American Justice On Trial: People V. Newton
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
AMERICAN JUSTICE ON TRIAL tells the forgotten story of the death penalty case that put racism on trial in a U.S. courtroom in the fall of 1968. Huey P. Newton, Black Panther Party co-founder, was accused of killing a white policeman and wounding another after a predawn car stop in Oakland. Newton himself suffered a near-fatal wound. As the trial neared its end, J. Edgar Hoover branded the Black Panthers the greatest internal threat to American security. Earlier that year, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy rocked a nation already bitterly divided over the Vietnam War. As the jury deliberated Newton’s fate, America was a tinderbox waiting to explode.
At his trial, Newton and his maverick defense team led by Charles Garry and his then rare female co-counsel Fay Stender, defended the Panthers as a response to 400 years of racism and accused the policemen of racial profiling, insisting Newton had only acted in self-defense. Their unprecedented challenges to structural racism in the jury selection process were revolutionary and risky. If the Newton jury came back with the widely expected first-degree murder verdict against the charismatic black militant, Newton would have faced the death penalty and national riots were anticipated. But Newton’s defense team redefined a “jury of one’s peers,” and a groundbreaking diverse jury headed by pioneering Black foreman David Harper delivered a shocking verdict that still reverberates today.
Stanford University | Mira Foster, Ph.D., Director of Education, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
"A 'MUST' addition to the educational repertoire on American Studies and Civil/Human Rights history. Following the contentious trial of Huey P. Newton, the documentary showcases the systemic injustice of the U.S. judicial system while highlighting those who risk everything to change it."
Hon. Elihu Harris, former Oakland Mayor & Chancellor of the Peralta Community College District
"American Justice on Trial is a fascinating look at one of the most famous trials in American history. This is a must-see for anyone committed to equal justice under law."
East Bay Yesterday | Liam O'Donoghue, Host/Producer
"This brave film transports viewers into one of the most explosive trials of the 1960s and truly shines a light on one of the lesser-known legacies of the Black Panther Party. It brilliantly presents the story of how Huey Newton and his legal team not only beat the death penalty, but changed the criminal justice system in the process. A real-life courtroom drama packed with iconic characters and a deep message."
Hon. Thelton Henderson, Retired Senior U.S. District Court Judge
"American Justice on Trial brilliantly depicts how the Newton case challenged a jury system which routinely excluded qualified Blacks from jury duty in criminal trials and revolutionized the way juries are now selected."
Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame | Penny Cooper
"Superb lawyering produced a diversified jury; the documentary is a fascinating examination of how American justice triumphs in an Oakland courtroom."
Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld, LLP | Gay Grunfeld, Managing Partner
"The MCLE presentation was superb! We all learned a lot from your film, the skit and your presentation."
African American Museum and Library at Oakland | Bamidele Agbasegbe Demerson, Chief Curator
"The film offers insights toward understanding a legendary twentieth century cultural hero caught in the throes of a battle against the pernicious effects of the American racial caste system. American Justice on Trial will prompt much needed discussions today in formal classroom settings as well as community forums."
University of Denver | Thomas D. Russell, J.D., Ph.D., legal historian and law professor
"American Justice on Trial honors Huey Newton's trial and defense team as critical and groundbreaking in the battle against racism embedded in the American legal system. Law professors, law students, lawyers, and historians will benefit from this well-executed, timely film."
David Harper, People v. Newton, jury foreman
"As foreman of the Newton jury in the summer of 1968, I am thrilled at the authenticity and accuracy of this wonderful film—so skillfully put together! It means a lot to me to share this history with future generations."
CSU Northridge | Alexis Krasilovsky, Prof. Emerita, Dept. of Cinema & Television Arts
"Such an important documentary. Everyone needs to see this film....There's an ache to have stories like this get out to the wider public."
NAACP Santa Clarita | Valerie Bradford, President
"A remarkable piece of work—sometimes painful, but accurately reflective of an era, a movement and a government's all too familiar response to a demand for respect and equality."
Stanford University | Clayborne Carson, MLK Centennial Professor of History
"In shining a light on the pivotal but mostly forgotten Huey Newton trial, the film itself becomes a lasting achievement."
Citation
Main credits
Abrahams, Andrew (film director)
Abrahams, Andrew (film producer)
Abrahams, Andrew (director of photography)
Abrahams, Andrew (editor of moving image work)
Ferrette, Herb (film director)
Other credits
Editor & cinematographer, Andrew Abrahams; music, John Lissauer.
