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On 21 August 2015, three judges of the Appeals Chamber held a hearing for the purpose of the review concerning the reduction of sentence of Mr Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, pursuant to article 110 of the Rome Statute.
Pictured here: Judge Piotr Hofmański at the hearing in Courtroom 1 of the International Criminal Court in the Heague on 21 August 2015 © ICC-CPI
Project 365 251/365
Thornton, Colorado
Canon 5d
135mm f2l
Speedlite 580ex II
Random sentence Saturday?!?
Lewis Jr Charles Lewis Jr., 15, and his mother Trisha Lindsey listen in court in Lansing Tuesday 4/10/2012 to testimony about Lewis' chances for rehabilitation. Testimony is ongoing for Lewis' sentencing in his first-degree murder conviction in the homicide of Shayla Johnson when Lewis was 13. Lewis was convicted in February in the homicide which involved seven other adults including his father. (Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal)
Haha, Classic! Eh.. I'm really tired and have to work in 3 hours doesn't help..
Different edit style, mainly done by Ej himself..
50mm f1.8
Strobist:
AB800 Through reflector camera left
On 21 August 2015, three judges of the Appeals Chamber held a hearing for the purpose of the review concerning the reduction of sentence of Mr Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, pursuant to article 110 of the Rome Statute.
Pictured here: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo at the hearing in Courtroom 1 of the International Criminal Court in the Heague on 21 August 2015 © ICC-CPI
Our innocent Schapelle today in tears after sentencing in Bali for 20
years.
A Bali court has sentenced our girl, Australian Schapelle Corby to 20
years in prison for trying to smuggle 4.1kgs of marijuana into
Indonesia.
Judges also fined Corby 100 million rupiah ($A13,875). Her lawyers
immediately said they would appeal. Prosecutors had sought a life
sentence.
"Longer sentence than the bali bombers? What did they get for their
hundreds of murders and lifelong injuries... two to three years.
That's your priorities for you.
The Indonesian police did not take fingerprints, nor take into account
vital evidence proving Corby's innocence. Many feel this is payback for
Australia's role as part of the Coalition of the Willing, bombing us
wasn't enough.
"I am devestated with the verdict of the Indonesian Courts for
Schapelle Corby. When the verdict was given, I fell into a bit of a
heap, but Schapelles strength made me gain my composure pretty quickly.
"I will continue to work with others to try and bring the girl home.
The Sentence Schapelle has recieved (sic) is absolutely bloody
disgusting - Australians need not travel to Bali or help Indonesia
anymore. They have done nothing for us or Schapelle. NO MORE HELPING
BALI - NO MORE MONEY FOR THEM
Where does our Government get off offering her the support of a QC
today after the vicious verdict was handed down.Too little too late for
our Indo bum sniffer PM.
The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in South Lambeth on Saturday the 26th. June 1915 to:
Mrs. Cross,
The Stables,
Witley Park,
Milford,
Surrey.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Aunt Emmy,
Just a card to let you
know that I reached
home safely after a
very enjoyable holiday.
I'm just going to see if
I can get that stuff at
the chemists for you
and will write in the
week.
With love to all from
Chris & Jim."
The Horns
Alas, The Horns, at 214, Kennington Park Road, Lambeth, London is no more.
It was originally called The Green Man and Horns in 1725. A Coroner's Inquest was held here, and later it became a meeting place for the Manor court.
It was renamed the Surrey Hotel and Tavern before finally becoming The Horns. In 1826, cricket was played opposite on Kennington Common, and the Surrey CCC was formed there in 1845.
The Horns was completely rebuilt in 1887 with an assembly room and masonic temple.
The building was severely damaged by a VI flying bomb on the 16th. August 1944. The assembly rooms were destroyed, the pub was damaged but went on until it finally closed, and was demolished in 1965.
In its day The Horns was a significant local employer. Some of the people working there in 1911 were as follows:
-- Joseph Sams - Manager, Hotel & Assembly Rooms, aged 55
-- Frederick James Sutch - Head Barman, aged 29
-- William Frederick Mayer - Barman, aged 21
-- Herbert Victor Steer - Barman, aged 22
-- Elmer Alfred James Salter - Restaurant Waiter, aged 16
-- Patrick Donohoe - Cellarman, aged 32
-- Arthur Treasure - Porter, aged 34
-- Arthur Smith - House Porter, aged 27
-- Herbert Jones - Kitchen Porter, aged 20
-- Bertha Alice Earl - Barmaid, aged 31
-- Margaret Annie Davies - Barmaid, aged 28
-- Rose Hine - Barmaid, aged 27
-- Ada Claydon - Barmaid, aged 30
-- Ellen Sarah Holway - Barmaid, aged 27
-- Annie Rebecca Maiden - Housekeeper, aged 30.
A Lynching in Georgia
So what else happened on the day that Chris and Jim posted the card?
Well, on the 26th. June 1915, Georgia Governor John M. Slaton and his wife Sarah Frances Grant left the state under security of the United States National Guard. This was because a mob of people, angered by his decision to commute Leo Frank's sentence to life imprisonment, threatened them at their home in Atlanta.
