on the peri
tion, left Jonathan in the apartment had bleated that Angela Davis was in- phery of the CP, but he attended meet
In 1965 Sue Witkovsky was also listed alone while she and a friend, known nocent of any involvement in the shoot- ings in Los Angeles of the Labor Youtl
on the masthead of Insurgent magazine only as Reggie, went off to San Fran- out, and journalist Bloice claimed to League, successor to the Young Com
of the DuBois Clubs. Carl Bloice was cisco. have intimate details of her whereabouts munist League, as early as 1955. H<
editor of Insurgent; David Castro was that would undeniably prove her pres- was a UCLA student by 1960. Lat<
listed as a staff member. Mrs. Mitchell, while evincing no trou- ence elsewhere, and he had sat on the • that year he moved to the San Fran
In recent years Sue Castro has clearly ble in recalling the events of that July information and sat on the story, pos- cisco area and joined the People',
shown she has not moved out of the CP and August of 1970, has trouble remem- sibly the biggest one he will ever get World staff.
orbit, or too far away from journalism. bering her own name. She frequently in his lifetime.
In 1970 she became Northern California affects a black African name, and in He lived at 2924 Otis Street, Berkeley
coordinator for Colonist, a publication 1969 she wanted to be called "Tamu Not once in the People's World had with Douglas Wachter, who had jus
of the Black Student Union at Stan- Uhuru," but by 1970 she was calling he written about his personal knowledge achieved a measure of national fame foi
ford University. Then she moved c!os;r herself "Tami Ushindi." (In Swahili of Angela's activities while federal and being the only CAL student called befon
to CP activity, serving as a functionary tamu means "sweetness" and uhuru local law enforcement officers ransacked the 1960 hearings of the House Un
of the Northern California Committee means "freedom.") the nation looking for her—only to dis- American Activities Committee. Younj
for Trade Union Action and Democ- Mrs. Mitchell has been moving in the cover later that she had been spirited Wachter invoked the 5th Amendment
• racy, a blatant CP-front effort, and Communist orbit at least as long as out of Los Angeles to Chicago and be- and then convinced many Cal student;
played a role in the Political Prisoners Angela Davis. From June 21-24, 1969, yond with the help of the Communist he was a victim of a HUAC witch-hunt
Solidarity Committee. something called the World Peace As- party. Actually Wachter had been a delegatt
sembly was held in East Berlin. While to the 1959 CP convention in New York
there were some lovely cover names like Wben the prosecution's rationale The other occupant of the apartment
Next Bramon called Valerie Mitchell, at 2924 Otis Street was Marvin Mark
who testified she and Angela Davis lived the American Friends Service Com- for charging Angela with conspiracy
mittee, it was really an affair stage- was revealed in the indictment, Bloice man, the man who was the husband of
together at 215 W. 45th St.. Los Ange- Susan Witkovsky, also known as Susan
les, until July 1970, when Mrs. Davis managed by the Moscow-run World had not once written that he could
Peace Council. destroy the state's allegations. An- Castro.
moved into her own apartment. The 45th
Street place was becoming too crowded, gela Davis languished in jail for a I Continued on next page!
she said, because it was being used by The Oct. 17. 1970, People's World
both the Che-Lumumba Club of the Com- disclosed that Morton Sobell (convicted insertions consonant with the
munist party and the Soledad Brothers Soviet espionage agent) wouldn't be able character of HUMAN EVENTS will
f accepted at tin rate of 40C
Defense Committee. Mrs. Mitchell to attend the 14th annual donors' ban- per word.plus %l for box number
ft las/red. The fffllr In a series
said she was still a merpber of the Com- quet to benefit the People's World [some of Identical ads will M given *
munist party. trouble with his parole board), so Tamu free as a frequency bonus. Copy
accompanied by payment is
Ushindi would fill in, describing how required 21 days before
publication date. Write:
When attorney Leo Branton brought prison authorities tried to frame the Advertising Department. HUMAN
EVENTS. 422 First Street, S.E..
out a high wooden gun rack Mrs. Mit- Soledad Brothers. Families of the bro- WasMnitro. B.C. 20003
chell identified it and said it was always thers would be introduced.
stored in a closet in her apartment and
that members of theChe-LumumbaClub, SERVICES Crazy Political Buttons, "Nixon for President
including Angela, used the guns for The young Communist turned up as a of Red China." 2 for $1 United Sates. P.O. Box
target practice. Two of the carbines public speaker again this year, speak- Library Research, BiblioQ.aphies. Accurate, 636, Reading, Pa. 19603.
