Authors: T. J. English
Bin Wahad pleads guilty to Napier charges:
McFadden, Robert D., “4 Black Panthers Plead Guilty to a Lesser Charge in Slaying,”
New York Times,
May 22, 1973.
Curry and Binetti attempted murder trial:
Fosburgh, Lacey, “A Black Panther on Trial Here in Attempt to Slay 2 Policemen,”
New York Times,
November 4, 1972; Fosburgh, Lacey, “Patrolman Tells of 1971 Shooting,”
New York Times,
November 7, 1972; Proctor, William, “Friends Link Moore to Gun, Cop Shooting,”
Daily News,
November 10, 1972; Pearl, Mike, “Gun Is Key in Panther Case,”
New York Post,
December 10, 1972; “Woman Faces New Grilling in Trial of Panther Moore,”
New York Post,
November 11, 1972; Pearl, Mike, “Machinegun Trial: The Summations,”
New York Post,
December 6, 1972; Pearl, Mike, “Machinegun Trial Going to Jurors,”
New York Post,
December 7, 1972; “Moore Jury Still Out,”
New York Post,
December 8, 1972; “Panther Jury Is Deadlocked,”
Daily News,
December 9, 1972; McQuiston, John T., “Case on
2 Policemen Shot Here Ends in Mistrial,”
New York Times,
December 10, 1972; “New Trial Set for Panther,”
New York Post,
January 2, 1973; Proctor, William, “Panther Trial Opens,”
Daily News,
January 3, 1973.
“Here [were] two damaged white people” (juror Frank Treu):
Passin' It On,
PBS documentary.
“One of the other jurors says”:
Ibid.
Third Curry and Binetti trial:
Interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad (September 16, 2008); Fosburgh, Lacey, “Panther Convicted of Attack on Police,”
New York Times,
March 8, 1973.
Bin Wahad sentencing:
Fosburgh, Lacey, “Panther Gets Life Term in Attack on 2 Policemen,”
New York Times,
April 27, 1973.
Grass eaters and meat eaters:
Interview with Mike Armstrong (August 12, 2009);
The Knapp Commission Report on Police Corruption,
p. 65; Levitt,
NYPD Confidential,
p. 8; Cannato,
The Ungovernable City,
p. 477.
Phillips charged in double murder:
Kirkman, Edward, “Phillips Indicted in '68 Killing of Two,”
Daily News,
March 21, 1972; Shecter with Phillips,
On the Pad,
pp. 301â325; interview with Mike Armstrong (August 12, 2009).
“It was around three in the afternoon”:
Shecter with Phillips,
On the Pad
, p. 304.
Riot in front of Mosque Number Seven:
Interview with Randy Jurgensen (February 12, 2010); interview with Sonny Grosso (April 13, 2009); Jurgensen and Cea,
Circle of Six,
pp. 12â20; Grosso, Sonny, and John Devaney,
Murder at the Mosque,
pp. 6â7, 11, 12; Levitt,
NYPD Confidential,
pp. 12â13.
“I thought I was shot”:
Interview with Randy Jurgensen (February 12, 2010).
Murder at the mosque:
The killing of Patrolman Phillip Cardillo was never solved and remains an open case.
Phillips murder trial before Judge Murtagh:
Schultz, Ray, “The Anatomy of a Murder Trial: The People v. William Phillips,”
New York Times Magazine,
December 17, 1972; Shecter with Phillips,
On the Pad,
pp. 332â362.
Warden allows Whitmore to watch TV in hospital ward:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009).
The Marcus-Nelson Murders:
The movie begins with a disclaimer: “What you are about to see is a dramatization of one of the most controversial and bitterly debated police investigations preceding the Supreme Court's landmark
Miranda
decision of 1966. Name changes, compressions of time and composites of certain characters have been made to present this most significant story.” The movie was viewed by the author at PCM.
The Marcus-Nelson Murders
was generally praised for its realism and seri
ousness, though TV critic John J. O'Connor of the
New York Times
attacked the movie as “fiction covered with a layer of factâ¦. Mr. Mann's social indictment is highly questionable. The bad guys, policemen and prosecutors consumed with ambition, are either sadistic or slimyâ¦. [Mann's] indictment is so broad that it disintegrates into a scenario for white hats and black hats. Without a strong measure of precision, old fashioned liberal âguilt' isn't enough.” O'Connor, John J., “C.B.S.'s 3-Hour Movie Examines Justice,”
New York Times,
March 8, 1973.