Distributor subjects
African American Studies; American Studies; Human Rights; Politics & Policy; Race, Culture & Ethnic Studies; US History; Urban Studies; Criminal JusticeKeywords
00:00:22:23 - 00:00:24:18
JENSEN REENACTMENT
And then what did you see take place?
00:00:25:14 - 00:00:36:07
BUS DRIVER REENACTMENT
My bus lights were directly on the scene. A man reached under his shirt and he pulled out a gun. It was pointed up in the air, twirling about as he and a police officer next to him fought for it.
00:00:37:00 - 00:00:43:18
BUS DRIVER REENACTMENT
The gun went off. I immediately pulled the brakes on the bus and I called on to my radio, "Police officer being shot."
00:00:44:08 - 00:00:45:14
BUS DRIVER REENACTMENT
"Shots are flying everywhere."
00:00:45:21 - 00:00:46:17
BUS DRIVER REENACTMENT
"Get help quick."
00:00:51:11 - 00:01:09:02
CLEAVER
All the cases you read about in the paper. There was an altercation. Policemen shot the young black man and it was justifiable homicide. But this time, a policeman was dead and a black man was alive. That hadn't happened.
00:01:14:13 - 00:01:25:06
COOPER
The Newton trial was more about a culture and racism and economics. And in that way, I think it was pretty groundbreaking.
00:01:30:17 - 00:01:45:16
SCHECK
This was a political trial. And part of the political trial was an attack on the unfairness of the jury system because it was biased against minorities.
00:01:45:16 - 00:01:54:13
PATTERSON
We are caught in the crosshairs. If we are not careful, we will find history repeating itself.
00:02:07:17 - 00:02:22:17
HARPER
One night, it was in 1963, I had my hoodie on because I did a lot of running. I noticed on the side of me there was a car pulling up. It was a police car. They stopped me. Where do you live?
00:02:22:20 - 00:02:34:06
HARPER
And I said, I live on the hill. They didn't believe me. Put me in the car and said, you know, if you had picked up your pace, we would have probably shot you. They took me downtown. They talked to me.
00:02:34:06 - 00:02:50:17
HARPER
I told them I was working for Bank of America. They didn't believe me. But they let me go and they let me go about four in the morning. So I had to walk back home. But to me, that was typical of the United States, not just Oakland.
00:02:53:15 - 00:03:12:07
PATTERSON
Oakland historically grew out of the war effort, and so many of the persons who came to Oakland to work in the shipyards wound up in temporary housing called projects, and most of them were located in the West Oakland area.
00:03:15:12 - 00:03:28:06
PATTERSON
The containment mostly was reinforced by the police department. You know, if you travelled outside of your sector, you got stopped.
00:03:32:23 - 00:03:44:20
BURRIS
The police had a history of hiring these guys from the South that would come to Oakland and treat the African-American community as if it were an occupying force.
00:03:47:07 - 00:04:02:04
HART
The police department when I first went in the department was largely white male. There were complaints registered and a person would have to be blind to not see there was racism. But not just in policing. It existed throughout society.
00:04:03:21 - 00:04:10:05
NEWTON
Somehwere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights.
00:04:15:20 - 00:04:36:10
SCHECK
Martin Luther King and the Freedom Riders were peaceful while they were getting kicked and shot and beaten. But there was another movement forming. It was a struggle by any means necessary. It was not the nonviolence of Dr. King.
00:04:40:16 - 00:05:12:20
DAVIS
I was introduced to Huey Newton by a girlfriend who he was dating. And I could certainly understand why she was so smitten with this young man. Loved to play the piano. Tchaikovsky was his favorite. He was so good looking and so charming and so soft spoken that I was absolutely surprised when another side of Huey Newton came out as the revolutionary, as the leader of protest. He wanted to change everything.
00:05:14:07 - 00:05:26:16
HUEY
We advocate that all black people in America are taught what politics is all about and what our history is all about, so that we can have self-identity and we can know where our strength is. We will know our enemies. We will know our friends.
00:05:27:07 - 00:05:48:03
ARMMAND
Huey had studied the laws and knew them front and backwards, and he used that as an organizing principle under this very real demand from the community for self-defense. Self-defense meant that you were no longer going to allow the police to come in with impunity and shake down, rough up, beat up and disrespect the black community.
00:05:49:21 - 00:06:01:02
NEWTON
The first thing was to protect people in the community from brutality, and they were armed when they went out on their patrols in order to balance and equal the police.
00:06:02:08 - 00:06:17:11
GARRETT-FORTÉ
We viewed the police as our enemy. They were beasts in uniform. And they were trying to kill us and it was up to us to defend ourselves.