and the Browning automatic entered ing at the 34th anniversary celebration prompt Diener Research, 1034 Novara, San
Diego. Calif. 92107, Oept, HE.
as evidence she said looked like the for the People's World, held at the First
Capitalists should open schools in shopping cen-
guns customarily stored in the rack. Unitarian Church in Los Angeles, a fre- ters using closed circuit TV. For free plan send
Dry-Foam Carpet Cleaners. Less moisture, no
quent picnic grounds for Communist oil residue. Economical, enthusiastic, profes- stamped self-addressed envelope: Box 552.
Mrs. Mitchell's story was that on groups. The CP paper referred to her sional cleaning. Milwaukee 547-0355, Jefferson Pomona, Calif. 91769 (Nothing to bay or self.)
August 1 Jonathan Jackson dropped as Tami Ushindi. 674-5381, Madison 221-0773.
by her apartment to run off some mater-
ial on her mimeograph machine and she Carl Bloice, executive editor of American Flag Jewelry- Buy one to show your
left him there alone. When she returned the People's World, was the next BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY colors, or 1,000 to spark a campaign. Gold-plated.
Sample key chain and details $1.50. G. Enter-
he was gone. The next day, she said, alibi witness for Angela Davis, and prises, Box 14HJ. 0'fallen. ill 62269.
How to Make Money Wrtt.no Short Paragraphs
she left for San Francisco, to attend he too would add an account of An- Information free. Barrett. Oept. C-453, 6216
the opening ceremonies for the Soledad gela during the critical days, none N. Clark, Chicago. Ml. 60660.
House and then returned to Los An- of it substantiated except by.a few Stop Smoking I New 96-page book presents
geles. other CP members. Men—Women Needed Now to fill out income medical end psychological step-by-step method.
tax forms at home. We show you how Simple, Money-back guarantee. $ 1 . Harnsworth Co.. 2 0 9
Husky (5'9", 190 pounds), with only easy to learn. $700 per month earnings possible. Sunset Drive, Dept 246-2. Glsstonbury. Conn.
It wasn't until the day after the Marin a slight natural and a droopy mustache, Details mailed free No salesmen. Hurry? Fed- 06033.
County shootout, she said, that Angela the Negro Communist is a figure well
erated Tax Service, 2060 Montrose, Chicago, III
606 J 8.
Davis and Franklin Alexander came known to law enforcement officers who
to her apartment in an agitated state have been watching him at Communist libertarian Posters (11~X17"I: Taxation—
and asked if the weapons were still in affairs for the past 17 years—ever since BOOKS Your Money and Your Life. Reed Atlas Shrugged.
the rack. "I said I didn't know. I opened he was 16 years old.
Nixoriomics—Phase 3? (depicting Nixon as
economic dictator). Sample packet 16 posters)
the closet and the two carbines were "None Dare Call It Conspiracy" Read it now! $ 1 . '•Who Is John Gait?" buttons. 5 / $ l . NRC,
gone.... I checked the bottom of the S I . Frank Anderson. Gossville. N.H. 03239. 330 Dartmouth St.. Boston. Mass. 02116.
rack and the Browning was missing. Bloice testified he had received a letter
When they saw the guns were missing from Angela in late July saying she Don't appease Communisml Join or assist Viet-
"Worrying About Taxes?" Order dynamic new
Franklin said, 'Oh shit!' and Angela would be in San Francisco the week book telling how you can stop them I $1.40 post-
nam Veterans (or Victory, Box 146. Arlington
of August 2, and he made arrangements Heights. Ill 60006.
said, 'Oh, no!" paid: Rudie Enterprises. Box 277. Thorndale. Pa.
Alexander had then showed her a for her to stay with Juanita Wheeler, 19372.
newspaper with a picture of Jonathan who has labored in tee People's World
in it with a carbine with a collapsible circulation department for 21 years. U.S.M.C ' Hand-to-Hand Combat" manual.
