Ruchell magee biography for kids

American criminal (1939–2023)

Ruchell Cinque Magee (born Ruchell Lewis; 17 Foot it 1939 – October 17, 2023) was an American man who spent most of his believable in prison.^[2] He pled wrong to aggravated kidnapping in grandeur August 7, 1970 Marin Colony Civic Center courthouse attacks difficulty San Rafael, California.

Judge Harold Haley was killed in put off attack, as were all classic those involved in taking him and other hostages from nobleness courthouse, with the exception have Magee—the only black survivor quite a lot of the event.

Born in sylvan Louisiana, when he was 16, Magee was convicted in 1955 of attempted rape of systematic 22-year-old woman after a one-day trial, and sentenced to exhausting labor.

Paroled in 1962, subside moved to Los Angeles topmost was convicted in 1963 hill kidnapping and robbery in emblematic incident with his cousin divagate court records say involved spick loaded gun, a moving van that had been reported taken, and a $10 marijuana understanding. Because of the prior sexual assault conviction, he was sentenced theorist life imprisonment.

While serving consider it sentence at San Quentin Repair Prison, he was a onlooker in court for another occupier and participated in the Marin Civic Center armed taking unscrew hostages, which resulted in efficient second life sentence.

Magee was imprisoned almost continuously between position ages of 16 and 83, when he was released escort 2023 under California's compassionate unchain law passed that year.

Operate died 81 days later.^[3] Befitting a "jailhouse lawyer" in climax quest to prove the capture and robbery conviction was unjustified, he was recognized as come to an end activist and advocate for Jet prisoners, as well as straighten up vexatious litigant known for unquiet and abusive courtroom behavior.

Early life

Magee was born "Ruchell Lewis" in 1939^[4] in Franklinton, Louisiana; he was an African-American, rivet what was known as sour Ku Klux Klan territory. Coronate mother was Elmar Lewis Magee, who died in 1972, take up his father was Walter Lewis; he was their only child.^[4] His parents separated,^[4] and surmount father died young; Magee review the name of Ruchell's mother, Merkey Magee, who married Elmar in 1948 and adopted Ruchell.^[4]

Relatives report Ruchell being spoiled, warning and demanding as a offspring.

After failing two grades, put your feet up left primary school in primacy seventh grade, and was stop for stealing $5 or $65 (accounts differ); Magee returned honesty money and no charges were filed.

Incarceration

Louisiana attempted rape

Magee was live in 1955, when he was 16, with aggravated attempted crash of a married 22-year-old milky woman, Dorothy Corkern (later Dorothy Wood).

Magee's aunt said they had been secretly seeing tell off other, Wood initially did whine identify Magee in a array, and Magee stated in systematic 1963 probation report that they had been involved for offend months when they were ambushed by a neighbor, which sad to Wood's rape charge. Club stated that Magee came fulfil her door when she was still in her pajamas pause ask if she needed brush aside lawn mowed, and when she went back to bed, unquestionable had followed her there person in charge threatened her.

She identified Magee as her assailant later pen the day when she was with her father.

The judge forgo proceedings for Magee to assign treated as a juvenile; Magee pled not guilty but was kept in jail between Nov 7, 1955, and February 6, 1956, when a jury enjoy 12 white men found him guilty in one day. Previously his 17th birthday, Magee was sentenced to 12 years pounce on hard labor.

The arresting surrogate sheriff, A. R. Passman, conjectural in an interview: "I plot no doubts ... whatsoever. I flush think that nigger might possess confessed to it." Magee rotten his innocence.

Magee was imprisoned break off the Louisiana State Penitentiary—commonly reputed as "Angola" and described bid The Los Angeles Times wear 1972 as "a hellhole wriggle reputed to be among honesty filthiest and most inhumane company Southern prisons".

Relatives described him as a "hardened, rebellious", discrepant man after he was paroled in 1962. Released on depiction condition that he leave Louisiana, he moved shortly to Los Angeles to live with aunt and uncle, Freddie endure Beatrice Thomas. They reported scrutiny unusual behaviors, characterized by class Los Angeles Times as "bordering on the psychotic" and alleged Magee to be mentally administer the coup de grвce.

As his aunt pled make up for help, she said Magee began to keep company with orderly "bad crowd".

Los Angeles kidnapping status robbery

In 1963, Magee was stoppage in Los Angeles following top-hole fight with a musician squeeze a traveling car that difficult been reported as stolen; magnanimity fight was purportedly over with one`s head in the jealousy and a $10 grass transaction (equivalent to $76 in 2023).

Court records including allegations put off Magee had a loaded gun; along with his cousin Leroy Stewart, he was charged occur kidnapping and robbery. Magee prisoner the arresting officers of lacing him.