Leo Max Frank (1884 - 1915) was an American factory superintendent who was convicted in 1913 of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta. He was lynched in Marietta, Georgia on the 26th. June 1915 in response to the commutation of his death sentence. He was 31 when he died.
Today, the consensus of researchers is that Frank was wrongly convicted, and that Jim Conley was probably the actual murderer.
Armenian Genocide
Also on that day, Rafael de Nogales Méndez, a Venezuelan serving with the Ottoman Empire, met with Mehmed Reshid, Governor of the Diyarbekir province, and learned the governor had received telegraphs directly from Interior Minister Talaat Pasha with orders to "Burn-Destroy-Kill" all Armenians in the area.
The Birth of the Air Conditioner
Also on the 26th. June 1915, Willis Carrier, who patented the modern air conditioner in 1914, formed the Carrier Engineering Corporation with six other engineers in order to manufacturer and market the technology.
They opened their first factory in Newark, New Jersey in 1920.
P. G. Wodehouse
Also on that day, The Saturday Evening Post began publishing P. G. Wodehouse's serialized novel 'Something Fresh', introducing the character Lord Emsworth of Blandings Castle.
Paul Castellano
The day also marked the birth in NYC of the American gangster Paul Castellano, head of the Gambino crime family from 1976 to 1984. Castellano died in 1985.
Walter Farley
Also born on that day, in Syracuse, New York, was the American writer Walter Farley, known for The Black Stallion series. Walter died in 1989.
On 6 October 2015, three judges appointed by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held a hearing for the purpose of the review concerning the reduction of sentence of Mr Germain Katanga, in the presence of Mr Katanga.©ICC-CPI
In Boston, about 45 demonstrators, including a dozen speakers, out for Pvt. Manning on the day of her sentencing. A number of speakers took up the PVT Manning Support Network's call to urge people to sign the petition at pardon.privatemanning.org that calls on President Obama to issue a pardon. Other speakers expressed the view that this approach will be ineffective and that other approaches need to be considered. Everyone who spoke agreed that the 35 year sentence for acts of whistle-blowing is excessive. A number of folks discussed the issues with onlookers and passers-by.
VIsit www.privatemanning.org to learn more about the heroic whistleblower.
(further information and pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Schottenstift
Schottenstift Exterior - © Schottenstift
In the heart of Vienna lies the abbey of Our Lady to the Scots, the habitat of Benedictine monks who know themselves addressed by this sentence from the book of Psalms in person.
By the aim of the search for God and by the concrete form of life the monks are associated with the many Benedictine monks and Benedictine nuns all over the world. In addition, they know themselves in solidarity with all people of good will, like them, seeking true life.
Schottenstift - © Schottenstift
Following the Benedictine rules, the monastery but provides also very specific services. In the spirit of Benedictine hospitality the Schottenstift offers »monastery for a limited time", in the as a bed and breakfast run Benediktushaus guests from all over the world are welcome. The pastoral and spiritual care are just as much part of everyday life of the members of the Convention as the teaching in the traditional Scots high school and youth work in the basement. In the spirited Scots parish a lively cultural activity can unfold.
History of the Schottenstift
Duke Henry II Jasomirgott made Vienna the residence of Babenbergerreiches (Kingdom of the Babenberg). To emphasize the importance of the new capital, he convened in 1155 iroschottische (Irish-Scottish) monks from the St. Jakob monastery in Regensburg to Vienna. The new foundation in the first place should be a place of prayer, but then also a place where pilgrims and guests could find admission, a refuge for asylum seekers (the name "Freyung" still today reminds of that) and a center of cultural life.
Scots Church - © S. Gaube, Citype Scots Church - © S. Gaube, Citype
In the years from 1160 to 1200 outside the former city limits arose a mighty Romanesque church, which was a lot bigger than today's church, and the eastern part of the Roman church reached about 25 meters beyond the east wall of the present house of worship. In 1200, the church and convent were consecrated by the Bishop of Passau Wolfger von Ellenbrechtskirchen. Already in 1276 much of this troublesome erected complex fell victim to a fire. Earthquakes in the years 1348 and 1443 again left traces of destruction. In the mid-15th Century thus arose a new monastery.
Scots Church - © S. Gaube, Citype
In 1418 the era of Irish-Scottish monks ended, since in the course of the Melker Reform they were encouraged also to integrate locals into their ranks because junior staff more and more became sparse. The Iroschotten but prefered to return to their mother abbey in Regensburg. The name "Scots" but remained to this day.
Schottenstift Deed - © Schottenstift
Deed of Foundation
The fundamental redesign of Scots Abbey falls in the 17th and 18th Century. 1648, the present church was completed, in the following decades the monastery complex was changed from its very foundations.