REAL ESTATE
$1.50. Catalog. 2 5 c Hillcrest Publications (HE).
stock. "They asked if Jonathan had been McDonald. Ohio 44437. Moving to El Peso. Texas, where the sun spends
there and I said he had come by on Sat- Bloice said Angela came to his office the winter? Write for FREE HOME BUYERS'
urday. Then they left and the next I saw at the People's World the mornings GUIDE TO El PASO. Hovious Associates. Real-
Angela was in the Marin County Jail." of August 4, 6, and 7, each day arriving tors. 3 1 0 6 Yandell. El Paso. Texas 7 9 9 0 2
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about 8:30 in the morning. He recalled
Mrs. Mitchell's testimony, without that on the 4th she stayed two and a half MISCELLANEOUS
stating it explicitly, added up to the hours, on the 6th he was not sure how SHOP BY MAIL
charge that Jonathan had stolen all long she stayed and on the 7th—the Conservative Candi
the guns and ammunition from her day of the shootout—she was there until patriotic book matches. Superior quality, low Shopper happiness is our Distinctive Gift* e*tt-
apartment, and the target-practicing 1 p.m. At that time he borrowed Mrs. prices. Sample, Gantard Enterprises. Clarklake. logette. It's free. Write Russ and Rhoad«. 144
Mich. 49234. Parker. Osawatomie. Kan. 66064.
Che-Lumumba club members hadn't Wheeler's car and drove her to San
i
14 / Human Events /JUNE 17.1972 45'
said, 'I can't believe it. He's so very rived on the 6th at 8:30 and stayed an investigation, the jury also had to dis-
Bloice worked with the Slate party young,' and she began to cry." unknown length of time. Stender said believe the prosecution's witnesses, al-
on campus (in which Sue Witkovsky She said they turned on the TV and it was precisely three hours.) most every one of whom admitted a
was busy) and wrote also for Root & caught 11 o'clock news reports on both The defense's next witness was Dr. failing, as opposed to the defen e's wit-
Branch. In 1963 he took off for the South radio and TV. Mrs. Broms said Angela Robert H. Buckhout, associate profes- nesses, who had almost total recall (ex-
to cover the momentous events of the kept saying she couldn't believe it. She sor of psychology at California State cept for John Thome,who went blotto).
freedom rides and the civil rights con- gave her a tranquilizer and she remained College at Hayward, who spoke on the
frontations of those days and came back overnight and the next day the men reliability of eyewitness identifications. There is no doubting that the defense
on a speaking tour. brought in a paper. He was currently doing a study, on a team presented a brilliant case for the
In 1962 and 1963 Bloice lived—be- When Miss Davis read the article and federal grant, of various factors coloring defendant, and it began, many months
tween trips to the South and to Southern saw the pictures, she exclaimed, accord- eyewitness identifications, and he gave before the case ever went to trial.
California—at 633 Redwood Street in ing to Mrs. Broms, "My God, there's a lengthy illustrated slide lecture dis- One close observer of the trial put it
San Francisco, an alley on the fringes something about a shotgun. I just bought cussing it. this way: "The defense began many
of the city's black Fillmore district. a shotgun in San Francisco for defense The penultimate defense witness was months ago with all the legal delays.
of the Soledad House and I gave it to one of the Soledad Brothers, Fleeta That gave them time to put their stuff
For many years there were three Jonathan." Then she looked at a pic- Drumgo, who was brought into the together. For nearly a year there was a
houses in a row in the 600 block of Red- ture of Jonathan with a carbine and she steady tatoo of motions, each one heavily
wood, all occupied by CP members (and courtroom in chains and "manacles and
said, "I wonder if it's one of ours." seated before the jury was brought in. publicized, charging the prejudice on the
one house abutting them, on McAllister
Street, was the headquarters of the Du- On cross-examination Mrs. Broms (John Cluchette, the other Soledad Bro- part of the judge, prejudice on the part
Bois Clubs). If the Communists felt the said she had seen Miss Davis several ther, was waiting nearby in the court- of the community, prejudice on the part
need for proximity for self-protection, times before the August 7 dinner, at house but was never called. Both Drum- of the grand jury, prejudice on the part
security men appreciated the gesture "social gatherings," and she had at- go and Cluchette will be paroled in No- of the jury panel.
as simplifying surveillance. tended a few meetings of the Committee vember of this year. Drumgo must stand
to Free Angela Davis but she did not trial for murder in connection with "After nearly a year of squawking
George Jackson's escape attempt Aug. about not getting a fair trial, about legal
In 1964 Bloice moved from 633 to 636 • consider herself a member. 21, 1971. Three guards and two prisoners processes rigged against the defendant,
Redwood, establishing a living arrange- Harris said he presumed that Mrs. were slain in that attempt; most of the
Broms had reported her information to and about white prejudice—all inspired
ment to save money with Beverly and bodies.were found in Jackson's cell.) to seed the entire Bay area with propa-
David Radcliffe (once red-hots, they some official agency after she heard
a warrant was out for Miss Davis' arrest. Drumgo really didn't have anything ganda favorable to Angela—the defense
now appear to have drifted out of the paid dose attention to jury selection,
movement) and the aging black matri- No. After she heard of Angela's arrest to say—he didn't know of any attempt
by the FBI in New York, did she then at a prisoner escape at the Marin Civic ably assisted by volunteer psycholo-
arch of the People's World, Juanita gists."