00:06:19:21 - 00:06:42:05
HUEY
As far as the Black Panther Party is concerned, we're willing to teach the police the law and also the other government officials. We can teach them the nature of our -- the needs of our community. And we will we would like to see a peaceful solution. So I am not standing for violence, but I do stand for self-defense.
00:06:44:08 - 00:07:15:11
HART
They began to show up at stops on the street involving police officers. We began to have some concerns over that, obviously, because we would see some young fellows typically turn out with weapons. Huey Newton believed in aggressive activities, believed in taking armed action indeed against police. To me, that fits rather nicely in the term "thug."
00:07:18:03 - 00:07:26:20
DAVIS
Everyone was prepared for there to be a big blow up one of these days. And that was how we put it, "one of these days."
00:07:30:11 - 00:08:24:06
HILLIARD
We were having a fundraiser at my house in Oakland. So, Huey Newton is at my house that night and he said he was going to get some barbecue. Three or four in the morning, something like that, the next thing I know, I hear somebody banging on my door saying, "Open the door, Huey's been shot." He was bleeding and blanking out, just becoming unconscious. Me and my brother and my wife are putting towels around him, trying to stop the bleeding until we could get him in the car to take him to Kaiser Hospital. I go up and I bang on the door because it's three in the morning and I scream, "hey, there's a man dying out here. He's been shot. You got to send the gurney." When they bring the gurney, they put Huey on it, we leave and the next day, "Huey Newton shot the police."
00:08:36:13 - 00:09:10:09
REPORTER
The shooting happened at 5 a.m., approximately where I am standing on seventh Street in the heart of Oakland's Negro ghetto. A pool of blood marks the spot where 23 year old officer, John Frey, was found fatally wounded from four gunshots. Police say Officer Frey's murder is the first time an Oakland policeman has been killed in the line of duty in nearly 20 years. The suspect charged with murder and attempted murder is Huey Newton, 25 year old leader of the Black Panthers for self-defense. Newton is hospitalized in serious condition and under heavy guard.
00:09:13:02 - 00:09:35:10
HART
Officer John Frey, he was on a car stop as I recall in West Oakland, had called for backup. Another officer arrived on the scene, Cliff Haines. The person, as it turned out, who they stopped was Huey Newton.
00:09:36:18 - 00:09:38:03
RADIO
Shots fired. Officer down.
00:09:38:13 - 00:09:58:02
HART
A conflict occurred and in the process Officer Frey was shot and killed. Officer Haines was shot and wounded. The belief clearly in the department was that Huey Newton had killed John Frey. And he was guilty of murder.
00:10:00:10 - 00:10:22:17
LEE WALD
Huey Newton had not gone out looking to shoot police. He didn't go out to attack police. He didn't go out to ambush them. They stopped him. They stopped him in his girlfriend's car because there were outstanding parking tickets on her car, but mostly because it was on a list that the Oakland Police had of known Panther vehicles
00:10:27:10 - 00:10:55:08
JENSEN
After he got arrested and the district attorney's office was notified, I was the prosecutor from that point on. We established what we believe were the circumstances of the entire case. Newton had caused the death of John Frey and that he was criminally responsible for it by way of unlawful homicide. He was tried for a charge of murder and a charge of assault. If he was convicted, he would probably be executed.
00:11:01:07 - 00:11:17:23
DAVIS
I don't remember anyone thinking that Huey Newton, the person who advocated the use of guns, could shoot a Oakland police officer and expect to walk away. Surely he would be convicted of first-degree murder.
00:11:23:11 - 00:11:43:08
M. NEWTON
My biggest fear was, if Huey was given a capital sentence, was seeing my mother and father and family waiting at home for the gas chamber to do its work on my mother's baby. That was unbearable.
00:11:45:18 - 00:12:07:22
SEALE
Huey was charged with first-degree murder, the death of Officer Frey, and attempted murder and the wounding of Officer Haines, alright. Well, naturally, we had to get Huey a lawyer and all the black nationalist groups said, "You can't have a white lawyer." We say, "Well, we think we chose the best technician." I'm talking about somebody who's not going to sell us out.
00:12:08:21 - 00:12:22:10
HILLIARD
Not only was Huey's life at stake, but it was this political movement that was in its nascent stages that we were eagerly trying to, energetically trying to, build and we wanted to make sure that Huey got the best possible defense.