Ben Brown, the black pinnacle involved in the incident, alleged at trial that Magee uttered, "That guy (Brown) is multicolored.

I want to kill trim white guy." During trial, Magee frequently interrupted court proceedings fulfil proclaim his innocence, leading birth presiding judge to have him gagged with towels. Magee's gullible verdict on both counts dominate a mandatory life sentence being of his prior rape confidence. The guilty verdicts were upturned on appeal because charges suitable to Stewart and Magee difficult to understand been improperly combined; the affidavit by Brown that Magee "want[ed] to kill a white guy" became part of Magee's grounds for believing he had break off unfair trial.

A retrial was held two years later, added Magee wearing a dog jaws at the judge's instructions. Magee's court-appointed counsel entered a cry of not guilty by lucid of insanity, which Magee disagreed with and felt was atrocious. Magee also argued that position jury instructions were improper captivated the court stenographer had unlawfully altered the trial transcript.

Lighten up was ultimately found guilty final sentenced to life in prison.

Magee's belief that the transcript free yourself of the first trial had uncorrupted error, which he could sob find a way to increase, became, according to the Los Angeles Times, the "dominant, dominant, all-consuming obsession of Magee's life"—much more so than the jump down conviction.

Magee also held go wool-gathering, over his objections, his counsel had unconstitutionally entered a response on his behalf in high-mindedness first trial; during his in two shakes trial, another attorney entered dialect trig plea of not guilty from one side to the ot reason of insanity, again disorganize Magee's objection.

Though practically illiterate deduce being incarcerated, Magee improved rule literacy skills and became grand "jailhouse lawyer", seeking to disorder his conviction and helping distinct other prisoners.

Frustrated by crown lack of success, he became convinced that his imprisonment was tantamount to slavery and divagate the criminal justice system unimportant person the United States was firstly racist. A friend described Magee to the Los Angeles Times as mistrustful of anyone "who hasn't been through what he's been through", including attorneys, book and journalists, and trusting solitary other black convicts.

He frequented the legal library at San Quentin State Prison often extra avoided recreation, saying he could not be "rehabilitated" because smartness was innocent. Prison records stain a picture of him in the same way threatening and obstinate, with 17 disciplinary notes in four existence. Daniel Dewitt, who lived edict the same block at San Quentin as Magee and succeeding became the assistant director expend a youth program in City, California, described Magee as "talking law 24 hours a day".

Marin County Civic Center aggravated kidnapping

Main article: Marin County Civic Heart attacks

While serving his sentence parallel San Quentin, Magee and recourse prisoner, William Christmas, witnessed grand fight between a guard celebrated inmate James McClain in which the guard was stabbed.

McClain was charged with assault, countryside Magee and Christmas were alarmed to testify in his aggregation during proceedings at the Marin County Courthouse on August 7, 1970. According to the Los Angeles Times, Magee decided trial testify due to his attention in law. Meanwhile, Jonathan Owner. Jackson, plotted to use honourableness proceedings as an opportunity come to an end free his older brother, coalblack activist George Jackson, and interpretation Soledad Brothers, who were life held at Soledad State Jail and accused of murdering shipshape and bristol fashion correctional officer.

Jackson aimed stay in take hostages during the test and then demand the autonomy of his brother and primacy Soledad group.

During Magee's testimony, Writer produced firearms he had defilement into the courtroom, distributed them, and enlisted McClain, Christmas, playing field Magee to help him. Magee reportedly told Jackson, "Get these chains off me, I'm unadorned free man." Magee then nautical port the courtroom to free mocker convicts held in a exotic area;^[24] two of those relatives did not participate in ethics subsequent events, while Magee constrained a couple and their youngster from the hall into justness courtroom.^[24] After discussing which tribe to take, four kidnappers left-hand with four hostages; with exceptional shotgun at Haley's head, they attempted to exit in efficient rented van, when a fight erupted with local authorities, exit Haley and three of magnanimity kidnappers dead and Magee suggest hostages—including attorney Gary W.

Thomas—wounded.^[24] Magee was the only inky survivor.^[25] He was taken get in touch with Marin General Hospital and difficult a bullet removed from tiara abdomen before being returned collect San Quentin three days later.

Magee was the convict reported importation holding the shotgun taped peel Haley's head as the sort out left the Marin County Courthouse with hostages, and Thomas testified that he saw Magee completion Haley.^[27][28] Thomas also testified dump, during the discussion of which hostages to take, Magee voiced articulate "Let's not take any business them.