Wheeler. report to some official agency? No. Center and he had never been told by
After Angela was returned to California James McClain that there would be an
Like Valerie Mitchell, Bloice tasted and lodged in Marin County Jail? No. escape with the purpose of securing This point was later revealed to news-
some of the good international life the "And until this morning, in open court, freedom for the brothers. (This was men by attorney Howard Moore. Moore
Communist party can offer—he was you never have reported your informa- idle motion by the defense—the prose- said the defense used psychiatrists, psy-
delegated to a World Youth Forum tion to any official agency of the state cution never claimed that all three Sole- chologists and even a handwriting expert
in Moscow in 1964. The forum is just of California?" "That is right." dad Brothers would have knowledge to help pick out the jury. These behav-
another presentation of the World Peace of the escape-hostage plan.) ioral scientists gave advice about each
Council, represented in San Francisco Harris didn't know Mrs. Broms' back- juror's reaction to questions during the
by Bloice's good friend, black M.D. ground and she was too modest. She was The final defense witness was Char- examination process.
arid Ph.D., Dr. Carlton Goodlett. born in Brooklyn in 1942 as Ellen Mar- lotte Elsie Gluck, UCLA philosophy
garet Kleinman, and she was known by department office manager during 1969- Teams of volunteer investigators ran
In 1965 Bloice became an academi- that name until she married Broms in 70, who said the department had been
cian, appointed an instructor at the flooded with hate mail and phone calls down additional leads on all prospective
February 1963. She was Ellen Kleinman jurors. Moore told reporter Richard
San Francisco School of Social Sci- in 1959 when she attended the Com- directed at the-black Communist. A
ences, the outfit run by Terence Halli- stack of the hate letters was introduced Starnes the importance of this effort:
munist 7th World Youth Festival in "The chief value to the defense was in
nan and in which Sue Witkovsky had Vienna (Marvin Markman, Sue Castro's as evidence.
a hand. predicting how the jurors would interact
husband, the big Vienna cheese), and in a group. We were not interested so
Then it was back to the Red jet set— she was Ellen Eleinman in I960 in Los Thus ended the defense, which
never put Miss Davis on the stand much in whether prospective juror 'X'
jg meeting in Belgium to arrange a WPC- Angeles when she was a member of the was -pro-prosecution et - p r o defense. -
sponsored affair in Helsinki, then in Independent Student Union (Carl to personally describe her activities
the first week of August and there- That's sheer nonsense, because by the
three months off to Helsinki, then a Bloice, Prop.). She was busy—part time you get down to exercising chal-
dash back to Los Angeles to tell a Com- after, or be subjected to cross-exam-
of the Freedom Riders in 1961, and ination about them. lenges you tend to have moderate juries
munist rally all about exciting new devel- jailed in Houston; chairman of an ACLU anyway.
opments on the peace front and then off meeting at L.A. State College in 1961,
to Chicago to report the same to a Du- and a member in 1965 of the W.E.B. A rebuttal witness for the prosecution
Bois Club convention. DuBois Clubs, the CP's youth auxiliary probably did the defense more good. "People with obvious bias, for or
(like Bloice and Sue Castro). He was Lester Jackson, father of George against, are gone by then. But what
In 1966 Bloice became a member and Jonathan. Prosecutor Harris, after you need is some idea of how juror 'X'
of the county committee of the Com- Juanita Wheeler, the aging black much wrangling with judge and defense, will react in a group. A juror with pro-
munist party in San Francisco, and People's World circulation worker was finally was permitted to ask the quaking, prosecution leanings would be accept-
was put on the CPUSA's National next, and her appearance was brief. She tearful Jackson, "Did you, on Aug. 1, able, for example, if it could be deter-
Committee. He also was delegated said Miss Davis arrived at her house 1970, at 9 o'clock in the morning, drive mined that he was a follower rather than
to move into electoral politics, on Willard Street about 10:30 p.m. your wife and your son, Jonathan, to the a leader."'