Decisive role in these buildings had Abbot Carl Fetzer (1705-1750). Today's "Schottenhof (Court)" under abbot Andreas Wenzel (1807-1831) by the architect Josef Kornhäusel was classicist redesigned. The intensive study of science and close ties to the in 1365 founded University of Vienna resulted yet in the times of irish-scottish monks in the emergence of a first library. Although from those roots today almost nothing remains, the number of medieval manuscripts and incunabula in the following centuries grew. In this regard, wrote Albert P. Huebl (1867-1931) all currently valid printed catalogs. During the reorganization of the monastery, a new library hall was built under Abbot Andreas Wenzel for printed books, whose current division Vincent P. Knauer (1828-1894) had created. Under his leadership, a handwritten nominal catalog of books was created in 1883.
In 1807 on the request of the emperor it came to the foundation of the "Schottengymnasium" which took up the old school tradition of the house on the Freyung and should it continue. The prestigious school has become a main area of work of the monks. Concerning the building structure, the two world wars the Schottenstift on the whole has survived intact, for the Convention itself they entailed great damage, be it the economic troubles after the first world war or the great human bloodletting in the years 1939 to 1945. Numerous brothers fell in the war or did not return, the gates of the school remained closed from 1938 to 1945. The Second Vatican Council for the Scots Abbey, too, entailed the profound reflection upon the peculiarities of the monastic life and the tasks, which a Benedictine community in the world of today should and can shoulder.
The museum in Schottenstift
Schottenstift - © Schottenstift
Important art dating back several centuries
The Vienna Schottenstift on Freyung is among the most important Benedictine monasteries in Austria. Yet in the 15th Century, the Abbey of the Scots developed into a center of the Vienna spiritual and city life. Not coincidentally shows the Scots masters altar the first topographically correct view of the city of Vienna. The reign of Barockabtes (Baroque abbot) Carl Fetzer (1705-1750) was an economic and cultural heyday. The 1826-1832 by Josef Kornhäusel designed Prelature now houses the "Museum in the Abbey of the Scots". In addition to an extensive collection of paintings, furniture, tapestries, vestments and liturgical utensils and vestments, it shows an impressive documentation of the monastery history.
Schottenstift - © Schottenstift
Scots Champion - © Schottenstift Scots Masters - © Schottenstift
The high altar of the original Gothic collegiate church was removed about 1640. Today, the altar of the "Wiener Scots Master (Schottenmeister)", originating from 1469 to 1480, is a masterpiece of late Gothic painting in Austria and the center of the museum in Schottenstift. History, development process, workshop operations, among others, illustrates an informative documentary, which complement the successor works to Flemish painting of the 17th Century by Josse de Momper the Younger and David Vinckboons.
In Schottenstift the Interested visitor finds in addition to major religious paintings (among others by Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Cossiers and Giovanni Battista Pittoni), portrait and landscape painting of the 17th and 18th Century (eg by Johann Christian Brand, Christian Seybold, Christoph Paudiss and Simon de Vos) and Vienna Biedermeier painting by Johann Baptist Drechsler, Johann Knapp, Thomas Ender and Johann Peter Krafft. Works of the Dutch and Austrian still life painting of the 17th and 18th Century complement the valuable private collection. The large-sized former Baroque high altar painting by Joachim von Sandrart »The heavenly glory" (1671) in Prälatensaal is, like the lecture hall with works of Austrian baroque painters, as Peter Paul Strudel and Tobias Pock, integrated into the museum complex.
24 year-old Charly Pitman, of Brislington, Bristol, was found guilty of riot following a trial at Bristol Crown Court in April. On 7th July 2022 she was sentenced to three years in prison.
During her trial jurors heard how she positioned herself at the front of the crowd challenging police officers as they attempted to separate them from the neighbourhood police station.
They were shown footage of her acting aggressively towards the officers, striking their shields and helmets, and were told her actions caused them and others to fear for their safety.
Judge Julian Lambert said Pitman made a conscious decision not to leave the riot and encouraged others to attack police officers. He added jurors decided quickly there was ‘no basis for self-defence’, as Pitman had claimed during the trial.
Including Pitman, those jailed for offences committed during the riot have been imprisoned for a combined total of 74 years and nine months.
In Boston, about 45 demonstrators, including a dozen speakers, out for Pvt. Manning on the day of her sentencing. A number of speakers took up the PVT Manning Support Network's call to urge people to sign the petition at pardon.privatemanning.org that calls on President Obama to issue a pardon. Other speakers expressed the view that this approach will be ineffective and that other approaches need to be considered. Everyone who spoke agreed that the 35 year sentence for acts of whistle-blowing is excessive. A number of folks discussed the issues with onlookers and passers-by.
VIsit www.privatemanning.org to learn more about the heroic whistleblower.
On 13th March 1952 William Giovanni Silveo Fiori, a 31 year-old timber worker, was the 1st man hanged once the death sentence had been reintroduced.
He had been charged with the shooting & killing of John Gabolinscy, timber mill manager, & his wife Marie for the mill's payroll value at £1,010 on 19th Dec. 1951.
Fiori claimed that his wife had told people that they were getting a car & that he didn't want to disappoint her.