Whitmore's feelings about
The Marcus-Nelson Murders:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009).
Airing of
The 51st State:
The segment on the Whitmore case, approximately fifteen minutes in length, was devastating. Celeste Viruet is interviewed in shadows, using a translator. She notes that after giving the police her version of eventsâa version that contradicts that of Elba Borreroâshe was never questioned again by investigators or prosecutors.
The 51st State
(episode no. 177), which aired January 1973, was viewed by the author at PCM.
D.A. Gold reopens case:
Oelsner, Lesley, “Whitmore Rape-Robbery Case Reopened by District Attorney,”
New York Times,
December 23, 1972.
Beldock receives call from D.A.'s office:
Interview with Myron Beldock (January 27, 2009).
“Selwyn was pretty certain it was going to be a dismissal”:
Ibid.
Riot at Green Haven prison:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009); interview with Joseph “Jazz” Hayden; Darnton, John, “Clash Among Inmates Reported at Green Haven State Prison,”
New York Times,
September 16, 1972; Darnton, John, “Security Is Tight at Green Haven,”
New York Times,
September 17, 1972. According to some accounts, the riot was touched off by one inmate absconding with another inmate's pet bird. Jazz Hayden happened to be at Green Haven at the same time as Whitmore (though they didn't know each other). When the riot broke out, Hayden wound up in the middle of things; he was hit in the face and rushed to hospital with a broken jaw.
Whitmore brought from Green Haven to NYC:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009).
Whitmore set free:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009); interview with Myron Beldock (January 27, 2009); interview with Selwyn Raab (April 22, 2009); Ross, Edwin, and Marcia Kramer, “9-Year Legal Nightmare Ends; Whitmore Freed,”
Daily News,
April 11, 1973; Oelsner, Lesley, “Whitmore Wins Freedom on Gold's New Evidence,”
New York Times,
April 11, 1973; “Justice Uncoiled,”
Time,
April 23, 1973.
“I never expected to see the day”:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009).
EPILOGUE
Lindsay runs for president:
Cannato,
The Ungovernable Cit
y, pp. 501â515;
Fun City Revisited,
PBS documentary.
Remnants of the BLA:
Interview with Sonny Grosso (April 13, 2009); interview with Randy Jurgensen (February 12, 2010); Clark, “Members of Black Army Sought in Bronx Street-by-Street Hunt,”
New York Times,
March 8, 1973; Tanenbaum and Rosenberg,
Badge of the Assassin,
pp. 452â454; Muntaqim, Jalil,
On the Black Liberation Army,
pp. 2â18.
Killing of Twymon Myers:
Interview with Sonny Grosso (April 13, 2009); interview with Randy Jurgensen (February 12, 2010); McQuiston, John T., “Fugitive Black Militant Is Killed in Bronx Shootout with Police,”
New York Times,
November 15, 1973.
Capture of Assata Shakur:
Kaufman, Michael T., “Woman Captured in Shoot-Out Called âSoul' of Black Militants,”
New York Times,
May 3, 1973; Gupte, Pranay, “Joanne Chesimard Pleads Not Guilty in Holdup Here,”
New York Times,
July 21, 1973; Chambers, Marcia, “Mrs. Chesimard Wins Acquittal,”
New York Times,
December 29, 1973.
Phillips found guilty of double murder and attempted murder:
Clark, Alfred E., “Jury Convicts Phillips of 2 Brothel Murders in 1968,”
New York Times,
November 22, 1974.
“I could never, never spend the rest of my life in fucking jail”:
Shecter with Phillips,
On the Pad,
p. 313.
Phillips, the prison years:
Interview with Sean Gardiner (June 11, 2009); Gardiner, Sean, “Freeze Frame on a Bad Cop,”
Village Voice,
August 8, 2006; Gray, Geoffrey, “Crooked Cop, Now Jailhouse Lawyer, Seeks Parole at 74,”
New York Sun,
March 28, 2005; Gray, “Spitzer to Appeal Decision on Phillips Parole Hearing,”
New York Sun,
April 5, 2005; Gray, “Time and Time Served,”
New York Times,
February 5, 2007.
Armstrong support of Phillips:
Mike Armstrong, former lead counsel for the Knapp Commission, has always contended that he does not believe Phillips committed the murders for which he was convicted, though Phillips believes Armstrong could have done more to advocate on his behalf. Interview with Mike Armstrong (August 12, 2009); interview with Geoffrey Gray (November 19, 2009); interview with Ido Mizrahy (November 19, 2009); Gardiner, “Freeze Frame on a Bad Cop,”
Village Voice,
August 8, 2006.