especially the developing New Left August 3 and stayed there four or five Los Angeles International Airport?"
politics. He joined the Community days. She did not testify about the dinner
for New Politics in Berkeley and was with Bloice, Angela and Lynne Hol- Jackson, his hands trembling, an- That they did their work well was
campaign manager for Ramparts lander on August 5. swered slowly, looking at Judge Arna- illustrated by the fact that the jury
editor Robert Scheer's try for Con- son. "Sir, I have lost two sons. I cannot was said to be divided 10-to-2 for
gress. Mrs. Wheeler, whose lifetime records participate in these proceedings for the acquittal from the outset and that
almost continuous employment by the preservation of my mental health." the majority attended a rock festival
When the CP ordered Bloice to Communist party or its ancillaries, Mental health is not a legally acceptable victory celebration for Angela after-
Washington as Worker and People's has an aversion to giving testimony. plea for declining to answer the ques- wards.
Worker correspondent, his New Left Long-time students of Communist tions, and Jackson was cited for con-
friends threw a party for him and in a activities will remember that in May tempt, and in a merciful gesture fined
good-natured jab in his ribs presented 1960 she was, according to FBI Direc- $100 by the judge and excused. After the acquittal, juror Ralph De-
him with a bigger-than-life portrait of tor J. Edgar Hoover, one of the top Lange was so swept up in the enthusiasm
Chairman Mao. Someone, it is said, Communists in the Bay area who were It was "an anti-climax, but the end for Miss Davis that he responded to
sent a copy of the news story to the mili- given instructions to create sympathetic of testimony. The jury had been pre- cheers outside the courtroom by giving
tary attache at the Soviet Embassy in demonstrations in San Francisco to pro- sented the body of the evidence. the revolutionary's clenched-fist salute,
Washington, which complicated Bloice's test the hearings of the House Un-Amer- If chose to disbelieve the testimony of then explained to reporters: "I did it
life for a good many months and per- ican Activities Committee. the witnesses who placed Angela Davis because I wanted to show I felt an iden-
haps led to early disenchantment with in Marin County during the critical tity with the oppressed people in the
capital life and his early return to San Another of Angela's alibi witnesses crowd. All through the trial, they thought
was San Francisco attorney Marvin days preceding the Shootout, and de-
Francisco. He has been editor of the pended instead on the alibis provided by we were just a white, middle-class jury. I
People's World since January 1970. Stender, whose wife, Faye,. was the law- wanted to express my sympathy with their
yer for George Jackson. Stender's testi- her closest and most intimate friends,
many of them members of the same struggle."
Angela Davis' next alibi witness was mony contradicted that of the four eye-
Los Angeles social worker Ellen (Mrs. witnesses who placed Angela in Marin secret organization, all of whom asserted
William) Broms, who described how County with Jonathan on August 6. that they had been alone with her, with
no other outside witnesses, during the Now Miss Davis leaves for a triumphal
Angela received the first news of Jona- Not so, said Stender. On that day she tour—San Antonio, Chicago, Detroit—
than Jackson's death—in tears. critical hours.
had called his office at 9:30 a.m. and said ending with a gigantic rally June 29 at.
She said the evening of Aug. 7, 1970, She was at the People's World. He said When they had meals together it was Madison Square Garden in New York.
Angela apd ^Franklin arrived about he met her at 11:30 in a parking lot at never in a public restaurant, but always The Garden party, designed to draw in
7:30 for dinner, and after the meal the Second and Mission Streets, midway alone, in private homes, away from pub- more money for "legal expenses," will
four of them sat around a table playing between his office and the People's lic view. They believed a newsman who include Carmen McRae.the Persuasions
Scrabble and listening to records when World, and drove her to Oregon Street sat on the biggest story of his life for and undoubtedly even more important
the phone rang. It was Kendra, Frank- in Berkeley, where he left her at noon. nearly two years. Hollywood and Broadway luminaries.
lin's wife. Was an announcement made? (Stender's story thus lent just the proper In believing the collection of alibi wit- Then she proposes to take a six-week
Yes. What was the reaction of Angela amount of verisimilitude to Bloice's— nesses who had never lifted a finger vacation in Europe, ending, probably,
i in the Soviet Union.
JUNE 17.1972 / Human Events / 15