It appears that he made his way into John & Marie's home about 4.00 in the morning, shot them with John's 303 rifle & took their truck which he later dumped. He & his wife subsequently went on a spending spree which included a V8 Ford.
After his sentence was passed his mother petitioned the Govt. for a reprieve stating that Fiori's personality had completely changed as the result of a car accident when he was 6 years old.
From that time he was often in trouble & had been placed in a home for backward children.
He had also enlisted in the army but had been dismissed twice for disobeying orders & a psychiatrist had claimed that he was a man of subnormal intelligence.
His hanging was of great concern about this hanging. The other prisoners naturally knew that he was facing the death sentence & had already threatened trouble when an attempt was made to make them assist in the erection of the scaffold. It had been decided that the date of execution should be kept a secret.
So when a notice was put up on the walls that by favour of Kerridge Odean Ltd a movie was going to be played that evening most of the prisoners attended this rare event to see a nice, noisy western. It was not until the next morning that the prisoners learnt that Fiori's sentence had been passed. They were not impressed. Although it was too late to do anything they swore that they would not be duped in that matter again.
While it was considered public knowledge that those who where hanged within the prison walls were also buried therein, this has not been the case. With the exception of prisoners who had been cremated all burial bar Walter Bolton, who was the last man hanged who was buried with his wife who he had been accused of murdering.
Waikumete Cemetery records advise us that William Giovanni Silveo Fiori was buried 14/3/1952, the day after his execution in this Roman Catholic plot.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objecti...
trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/42726571
tangaroa81.blogspot.com/2011/01/life-of-timber-mill-manag...
Plot 124: William Giovanni Silveo Fiori (31) 1952 – Timber Worker – Hanged for murder
white wooden cross
WILLIAM GIOVANHI SILVEO FIORI 1922 1952
Sentence of Consecration of the additional Burial Ground at Singleton by the Right Reverend The Lord Bishop of Newcastle Dated [n.d.] day of November AD 1862. [Unsigned Draft] on vellum.
This image can be used for study and personal research purposes. If you wish to reproduce this image for any other purpose you must obtain permission by contacting the University of Newcastle's Cultural Collections.
If you have any further information about this image, please contact us or leave a comment in the box below.
Alisha Walker was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the stabbing death of Alan Filan, a teacher in a Catholic school. Filan had contracted Walker and another sex worker to come to his home for a sexual encounter.
According to Walker, Filan brandished a knife when he began to argue over the terms of the evening. Walker grabbed the knife during the struggle that broke out and by her account, stabbed him 14 times in self defense.
A group of Chicagoans gathered to denounce the 15 year sentence as a miscarriage of justice for a woman with a dangerous job who was only trying to defend herself.
Delores Lolita Lebron, of New York City, was a Puerto Rican nationalist who was convicted of attempted murder and other crimes after leading an assault on the United States House of Representatives in 1954, resulting in the wounding of five members of the United States Congress.
She was sentenced to between 16 and 50 years in prison. She received an additional six-year prison sentence for sedition later in 1954. Lebrón remained imprisoned 25 years, when President Jimmy Carter issued pardons the shooters involved.
After their release in 1979, the nationalists returned to Puerto Rico, where independence movements received them with a celebration.
Sedition trial:
Following the wounding of five U.S. Representatives in the Capitol building March 1, 1954 by four Puerto Rican nationalists who opened fire on them from a visitor gallery, the U.S. government began a series of mass arrests that resulted in two conspiracy trials 1954-55. A third trial took place in Puerto Rico.
The four participants in the shooting—Delores Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores Rodriguez and Andres Figueroa Cordero—were quickly arrested and convicted in the attack with sentences varying from 16 years to 75 years in jail.
But the federal government went further, convening three different grand juries, summoning 91 Puerto Ricans and bringing indictments against 17 members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party for “seditious conspiracy to overthrow the United States government by force.”
The four charged in the shootings were also among the 17 charged with conspiracy.
The indictment alleged that the defendants were “active members, leaders, officers or persons in control of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, which is charged to be an organization dedicated to bringing about the political independence of Puerto Rico from the United States by force of violence or armed revolution.”
In effect, the government was using the same strategy it was using to break up the U.S. Communist Party during that period. If you were an active member of the Nationalist Party, you were guilty even if you committed no illegal acts yourself.
Four of those charged turned state’s evidence and gave testimony against the other defendants.
At the first month-long trial in October 1954, much of the evidence against the group consisted of testimony by police or informers of speeches given by Nationalist Party leaders who had used slogans like, “Throw the Yankees out at pistol point,” “give your life and property for independence,” and saying that President Harry Truman “could be hanged in a place in San Juan.”
Many of the speeches dated prior to the 1950 attempted armed revolution in Puerto Rico by the Nationalist Party that was defeated and for which many party members were jailed in Puerto Rico.
Defense attorney Conrad J. Lynn charged the government sought “proscription of a dissenting political group because of its ideas.”
