Trial

Description

Indicted by grand jury on 3/20/69, the original defendants were Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner & Bobby Seale. Wm Kunstler & Leonard Weinglass of the Center for Constitutional Rights were defense attorneys. Julius Hoffman was judge. Richard Schultz & Tom Foran were prosecutors. The trial began on 9/24/69. On 10/9 the Nat'l Guard was mobilized against demonstrators outside.Seale requested postponement so his attorney, Charles Garry, could represent him after scheduled surgery. Hoffman denied postponement & refused to allow Seale to represent himself, leading to a verbal onslaught, the Black Panther leader calling him a 'fascist dog' & 'racist'. Seale refused to be silenced. Hoffman ordered him bound & gagged in the courtroom, citing a precedent from Ill. v. Allen. (Graham Nash's 'Chicago': "So your brother's bound & gagged, & they've chained him to a chair"). Ultimately Hoffman severed Seale from the case, giving him 4 years in prison for contempt, one of the longest sentences handed down for that offense.The Chicago 8 became the 7, where the defendants, particularly Yippies Abbie Hoffman & Jerry Rubin, mocked courtroom decorum as the infamous trial became a focus for protest. Abbie & Jerry appeared in court dressed in judicial robes. Abbie blew kisses at the jury. Hoffman became a favorite courtroom target of the defendants, who frequently insulted him. Abbie told him "you're a 'shande fur de Goyim' [disgrace in front of the gentiles]. You would have served Hitler better," later adding "your idea of justice is the only obscenity in the room." Davis & Rubin said "this court's bullshit."The trial extended months, with many countercultural figures from the left called to testify including singers Phil Ochs, Judy Collins & Arlo Guthrie; writers Norman Mailer & Alan Ginsberg; psychologist Timothy Leary & the Rev. Jesse Jackson.On 2/18/70, all 7 were found not guilty of conspiracy. Froines & Weiner were acquitted completely. The remaining 5 were convicted of crossing state lines with intent to incite riot under the anti-riot provisions of the '68 Civil Rights Act. On 2/20, they were each fined $5k & sentenced to 5 years. At sentencing, Abbie recommended the judge try LSD, offering to set him up with a Florida dealer he knew.On 11/21/72, all convictions were reversed by the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit on the basis that Hoffman was biased in refusing defense attorney screening of prospective jurors for cultural & racial bias (Case citation 472F.2d 340). The Justice Dep't decided not to retry the case. During the trial, all the defendants & both defense attorneys had been cited for contempt & sentenced to jail, but those convictions were also overturned. The contempt charges were retried before another judge, who found Dellinger, Rubin, Hoffman & Kunstler guilty of some charges, but opted against sentencing.

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