00:12:22:11 - 00:12:36:08
GARRY
Our country was written in blood and ink. Our Constitution was written in blood and ink. And without the Huey Newtons to awaken and to change the wrong, no change would ever take place.
00:12:36:12 - 00:12:43:20
BURRIS
No lawyer that I knew had even talked about fighting the criminal justice system. But Charles Garry was different.
00:12:44:19 - 00:13:00:05
REPORTER
His unvarying routine includes 10 to 15 minutes of yoga exercise. By 7:30, he was ready to leave his modest home and head for the office for another day in the most controversial law practice in California, perhaps in the nation.
00:13:02:00 - 00:13:22:07
GARRY
Huey Newton stood before the court and intoned, "I am not guilty." And that's going to be the verdict of the jury if we get an impartial jury.
00:13:22:07 - 00:13:37:12
HUEY
I am very confident that I will be free providing that we are successful in the battle that we're engaged in now, and that is to revolutionize the court system. It all depends upon on this problem.
00:13:37:16 - 00:13:59:17
GARRETT-FORTÉ
We did think at the time when Huey was incarcerated that if he was not given a fair trial, if he was killed because of not getting an impartial jury, that the sky was the limit and that we would resort to warfare on the streets.
00:14:03:03 - 00:14:26:00
HARPER
One night, I got this feeling. A strange feeling that I'm going to be involved with a trial, like I was ordained to do a job. Ordained to do a job. Didn't know what the end of it was going to be. And sure enough, I got called to serve on a jury.
00:14:30:13 - 00:14:50:17
GARRY
Well, we had the jury commissioner on this afternoon and this morning trying to show that the jury is selected from the voter's registration list. And, of course, the percentage of black citizens who do not vote is much higher than that of white citizens.
00:14:51:17 - 00:15:12:16
STEVENSON
The people who were lucky enough to get into the courtroom, given these disparities, still had enormous challenges because of this device called the Peremptory Strike. If 50 people are brought to court and we only need 12 jurors and I'm the defense attorney and you're the prosecutor, we'll each get to exclude people on an alternating basis.
00:15:13:19 - 00:15:35:07
STEVENSON
And what we saw happening in most criminal courtrooms in America, including in Oakland, was that prosecutors usually use their peremptory strikes, these discretionary strikes, to exclude African-Americans. And the Supreme Court before the Newton trial had basically upheld the prosecutors right to use these peremptories in a racially biased manner.
00:15:35:08 - 00:15:50:06
STEVENSON
It was an outrageous decision. And so at the time of the Newton trial, prosecutors had a lot of latitude to exclude people of color through these peremptory strikes. And those were the people who were lucky enough to get into the courtroom given these disparities and the underrepresentation in the jury pool.
00:15:51:03 - 00:16:04:07
JO KOONAN
Charlie Garry was saying, we need a jury that could step back from the assumption that if there's a conflict between a black person and a white person and certainly a white person in authority, then the black person is wrong.
00:16:04:19 - 00:16:27:08
HENDERSON
Charles Garry was very conscious to not let the prosecutor just eliminate a juror on the basis of race without having to give an explanation. He would stand up and put on the record, let the record show that that person just dismissed peremptorily is African-American.
00:16:27:13 - 00:17:06:09
BROSNAHAN
Well, the jury selection in the Huey Newton trial was revolutionary. He literally attacked the white jurors by suggesting to them very directly that they couldn't be fair in this case. So there was Charlie in the courtroom taking on a white fireman, asking him to look at Huey Newton and to admit that when he looked at him, he saw someone who was different, that he had thoughts in his mind when he saw a black person on the street that were negative, he had negative thoughts about him.
00:17:06:09 - 00:17:09:22
BROSNAHAN
Objection, Your Honor. Counsel Garry is badgering and argumentative.
00:17:10:11 - 00:17:18:16
JUDGE REENACTMENT
Sustained. Sir, regardless of what you have heard in the news, can you be completely impartial? That is the question.
00:17:18:16 - 00:17:22:18
PROSPECTIVE JUROR REENACTMENT
Yes, I'm sure that I could have an open mind.
00:17:22:18 - 00:17:33:09
BROSNAHAN
The ones that survived that assault, because that's the right word for it, were bent over backwards to try to be fair.
00:17:33:09 - 00:17:42:06
BROSNAHAN
Sir, so in this moment, as Huey Newton sits here next to me now, you can say that he's absolutely innocent?
00:17:42:06 - 00:17:44:00
BROSNAHAN
Yes.
00:17:44:00 - 00:17:46:05
BROSNAHAN
But you don't believe it. Do you?