Julio Pinto Gandia, a defendant who was acting as his own counsel and was the alleged leader of the group in the U.S., told the court that the party, founded in 1922, was not “a band of terrorists” and that any violent actions arose out of individual “despair.”
The most sensational specific testimony came from one of those indicted who turned state’s evidence--Gonzalo Lebron Sotomayor, brother of Delores Lolita Lebron who was the leader of the four shooters.
Lebron Sotomayor testified that Pinto Gandia told him there would be attacks on Congress, President Dwight Eisenhower and the Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner in Washington, but could not say how the plans would be carried out.
Other specific testimony involved another of those indicted who turned state’s evidence. Angle Luis Medina testified he had purchased a number of pistols and three carbines in Chicago at the direction of a party leader who told him “to be ready in case of a revolution” to free Puerto Rico.
The evidence against most of the defendants committing any specific illegal act was thin.
U.S. Attorney J. Edward Lumbard summed up the case saying that the Nationalist Party had supplied the pistols used in the U.S. Capitol shooting and a 1950 attempt to assassinate President Harry Truman and that each of the 13 defendants had their “moral fingerprints on the guns” used.
Lumbard further told the jury that the government did not have to prove that the defendants were part of a conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government—only that they had conspired to overthrow the authority of the United States in Puerto Rico.
The defense called five witnesses to testify that the Nationalist Party did not advocate overthrow of the U.S. government and only sought total independence for Puerto Rico.
Lynn told the jury that the government was trying “proscription of a dissenting political group because of its ideas.”
Pinto Gandia had earlier sought dismissal of the indictments against the four shooters as double jeopardy and because the government, “intended to bring the guilt of the four defendants upon the other defendants by association or inference.”
He added, “it is not a crime to preach and work for the freedom of a nation and that membership in the Nationalist Party itself did not indicate anyone was part of a conspiracy.
The jury deliberated only a few hours before finding all the defendants guilty.
Two weeks after the verdicts, more arrests took place and a second trial scheduled.
The trial of 11 other Nationalists took place February-March 1955 and followed the same lines as the first trial, except that Lebron Sotomayer gave additional details to his earlier testimony.
Ten of the 11 were found guilty. Serafin Colon Olivera, 28 of New York, was acquitted. Testimony had indicated he was a Nationalist Party member in 1949 and attended a Nationalist dance in 1953.
Those found guilty in the two trials received sentences ranging from 18 months to six years in prison. Appeals failed.
In Puerto Rico, Nationalist Party leader Pedro Albizu Campos hailed the attack as “sublime heroism.” The governor revoked a previous pardon of the party leader and he was arrested after a shootout and imprisoned.
Charges were placed against 15 party members on the island, however 12 were acquitted at trial in late 1954. The three found guilty were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3-10 years.
Albizu Campos’ health suffered badly in prison where he suffered a stroke in 1956 that left him unable to talk or walk. He was pardoned in 1964, but died a few months afterward.
The Nationalist Party was all but dead as a result of the U.S. trials and by suppression by authorities in Puerto Rico, although it continues to exist today.
First trial sedition trial in 1954:
Jorge Luis Jimenez, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Manuel Rabago Torres, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Rosa Collazo, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Juan Bernardo Lebron, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Juan Francisco Medina, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Armando Diaz Matos, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Julio Pinto Gandia, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Carmelo Alvarez Roman, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Jose Antonio Otero Otero, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Andress Figueroa Cordero, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Rafael Cancel Miranda, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Dolores Lolita Lebron, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Irvin Flores Rodriguez, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Second trial in 1955:
Juan Hernandez Valle, Puerto Rico, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Maximino Pedraza Martinez, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Santiago Gonzalez Castro, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Esteban Quinones Escute, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Angel Luis Arzola Velez, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Antonio Herrera Moreno, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Carmen Dolores Otero Torresola, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Pedro Aviles, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Julio Flores Medina, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment
Miguel Vargas Nieves, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment
Those who turned state’s evidence:
Gonzalo Lebron Sotomayor, suspended sentence
Francisco Cortez Ruiz, suspended sentence
Carlos Aulet, suspended sentence
Angel Luis Medina, suspended sentence
Acquitted at May 1955 trial:
Serafin Colon Olivera
For more information and related images to the 1954-55 conspiracy trials of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, see flic.kr/s/aHskRMRawC
For more information and related images to the 1950 attempted assassination of President Truman and the 1954 wounding of five U.S. Representatives, see flic.kr/s/aHskghBC71
The photographer is unknown. The photo is believed to be a mugshot. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
Steven sat nervously on the edge of the examination table. He mused that time must crawl to a halt inside a doctor's office. It seemed that he had been sitting there for hours waiting to hear the bad news, when in fact he knew it must have only been five, ten minutes tops.
He had researched his symptoms endlessly: Loss of appetite, sleeplessness, headaches, and a general malaise that trailed him everywhere like an unwanted stray. It would be only moments before the doctor would confirm what he already knew: he had cancer... probably leukemia.
