High Court Won’t Restore Conviction of Former Panther

Opening a new chapter in what is already one of the state’s longest and costliest legal cases, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to reinstate the 1976 murder conviction of “San Quentin Six” co-defendant Johnny L. Spain.

The court, without comment, let stand a federal appeals court ruling that a state Superior Court judge had violated Spain’s rights by shackling him during the 204-day trial. Spain, a former Black Panther, was on trial for allegedly participating in a bloody, bungled 1971 San Quentin Prison escape attempt in which three guards and revolutionary George Jackson died.

The ruling expunges Spain’s conviction on two counts of murder and one of conspiracy, but allows for a new trial.

Marin County Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry Boren said Spain “probably” will be retried. But defense lawyer Dennis Riordan said a conviction is remote because one co-defendant, Stephen Bingham, was acquitted the last time the 19-year-old case was presented to a jury, in 1986.

By allowing the escape-related charges to be expunged, the court also aided Spain’s effort to stay out of prison while the case is debated. After lengthy hearings, he was released two years ago on $350,000 bail and has been working and lecturing ever since.

Accompanied by his fiancee, photographer Elisabeth Sunday, and Riordan, Spain told reporters he felt great after learning of the Supreme Court ruling.

“Getting on with my life after two decades in prison is not a theoretical question for me but something I work hard at every day,” he said.

Spain, 40, had spent 21 years in prison before his release in 1988. He was sent to Soledad Prison in 1967 as a 17-year-old for murdering a man during a bus-stop robbery in downtown Los Angeles. Moved later to San Quentin, Spain became involved in the escape attempt in which three guards were killed by inmates before authorities killed Jackson to end the uprising.

Jackson, a convicted thief, self-proclaimed revolutionary and author of an inflammatory prison diary titled “Soledad Brother,” launched the escape bid by producing a pistol in his cell after meeting with Bingham.

Guards were rounded up into cells where some were shot and others had their throats slit. Jackson was shot and killed as he ran across an exercise yard with the smuggled handgun. Spain was found by guards hiding in some bushes in the yard.

That uprising was the bloodiest escape attempt in San Quentin history.

Six men eventually were tried for their roles in the case, on charges ranging from conspiracy to murder. They became known as the “San Quentin Six” and were championed by some as victims of a brutal and oppressive prison system.

State prosecutors never accused Spain of participating in any killings but charged him with responsibility for the murders of two of the three guards because of his alleged conspiracy with Jackson and Bingham.

During the trial, five of the six defendants were shackled, each with 25 pounds of chains, cuffs and locks. The sixth defendant, who was free on parole, was not shackled. Three defendants ultimately were found not guilty and three were convicted, including Spain.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said last August that Spain, the last of the men still facing charges, is entitled to a new trial or freedom because the shackles both prejudiced the jury to consider him guilty and caused him so much physical and emotional pain he could not contribute to his own defense.

The appeals court acknowledged a need for extraordinary courtroom security--gunmen had killed a Marin County Superior Court judge in an unsuccessful bid to free Jackson in 1970--but the appellate justices said the proper precaution would have been to bar Spain from the courtroom.

Spain had said he was willing to give up his right to be present at the trial to avoid being chained.

Boren said Monday that the facts in the case show that the chains did not prejudice the jury.

“Spain was acquitted of more charges than he was convicted of,” the Marin prosecutor said. “If the shackles really had a prejudicial effect, as the 9th Circuit ruled, then they (the defendants) all would have been convicted.”

Since his release, Spain has worked as an electrician, counseled troubled youths accused of petty crimes and has lectured on “Society Behind Bars” at Stanford University and UC Berkeley.

Riordan said a decision to retry his client will be politically “dicey,” since it would take years, cost millions of dollars and may not be any more successful than the 1986 trial of Bingham.

Boren discounted Riordan’s speculation, but declined to say for certain that his office will pursue the case.

“When it comes to murder,” he said, “the cost of prosecuting the case is not an issue.”