“Most of these guys were in diapers when I was testifying”:
Gardiner, “Freeze Frame on a Bad Cop,”
Village Voice,
August 8, 2006.
Phillips before state parole board:
Transcript of Parole Board hearing, September 21, 1999, NY State Division of Parole.
Phillips's 2007 parole hearing:
Transcript of hearing, September 19, 2007, NY State Parole Board.
Phillips released from prison:
Gregorian, Dareh, “Freedom for '68 Slay Cop,”
New York Post,
September 23, 2007; interview with Geoffrey Gray (November 19, 2009); interview with Ido Mizrahy (November 19, 2009); Lueck, Thomas J., “Officer Jailed for 32 Years Wins Parole,”
New York Times,
September 23, 2007.
Bin Wahad first hears of COINTELPRO:
Interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad (September 16, 2008).
Robert Boyle meets Bin Wahad in prison:
Interview with Robert Boyle (November 19, 2009); interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad (September 16, 2008).
Lawyers Boyle and Elizabeth Fink begin investigation:
Interview with Robert Boyle (November 19, 2009).
U.S. government forced to release files on Bin Wahad:
Kifner, John, “Ex-Panther in Prison Says Evidence Was Concealed,”
New York Times,
April 3, 1989; interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad (September 16, 2009); interview with Robert Boyle (November 19, 2009).
Judge McQuillan statement:
People v. Bin Wahad,
statement of Justice Peter J. McQuillan, March 15, 1990.
Bin Wahad charges reversed:
Sullivan, Ronald, “After 17 Years, Panther Conviction Is Upset,”
New York Times,
March 16, 1990; Sullivan, Ronald, “Court Erupts as Judge Frees an Ex-Panther,”
New York Times,
March 23, 1990; interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad (September 16, 2008); interview with Robert Boyle (November 19, 2009).
Bin Wahad lawsuit of state and federal governments:
Feur, Alan, “Defiant Ex-Panther Sues Defiant New York Police,”
New York Times,
December 4, 2000; Weiser, Benjamin, “City Agrees to Settle Suit by Former Panther Leader,”
New York Times,
December 8, 2000.
Bin Wahad in Africa:
Interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad (September 16, 2009);
Passin' It On.
On the DVD version of the film there is an interview “extra” with Bin Wahad in Ghana.
“I don't know if I ever thought”:
Interview with Dhoruba Bin Wahad (September 16, 2009).
“I used to drive through Africa”:
Ibid.
“I got tired of everybody”:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009).
Resolution of Whitmore's lawsuit:
Interview with Myron Beldock (January 27, 2009); interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009); Raab, Selwyn, “Judge Dismisses Whitmore's Suit Against the City,”
New York Times,
April 16, 1979; “Court Ruling Allows Suit on False Charge,”
New York Times,
February 27, 1981.
Whitmore purchase of home:
Interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009).
“One morning I woke up”:
Ibid.
Whitmore's “KKK problem”:
Ibid.
“Out on the ocean seemed to be the only place”:
Ibid.
Whitmore troubles with the law:
New Jersey police records, 1971â 2007; interview with George Whitmore (April 3, 2009).
Whitmore hit by car (2010):
Interview with George Whitmore (February 1, 2010).
“I've had three heart attacks, been declared dead”:
Ibid.
New York City crime statistics:
Since the mid-1990s the city has seen the longest sustained period of declining crime rates in its recent history. Numerous civic and political figures have claimed credit for this phenomenon, and many have staked their careers on the city being safer and more secure. Although few would argue with the fact that the city is less crime-ridden today than it was thirty or forty years ago, in February 2010âin a survey conducted by a private research groupâmore than one hundred retired captains and high-ranking officers in the NYPD acknowledged that they knew that certain crime statistics were being manipulated for public consumption. Pressure to keep crime stats low led some precinct commanders to dispatch aides to crime scenes to persuade victims not to file complaints or to urge them to change their accounts in ways that could result in the downgrading of offenses to lower crimes. Retired members of the force reported that they were aware over the years of “ethically inappropriate” alterations of the numbers in the seven major crime categories, all of which helped create the illusion of a safer city. Rashbaum, William K., “Retired Officers Raise Questions on Crime Data,”
New York Times,
February 7, 2010.