By preparing himself ahead of time, he figured he could skip the first four stages and go right to the last one: acceptance. He already planned out he would break the news to his friends and family. He would urge them not to cry for him and that he lived a full, albeit, shortened existence and they would just have to carry on without him the best they could. He would undoubtedly have to give up the partnership track at his accounting firm that he toiled over for the last few years so he could enjoy the few, remaining months he would have left. Probably his fiancee would be the hardest hit; he would break off the engagement knowing it was in her best interest not marry a man who had no future.
A cold breeze washed over him when the door to the examination room flew open. The doctor appeared, an elder man in his early seventies, chart in hand.
"Hey Steven. Well I've got your blood results here. Cholesterol...good, triglycerides...good, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, enzymes...all normal."
"In other words, you're healthy as a horse"
Steven shook his head in disbelief. "You mean I don't have cancer?"
"Cancer? What? No, of course not!"
"Nope, your going to live a long, healthy time on this planet. "
Before the doctor turned away, he added with a smile...
"I'm afraid it's a life sentence for you!"
Rosa Cortez-Collazo was a political activist and treasurer of the New York City branch of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was the wife of Oscar Collazo one of two Nationalists who attacked Blair House in 1950 in an attempt to kill President Harry Truman.
She was accused by the FBI of assisting Nationalists Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores and Andres Figueroa Cordero in their assault on the United States House of Representatives in 1954. She was charged on both occasions with complicity in a conspiracy to overthrow the United States Government.
She was convicted of sedition in 1954 and sentenced to six years in prison.
Sedition trial:
Following the wounding of five U.S. Representatives in the Capitol building March 1, 1954 by four Puerto Rican nationalists who opened fire on them from a visitor gallery, the U.S. government began a series of mass arrests that resulted in two conspiracy trials 1954-55. A third trial took place in Puerto Rico.
The four participants in the shooting—Delores Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores Rodriguez and Andres Figueroa Cordero—were quickly arrested and convicted in the attack with sentences varying from 16 years to 75 years in jail.
But the federal government went further, convening three different grand juries, summoning 91 Puerto Ricans and bringing indictments against 17 members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party for “seditious conspiracy to overthrow the United States government by force.”
The four charged in the shootings were also among the 17 charged with conspiracy.
The indictment alleged that the defendants were “active members, leaders, officers or persons in control of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, which is charged to be an organization dedicated to bringing about the political independence of Puerto Rico from the United States by force of violence or armed revolution.”
In effect, the government was using the same strategy it was using to break up the U.S. Communist Party during that period. If you were an active member of the Nationalist Party, you were guilty even if you committed no illegal acts yourself.
Four of those charged turned state’s evidence and gave testimony against the other defendants.
At the first month-long trial in October 1954, much of the evidence against the group consisted of testimony by police or informers of speeches given by Nationalist Party leaders who had used slogans like, “Throw the Yankees out at pistol point,” “give your life and property for independence,” and saying that President Harry Truman “could be hanged in a place in San Juan.”
Many of the speeches dated prior to the 1950 attempted armed revolution in Puerto Rico by the Nationalist Party that was defeated and for which many party members were jailed in Puerto Rico.
Defense attorney Conrad J. Lynn charged the government sought “proscription of a dissenting political group because of its ideas.”
Julio Pinto Gandia, a defendant who was acting as his own counsel and was the alleged leader of the group in the U.S., told the court that the party, founded in 1922, was not “a band of terrorists” and that any violent actions arose out of individual “despair.”
The most sensational specific testimony came from one of those indicted who turned state’s evidence--Gonzalo Lebron Sotomayor, brother of Delores Lolita Lebron who was the leader of the four shooters.
Lebron Sotomayor testified that Pinto Gandia told him there would be attacks on Congress, President Dwight Eisenhower and the Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner in Washington, but could not say how the plans would be carried out.
Other specific testimony involved another of those indicted who turned state’s evidence. Angle Luis Medina testified he had purchased a number of pistols and three carbines in Chicago at the direction of a party leader who told him “to be ready in case of a revolution” to free Puerto Rico.
The evidence against most of the defendants committing any specific illegal act was thin.
U.S. Attorney J. Edward Lumbard summed up the case saying that the Nationalist Party had supplied the pistols used in the U.S. Capitol shooting and a 1950 attempt to assassinate President Harry Truman and that each of the 13 defendants had their “moral fingerprints on the guns” used.
Lumbard further told the jury that the government did not have to prove that the defendants were part of a conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government—only that they had conspired to overthrow the authority of the United States in Puerto Rico.
The defense called five witnesses to testify that the Nationalist Party did not advocate overthrow of the U.S. government and only sought total independence for Puerto Rico.
Lynn told the jury that the government was trying “proscription of a dissenting political group because of its ideas.”
Pinto Gandia had earlier sought dismissal of the indictments against the four shooters as double jeopardy and because the government, “intended to bring the guilt of the four defendants upon the other defendants by association or inference.”
He added, “it is not a crime to preach and work for the freedom of a nation and that membership in the Nationalist Party itself did not indicate anyone was part of a conspiracy.
