Army Overturns Rushed 1944 Conviction of Black Soldiers in Lynching
Updated: An Army review board has overturned the conviction of African-Americans court-martialed for lynching an Italian prisoner of war at a Seattle military base in 1944.
The board concluded the trial, which resulted in the convictions of 28 African-Americans, was “fundamentally unfair.” Four men requested the review, but the ruling could be extended to all 28 if they or their families request it, the New York Times reports.
The lynching victim was found dead after a night of rioting between segregated black soldiers and Italian prisoners of war who were allowed to visit whites-only bars off the base, the Seattle Times reports.
Two defense lawyers had only 13 days to prepare for trial of all those who were charged and did not have full access to a confidential report about the incident.
The prosecutor in the case was Leon Jaworski, who later became a Watergate special prosecutor and died in 1982. He served as ABA president in 1971-72, and now the ABA sponsors a debate series that is named after him.
One of the defense lawyers, Howard Noyd, told the Seattle Times that he didn’t even have enough time to interview all of the defendants before the trial.
A hat tip to the Jurist blog, which posted the stories.
Post updated on 11/31/2007 at 11:49 AM.