00:17:47:21 - 00:17:56:06
HARPER
No.
00:17:56:06 - 00:18:32:23
HARPER
It was clear that the prosecutor wanted to get all the blacks off, but I was an acceptable black. I was living in the hills. I was working in the largest bank in the world. What do I know about poor black folk? The defense did not want me on the jury. The defense thought I was oblivious to being black. But in this country, you're never oblivious to being black. They needed to have at least one black on the jury. So I was the prosecution's token black.
00:18:35:02 - 00:19:04:22
JO KOONAN
The composition of the Huey Newton jury was a breakthrough because it wasn't just predominantly white men, which historically had meant they accepted the dominant view of the prosecution. If you don't have a true cross-section, you can't have the truth, you only have half the truth or a quarter of the truth. It was absolutely pioneering to have the diversity of the jury. It just was unheard of.
00:19:05:22 - 00:19:20:15
HARPER
Now, when I got on the jury, then I had to figure out how to become foreman the jury. I knew how to establish leadership. And the way I did it was that there were some strong women. They played dirty hearts card game.
00:19:21:23 - 00:19:36:18
HARPER
I got thier respect because I knew how to play it and I would beat them. And then I went to them a little bit nicely and when we got into the jury room, I was immediately selected as foreman. We needed a scapegoat.
00:19:39:08 - 00:19:43:07
HARPER
That's what they didn't say, but I'm pretty sure that was on their mind.
00:19:44:21 - 00:20:03:16
DAVIS
It was a shock that a black had been chosen as a foreman of this highly explosive, very important international trial. And I think all I could think about then, this is a brave man because he's entering an arena where either side is used to guns.
00:20:04:05 - 00:20:28:19
HARPER
I did not believe that Newton was going to get justice. That's why I said I'm going to sacrifice the rest of my career, my life, my family, to make sure that we have justice. And if he does have justice and he lives, that's going to be a big thing. But if he has justice and he dies, he dies for what he did in a fair trial.
00:20:34:13 - 00:20:52:09
CLEAVER
The black communities were sure. There's no question, he's done for. And my job was to make sure the attention increased to the point that it would be politically very, very difficult for Huey Newton to get the death penalty.
00:20:58:01 - 00:21:17:13
CLEAVER
The police were very powerful, but they were taken aback by the energy of these demonstrators. The police would come out, make several arrests, and disperse the crowd. If we were dispersed, we eventually came back and started chanting again.
00:21:18:00 - 00:21:27:05
CROWD
The revolution has come. Off the pigs! Time to pick up the gun. Off the pigs! The revolution has come. Off the pigs!
00:21:27:06 - 00:21:30:00
CLEAVER
And they saw that they couldn't stop us.
00:21:30:08 - 00:21:33:22
CROWD
Free Huey now or else! Free Huey now or else!
00:21:32:23 - 00:21:46:08
ARMMAND
In the case of Huey Newton, the public was organized and mobilized. And it wasn't just the African-American community, it was the broader community that had been informed and brought in at an organizational level.
00:21:48:20 - 00:22:02:14
CLEAVER
We had 5000 people around the courthouse. Every race you can imagine. We had Asians, we had mulattos, we had black people, we had white people. There was so much international attention. The energy was phenomenal.
00:22:09:20 - 00:22:26:07
DORADO
My main concern was what was going to happen in Oakland when he was convicted. I had no doubt that he was going to be convicted of first-degree murder and he was going to face execution. What were the Black Panthers going to do? How far were they going to take the martyrdom when he was convicted?
00:22:33:09 - 00:22:44:05
HARPER
We had riots in Detroit, we had riots in Watts. And always rioted and in places where there were blacks. Now we're in Oakland with the Black Panthers and their armed.
00:22:52:15 - 00:23:04:21
HENDERSON
All of the social turmoil going on at the same time this case was coming to trial had to have some effect on the trial itself.
00:23:10:23 - 00:23:24:22
HARPER
And this was a time of riot. And Oakland hadn't had a riot. At any time, something like that could explode and happen. Be careful. Don't get us all killed. Don't push us off into the ocean.
00:23:38:11 - 00:23:44:08
DAVIS
In the Newton trial, there was a cast of characters that it would be hard to put together for a Hollywood film.
00:23:45:17 - 00:24:03:13
HARPER
Lowell Jensen looked the part. He was tall. He was handsome. He was very articulate. The main defense attorneys teeth were all crooked. He looked like the poor black guy's attorney. We expected somebody who wasn't going to be that clever.