The jury deliberated only a few hours before finding all the defendants guilty.
Two weeks after the verdicts, more arrests took place and a second trial scheduled.
The trial of 11 other Nationalists took place February-March 1955 and followed the same lines as the first trial, except that Lebron Sotomayer gave additional details to his earlier testimony.
Ten of the 11 were found guilty. Serafin Colon Olivera, 28 of New York, was acquitted. Testimony had indicated he was a Nationalist Party member in 1949 and attended a Nationalist dance in 1953.
Those found guilty in the two trials received sentences ranging from 18 months to six years in prison. Appeals failed.
In Puerto Rico, Nationalist Party leader Pedro Albizu Campos hailed the attack as “sublime heroism.” The governor revoked a previous pardon of the party leader and he was arrested after a shootout and imprisoned.
Charges were placed against 15 party members on the island, however 12 were acquitted at trial in late 1954. The three found guilty were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3-10 years.
Albizu Campos’ health suffered badly in prison where he suffered a stroke in 1956 that left him unable to talk or walk. He was pardoned in 1964, but died a few months afterward.
The Nationalist Party was all but dead as a result of the U.S. trials and by suppression by authorities in Puerto Rico, although it continues to exist today.
First trial sedition trial in 1954:
Jorge Luis Jimenez, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Manuel Rabago Torres, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Rosa Collazo, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Juan Bernardo Lebron, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Juan Francisco Medina, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Armando Diaz Matos, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Julio Pinto Gandia, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Carmelo Alvarez Roman, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Jose Antonio Otero Otero, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Andress Figueroa Cordero, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Rafael Cancel Miranda, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Dolores Lolita Lebron, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Irvin Flores Rodriguez, one of 4 convicted shooters, sentenced to additional six years imprisonment
Second trial in 1955:
Juan Hernandez Valle, Puerto Rico, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Maximino Pedraza Martinez, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Santiago Gonzalez Castro, sentenced to six years imprisonment
Esteban Quinones Escute, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Angel Luis Arzola Velez, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Antonio Herrera Moreno, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Carmen Dolores Otero Torresola, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Pedro Aviles, sentenced to four years imprisonment
Julio Flores Medina, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment
Miguel Vargas Nieves, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment
Those who turned state’s evidence:
Gonzalo Lebron Sotomayor, suspended sentence
Francisco Cortez Ruiz, suspended sentence
Carlos Aulet, suspended sentence
Angel Luis Medina, suspended sentence
Acquitted at May 1955 trial:
Serafin Colon Olivera
For more information and related images to the 1954-55 conspiracy trials of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, see flic.kr/s/aHskRMRawC
For more information and related images to the 1950 attempted assassination of President Truman and the 1954 wounding of five U.S. Representatives, see flic.kr/s/aHskghBC71
The photographer is unknown. The photo is believed to be a mugshot. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
Today was the first time ever I discussed verbs, nouns, and adjectives with the children. They got it in about two seconds flat. In Phoenix's case, he'd self-educated about it a bit, but as far as I know today was Halle's first time.
Five members of United Cafeteria and Restaurant Workers union Local 471 are sentenced to six months in jail for clashes on the picket line during their 78-day strike in 1948.
The April 18, 1948 Washington Post article reports on the sentences that were given after the strike was settled.
As the article reports, the harsh sentences were designed to send a message to Local 471 and other unions.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsm1ZnVra
For a deep dive into the 1948 cafeteria workers strike, see washingtonspark.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/against-the-cold...
The image is part of an article published in the Washington Post April 18, 1948.
I am borrowing the text from Caro, a Flickr friend and long-ago blogging friend, because she says it well. (The photo above was taken by Deirdre O’Callaghan for LA CityBeat) :
Hello Flickr-Friends,
The photo above shows Damien Echols. I am posting to ask for your support.
Today, Damien celebrates his 33rd birthday on death row at the Supermax Unit of Varner prison in Grady, Arkansas. On May 19th 1994, 5015 days ago, he was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.
Damien is one of the West Memphis Three. You might have heard about them before: There are two documentaries by Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger that tell their stories and a slew of celebrities, among them Metallica, Eddie Vedder, Winona Ryder, Henry Rollins and, most recently, Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks and The Cure, have supported them and tried to raise awareness of the injustice that happened to them.
A horrible crime took place in West Memphis Arkansas on May 5th 1993. Three eight-graders, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, were found dead and apparently mutilated in a drainage ditch in a wooded area not far from their homes.
Faced with this horrendous crime and the absence of physical evidence, the local police force decided that the boys must have been killed in a satanic cult ritual.
The police officers coerced an error-filled "confession" from Jessie Misskelley Jr., 17 at the time, who has an IQ of 72. They subjected him to 12 hours of questioning without counsel or parental consent, audio-taping only two fragments totaling 46 minutes, in which Jessie, a friend of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, described witnessing Damien and Jason commit the murders, implicating himself in the process. Jessie recanted the testimony that evening, but it was too late— Jessie, Jason and Damien were all arrested on June 3rd, 1993, and convicted of murder a few months later.