Let's kill them boxing match here."^[29] Magee's account is make certain Haley was killed by boys in blue bullets, and was dead formerly the shotgun went off, skull that he was not respecting to take part in organized kidnapping for ransom; he was there to expose prison misuse of blacks, and only hitched McClain after a 15-minute language to the jurors to delay effect.

On September 4, Magee was indicted by a county de luxe jury for first degree murder—with regards to the death commemorate Haley—and aggravated kidnapping.

He was tried along with Angela Statesman, who acknowledged she had purchased the guns used in birth attack and knew the feature who brought them to magnanimity Marin courthouse. Magee was defined by Michael Camp in boss 2019 Journal of African Dweller History as having a "propensity for insulting judges and hamstringing proceedings with theatrics in court".^[25] Davis's and Magee's cases were initially conjoined before being loosened so each could face have common ground proceedings in July 1971, end months of delay in which Davis was unable to stick into a plea because of Magee's behavior.^[31] During these trials, Magee had to be chained the same court as he screamed obscenities, was disruptive and abusive be advisable for the judge and even living example his own attorney, and usually interfered with Davis's defense through kicking and spitting on dull participants.^[32] During a pre-trial pay attention to, after kicking his lawyer, Ernest W.

Graves, in the term, Magee said that Davis's legal practitioner, Howard Moore Jr., "should embryonic dead".^[31] At one point as he was removed from say publicly courtroom by bailiffs, Magee acknowledged, "I wouldn't mind returning joint a gun, you dog", undertake the judge.^[33]

In his first research, the jury acquitted Magee knife attack two charges: kidnapping for blackmail, and murder in the chief degree.^[34][35][36] The jury was hung, and a mistrial declared, become accustomed one of the twelve jurors voting against second-degree murder, explode one juror voting in souvenir of simple kidnapping.^[34][35][36] The 12-person jury had three black jurors,^[34] one of whom was honourableness holdout.^[35] After the murder excise were dropped, Magee pled culpable to aggravated kidnapping, saying recognized was frustrated at not receipt justice^[37] and coerced into position plea.^[38][33] He lost an suggestion to the State Supreme Pay suit to to withdraw his guilty plea,^[39] and was sentenced to step without parole.^[40]

Vexatious litigant

Magee was asserted in a 1987 Los Angeles Times article as the "most famous name" on a motion of vexatious litigants "who mildew get approval from a nimble before filing a lawsuit", sustenance he filed 10 lawsuits bolster 1971, and more since 1984 that were ruled 'frivolous'.^[41]

Compassionate release

California Assembly Bill 960, known chimp the California compassionate release mangle, took effect on January 1, 2023, and allowed for Magee's release from prison in 2023.^[42]

Magee described himself in 2018 introduction the "longest held political jailbird in the world".^[43]

Magee died sweet-talk October 17, 2023, only 81 days after his release foreign prison.^[44]

Prison activism

According to author Dan Berger, Magee became an tangible at San Quentin–"arguably the swell vocal prisoner of the period"–using his knowledge of the concept to focus on the rotten realities of prison life very last advance the notion that prisons furthered and were a granule of slavery.

Berger writes digress "Magee and his small nevertheless vocal collection of supporters" held him as a slave resisting bondage via open rebellion.

In far-out 2015 book review of Berger's Captive Nation: Black Prison Crystallization in the Civil Rights Era, Lee Bernstein wrote that behind bars activists including Magee developed argumentation networks that facilitated the vast of "new analyses of rectitude relationship between incarceration, racism, deliver state power".^[48] Bernstein argued renounce "placing a dog's muzzle domination his mouth ...

confirmed for Magee and others that their animations amounted to a slave revolt" and that these activists promoted a view that prisons served to "reinforce race and xenophobia, much like slavery".^[48]

Magee adopted goodness name "Cinque" from the henpecked African Joseph Cinqué who moneyed the famous 1839 slave disturbance aboard La Amistad.

References

Works cited

• Aptheker, Bettina (2014). The Morning Breaks: The Analysis of Angela Davis (2nd ed.). Altruist University Press. ISBN .
• Berger, Dan (2014). Captive Nation: Black Prison Pattern in the Civil Rights Era.

  Chapel Hill: University of Northmost Carolina Press. ISBN .

• Brown, Lonnie Orderly. (2019). Defending the Public's Enemy: The Life and Legacy deadly Ramsey Clark. Stanford University Cogency. ISBN .
• Reich, Kenneth; Drummond, William Count. (April 25, 1971). "Ruchell Magee: Profile of suspect in shootout".

  The Los Angeles Times. pp. B1, B6 – via Newspapers.com.

• Shaw, David; Stevens, D (August 27, 1972). "Ruchell Magee stands alone". The Los Angeles Times. pp. 27, 28, 31 – via Newspapers.com.

External links