00:24:04:12 - 00:24:10:10
COOPER
In the sixties, women in the trial courtrooms was a rarity, and there were very, very few women.
00:24:10:22 - 00:24:19:18
HENDERSON
It was extraordinary for a woman to play the role that Fay did. She was thorough. She was committed.
00:24:20:00 - 00:24:28:18
LEE WALD
Fay was extraordinarily important. The one who did the research, who had the information that made a difference.
00:24:28:18 - 00:24:53:22
DAVIS
The defense attorneys, the prosecutor, the jury, Newton himself, his intellect on the one hand, his blending, in a sense embracing white society through classical music and in the philosophy of those non-blacks that he he admired. But on the other hand, he was this gun toting black guy that was out to shoot cops.
00:24:54:13 - 00:25:04:02
NEWTON
Today's most important witness was Officer Howard Haines who was the patrolman who was shot three times during the gun battle on October the 28th, 1967.
00:25:05:00 - 00:25:08:15
GARRY REENACTMENT
When was it that you frisked, Mr. Newton?
00:25:08:15 - 00:25:14:09
HAINES REENACTMENT
I didn't frisk him at any time. Everything had gone so calmly. I didn't feel any need to.
00:25:14:09 - 00:25:18:13
GARRY REENACTMENT
Did you ever actually see a gun on Newton at any time during the stop?
00:25:18:20 - 00:25:20:22
HAINES REENACTMENT
No, sir, I did not.
00:25:20:22 - 00:25:25:09
GARRY REENACTMENT
What did you see on Newton's person after he got out of the car?
00:25:25:09 - 00:25:31:10
HAINES REENACTMENT
Well, he was carrying a book. A law book.
00:25:31:10 - 00:25:40:06
JENSEN
He did come up with a law, but because that was found later with blood on it. But whether he was armed or not, that's a question to ask. It's whether or not he shot. If he made the first shot, obviously he was armed.
00:25:40:23 - 00:25:54:08
COOPER
Well, Jensen, he thought he could just tell the jury, look, this is a cop killing by somebody who was carrying a gun and a law book, somebody who had declared that he was against Oakland police officers. But the case wasn't that simple.
00:25:56:04 - 00:26:22:08
NEWTON
The police officer got out of his car, walked over to mine and said, well, well, well, what do we have here? The great great Huey P. Newton. I got out of the car with the law book in my right hand, I leaned on the car with my hands on top of the book and I said, "You have no reasonable cause to arrest me." He said, "You can take that book and stick it up your ass, nigger." And he gives me a straight arm in the face.
00:26:22:18 - 00:26:29:19
NEWTON
I went down on one knee and then I felt a sensation of boiling hot soup being spilled on my stomach.
00:26:31:16 - 00:26:44:01
LEE WALD
A lawyer does not always put a defendant on the witness stand. It certainly showed a tremendous amount of confidence that Charles Garry had in Huey Newton.
00:26:45:16 - 00:26:50:05
GARRY REENACTMENT
Mr. Newton, you are the founder of the Black Panther Party. Is that right?
00:26:50:14 - 00:26:51:10
HUEY
Yes, I am.
00:26:52:05 - 00:26:54:17
GARRY REENACTMENT
What does the Black Panther Party stand for?
00:26:55:06 - 00:27:08:00
HUEY
We want the power to determine the destiny of our own people. We believe that the basic cultural theme of this country has been created by white people dating all the way back to slavery.
00:27:08:00 - 00:27:23:07
STEVENSON
Most criminal courtrooms in America we rarely talk about the legacy of slavery. From his perspective, you could not understand the dynamics that gave rise to this incident without some appreciation, without some recollection of this larger history.
00:27:23:19 - 00:27:28:16
JENSEN
When Newton was asked questions about his opinion about racism in America, he objected to it.
00:27:28:16 - 00:27:32:03
JENSEN REENACTMENT
Objection. This is incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant.
00:27:32:03 - 00:27:35:08
JENSEN
It did not have a direct relation to this trial.
00:27:35:08 - 00:27:38:22
JUDGE REENACTMENT
Objection overruled. I will let this go for now.
00:27:39:17 - 00:27:55:18
HENDERSON
I don't think there are many judges who would have made that ruling. I think it was the right ruling. If you're black, your racial experiences start as soon as you're interacting with human--other human beings.
00:27:56:03 - 00:28:08:07
HILLIARD
The trial is not a trial. It's actually a classroom. He would swivel around and start talking to the jury. He would be educating the jury about our movement.