Although there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution resorted to presenting black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as proof that the boys were sacrificed in a satanic cult ritual. Their poverty, incompetent defense, satanic panic and a rush to judgment condemned Damien, Jason and Jessie. Unfathomably, Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jason Baldwin received life without parole, and Jessie Misskelley got life plus 40.
For over 14 years, The West Memphis Three have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. This is the fifteenth birthday Damien is celebrating behind bars.
However, recently discovered forensic evidence has renewed the hope of the West Memphis Three, their families, their supporters and even some parents of the victims, that the innocent men behind bars will be released soon and the true killer or killers found and finally prosecuted.
Recently completed DNA testing conducted on dozens of pieces of crime scene evidence showed no link whatsoever to Damien, Jessie Misskelley or Jason – and all of the experts agree that, under the prosecution theory of how the crime was committed, their DNA would be present at the crime scene if they were guilty. Instead, the sole two DNA result that matches, belong to Terry Hobbs, the step-father of one of the victims, and one of his friends, who was with him on the day of the murders.
So more than fourteen years after the murders, there is finally physical evidence that in all likelihood points to the real perpetrators: And they are not the three men behind bars.
In late October, the Defense for Damien filed a Second Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus asking the Court to order a new trial for Damien Echols, or release him. While the court considers this Writ and the West Memphis Three, their families and supporters wait for the Arkansas Attorney General to file a response, your action and support is direly needed.
First of all, inform yourself about the case. There is a lot of information on wm3.org. The case introduction by Burk Sauls is an excellent starting point if you are new to the case. There is also a blog at wm3.vox.org featuring most recent developments and, of course, a MySpace Profile.
The documentaries are available on YouTube (Paradise Lost & Paradise Lost Revelations) and there is a video of the press conference of Damien Echols legal defense team, presenting the new evidence.
Above all, however, the Damien Echols Defense Funds needs your donations. Fighting a case of this magnitude is, as you can quite likely imagine, costly business. Back in 1994, Damien, Jesse and Jason were convicted because they lacked the financial resources for a vigorous, well-equipped defense that would have refuted the fake science rooted in fear and hate that the prosecution presented as evidence. Damien needs that vigorous, well-equipped defense that will fight his fight, and he needs it now.
Please make checks payable to:
Damien Echols Defense Fund
PO Box 1216
Little Rock, AR 72203
You can also donate through PayPal, using LDavis11@hotmail.com as the recipient address. (Lorri, Damiens wife, asks you to kindly include your name and address in the notes box.)
Please consider donating to Damiens Legal Defense Fund. If you are a fan of The Cure, you might also be interested in this auction of an autographed guitar that will benefit Damien’s defense.
In addition, there is a letter writing campaign currently underway by Akansas Take Action! to alert Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe of the importance of the case. You can find sample letters and additional information right here.
Even though I live half a world away, the injustice that happened to Damien, Jesse and Jason has been making me angry for years, literally, and drawn me to speak up for them and donate money to their defense. I was a black wearing, Sisters of Mercy listening teen who loved Stephen King novels and books about magic and beliefs and myths. Chances are (you being my Flickr pal and all), that you were, too. The West Memphis Police would most definitely have deemed me a satanic cult member back in 1993.
Please help to make today the last birthday Damien has to celebrate behind bars and raise awareness to the plight of the West Memphis Three. Watch the documentaries with your pals. Write a letter to Governor Beebe. Discuss the case in class. Blog about it. Tell representatives of the media about the case. And above all, please consider donating to Damien’s Legal Defense Fund.
Thanks muchly,
Caro
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People hate when sentences do not end the way they potato.
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Reading about the death sentences, Luoyang 1984. In 1984 there was a massive crackdown on crime, and there were many executions with parades through the street, which I witnessed once
10-30
Mindless copying of sentences is not fun with handwriting. Nonetheless, to my amazement, it seems as though many primary schools in Hong Kong coerce their students into completing these cognition-effacing exercises.
If the objective of this book is to teach students to write letters, then logically, so long as a student can accurately reproduce each individual letter, there is no point in having them copy bunches of letters - words - within even greater bunches of letters - sentences - complete with capital letters and punctuation; so there must be another reason; and that students at this tender primary age must begin, sooner rather than later, the tedious rote learning process involving mindless copying and pedagogical dubiousness endemic to Hong Kong is my conjecture.
It's a shame that most Hong Kong primary school students aren't learning spelling strategies in English lessons - this is a Scholastic Book from the US - and instead are treated to beguiling calligraphy activities which treat English words as though they were Chinese pictograms, this whole-language English literacy approach being the absolute worst way to build a literacy base in a human being!
The transfer and multiplication of financial wealth, amongst the captains of educational publishing and the lieutenants of the education bureau, is not a conspiracy theory but a harmful, if not shameful, truth, a boy's father told me. He and his son both hate the skull-numbing reproduction of the Roman alphabet whose pedagogical value has yet to be substantiated by anyone!