American Notes Justice

In August 1971 Stephen Bingham, a Yale-educated attorney with left-wing sympathies, paid a visit to San Quentin Prison Inmate George Jackson, a Black Panther leader and author. After the meeting, Jackson pulled out a 9-mm pistol, sparking a melee that left six dead, himself included. Police postulated that Bingham had smuggled the gun and two ammo clips to his client. Bingham, who was then 29, went into hiding; after 13 years, he returned to California in 1984 to face conspiracy and murder charges.

During a ten-week trial, Marin County prosecutors argued that Bingham's flight was proof of his guilt. Defense attorneys contended that prison guards had slipped Jackson the gun, hoping that the incendiary black militant would be killed. Bingham, they said, fled to save his life. "To understand this case," declared Bingham's lawyer Gerald Schwartzbach, "you have to understand 1971 . . . We're talking about a time when students were murdered at Kent State and Jackson State."

Last week, as the jury delivered three not-guilty verdicts, Stephen Bingham smiled, and then broke into tears. Putting a new twist on an outdated cliche, he announced, "This is the first day of the rest of my life."