00:28:08:18 - 00:28:40:10
HUEY
White people have enriched themselves for approximately 300 years by the sweat of the black man's brow. The younger whites have suddenly discovered that their fathers said many beautiful things in letters and constitutions. But in the final analysis, they were hypocrites. And the whole facade that they put up was only to hide their hypocrisy. While they talked about the rights of mankind and equality for all. But at that very moment, they were murdering and enslaving black people right in this country.
00:28:43:13 - 00:29:03:06
LEE WALD
Huey wanted to show how unfair the judicial system was, both against black people, against poor people, exposing what was wrong with the court system, what was wrong with the police system, and in a broader sense, what was wrong with this country.
00:29:04:02 - 00:29:11:04
M. NEWTON
The prosecution was putting Huey Newton on trial. As it turned out, Huey put the United States on trial.
00:29:15:10 - 00:29:36:00
REPORTER
The long awaited decision in the Huey Newton murder trial is now very near. The jury of seven women and five men are deliberating the fate of the Black Panther leader on the eighth floor of that building. It is their job to decide whether he is guilty of killing Oakland policeman John Frey and wounding Officer Herbert Haines in a pre-dawn shootout last October.
00:29:38:09 - 00:29:57:21
HARPER
The jury room had a good view of the top of the parking garage. And on the top of the parking garage across from the jury room, the National Guard had set up a command post. And I was thinking that, you know, all they needed was an excuse to, for somebody to fire a shot.
00:30:01:19 - 00:30:11:15
GARRETT-FORTÉ
All of us did have weapons and we realized that we might have to give our lives in defense of our beliefs.
00:30:11:21 - 00:30:22:11
HILLIARD
Free Huey Newton or the sky's the limit. You're not going to take this leader of ours and take his life without having a response from people in the street.
00:30:22:22 - 00:30:23:14
LEADER
What are you?
00:30:23:15 - 00:30:24:23
CROWD
Black Panthers!
00:30:25:00 - 00:30:25:23
LEADER
Why are you here?
00:30:26:00 - 00:30:27:03
CROWD
Free Huey!
00:30:27:04 - 30:28:03
LEADER
Why are you here?
00:30:28:04 - 00:30:29:11
CROWD
Free Huey!
00:29:12 - 00:30:30:11
LEADER
What are you going to use?
00:30:30:12 - 00:30:31:15
Huey’s teachings!
00:30:32:00 - 00:30:32:20
LEADER
What ar you going to use?
00:30:32:21 - 00:30:34:00
CROWD
Huey’s teachings!
00:30:34:01 - 00:30:34:20
LEADER
What are they?
00:30:34:21 - 00:30:35:21
CROWD
The gun!
00:30:35:22 - 00:30:36:20
LEADER
What are they?
00:30:36:21 - 00:30:37:13
CROWD
The gun!
00:30:38:06 - 00:30:53:16
HARPER
I thought Judge Friedman was fair. His instructions were very clear to set up the scenarios based on the facts. We eventually all agreed on the chain of events. Now, how do you apply the law to that? That was not so cut and dry.
00:30:54:08 - 00:31:11:22
HARPER
Was it malice aforethought? First degree-murder? Was it second-degree murder? Was it manslaughter? Or was it self-defense? The same events, the same evidence, and they saw the application of the law differently. We read that Newton’s out at night trying to buy barbecue.
00:31:12:11 - 00:31:23:09
HARPER
He gets stopped and then Newton got out with his law book. He didn't get out of the car with a gun. We agreed that he had a law book. He's going to read the law to a hothead policeman.
00:31:24:07 - 00:31:46:02
HARPER
The police officer, Frey, shoved Newton down and on the way down Newton got shot and it was dark. Frey couldn't see who was shooting. Well the only person back there was the other officer. The other officer shot Frey in the shoulder, caused him to lose the gun, and then Newton gets Frey's gun and emptied the gun in
00:31:46:02 - 00:32:03:16
HARPER
Frey's back. Some people said man has a right to defend himself. If somebody's shooting at you and you get the gun, you shoot back. So that was where some people were. Some people said, no, not self-defense because he didn't have to defend himself once he got the gun.
00:32:04:07 - 00:32:16:19
HARPER
The fact that he emptied the gun in the guy's back was sufficient to say first degree murder. But if you're under that stress and all of this is happening in seconds, less than seconds, no telling what's happening.
00:32:16:19 - 00:32:29:21
HARPER
You know, he fired the gun, shoots and it's over. And so there was no intent because you were in the heat of the moment. That's manslaughter. We ended up with three positions and we couldn't get past those.
00:32:29:21 - 00:32:47:01
HARPER
Two days we were deadlocked. I felt that that was going to be it. We're going to be totally a hung jury. Different opinions as to the application of the law. I went out on the patio. I got very, very emotional inside.
00:32:49:04 - 00:33:06:21
HARPER
I felt like I was going to throw up because I thought maybe I couldn't get it done. And I wanted to finish the job. I wanted the jury to finish the job. Then after the recess, they said, "okay, let's vote again."
00:33:07:04 - 00:33:21:19
HARPER
They said lets vote again. And everyone agreed on a verdict and that was the end of it. We had to walk in stoically and not let anybody know what the verdict was.
00:33:24:00 - 00:33:27:21
JUDGE REENACTMENT
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
00:33:27:21 - 00:33:29:07
HARPER REENACTMENT
Yes, we have, Your Honor.
00:33:29:07 - 00:33:32:11
JUDGE REENACTMENT
Is your verdict a unanimous decision?
00:33:32:11 - 00:33:33:23
HARPER REENACTMENT
Yes, it is, Your Honor.
00:33:33:23 - 00:33:36:02
JUDGE REENACTMENT
Please hand the verdict to the clerk.
00:33:37:19 - 00:33:52:03
CLERK REENACTMENT
On the charge of first-degree murder the jury finds Huey Newton not guilty. On the charge of voluntary manslaughter, the jury finds Huey Newton guilty.
00:33:53:04 - 00:34:06:06
GARRETT-FORTÉ
Charles Garry saw the devastated look on my face after they came in with the guilty of manslaughter decision and hugged me and said very quietly to me, "this is a victory."
00:34:06:06 - 00:34:11:03
GARRETT-FORTÉ
Shocked. I could not believe that this was actually happening.
00:34:11:13 - 00:34:21:02
GARRETT-FORTÉ
This was the first time that an armed black man was in a altercation with the police department and was vindicated.
00:34:22:03 - 00:34:32:02
M. NEWTON
When the jury came back with voluntary manslaughter, my mother was not going to have to wait for her son to be executed. So that in of itself was a victory.
00:34:32:07 - 00:34:49:03
HARPER
The white community got a conviction. Headlines: "NEWTON GUILTY." So they got what they wanted. And guess what? He didn't get first-degree murder, he's not going to die. The black community's cheering.
00:34:53:03 - 00:34:58:20
DORADO
No one was aware it was even a possibility. How did the jury come to this?
00:35:01:20 - 00:35:13:06
HART
The verdict was one of disappointment, disagreement, confusion. That was not the right verdict.
00:35:25:22 - 00:35:38:01
M. NEWTON
The situation now is that Huey Newton was sentenced to a prison term from 2 to 15 years. But an appeals court overturned the conviction on the grounds that the trial judge had made an error in his instruction to the jury.
00:35:38:11 - 00:35:44:02
DAVIS
Some feel that he might be free by tonight. Others feel that certainly he will be a free man by tomorrow.
00:35:44:04 - 00:36:04:20
HILLIARD
One of the greatest days of our life was victorious. It was a beautiful day. 2000 people in the street of Oakland saying, "Free Huey or the sky's the limit." And here's this guy come walking out of the court. I'll never forget that.
00:36:07:08 - 00:36:13:09
GARRETT-FORTÉ
To see him free was something that I cannot describe.
00:36:15:03 - 00:36:20:23
HILLIARD
I think that we set a standard in what more than anything is how you select a jury.
00:36:22:05 - 00:36:36:04
PATTERSON
In this case, they had skillful attorneys and they had a good jury. If people go back, you will find one of the greatest trials in history.
00:36:36:04 - 00:36:47:21
SCHECK
The Newton trial changed the way criminal law is practiced. Within a year or two you could see the jury pool for trials changing.
00:36:48:14 - 00:37:01:18
STEVENSON
You saw the United States Supreme Court finally acknowledge that it's a violation of the defendant's right if the jury pool does not adequately represent people of color. And all of that was a function of the success of the Newton trial.
00:37:02:15 - 00:37:20:03
JO KOONAN
So we're seeing a little more diversity than the sixties, but it's still a real problem because the system excludes poor people, and excludes small business people, and people who can't afford to serve.
00:37:20:03 - 00:37:57:15
DAVIS
Americans who are black, we have always envisioned a country that had a soul and that cared. In this area, that perception was really put to the test. We reflected upon what America said it was and what we wanted it to be at its heart and at its soul. We tested it and some case came out the richer for it. And in others, the battle goes on.
