Apr 01, 2010 · Shaken Attorney General Resigns After Learning What Murder Is 4/01/10 1:00PM WASHINGTON—Attorney General Eric Holder turned in his letter of resignation to President Barack Obama Tuesday after discovering that people willfully participate in the killing of other human beings on a routine basis. "I am stunned," a pale and shaking Holder said.
Onion Field Murder Trials: 1963-69. Sentences: Death for both in first trial; life imprisonment for Smith, death for Powell in the second. But Powell's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in March 1972, when the California Supreme Court decided that death was cruel and unusual punishment. SIGNIFICANCE: In March 1963, two small-time ...
The Onion Field is a 1973 nonfiction book by Joseph Wambaugh, ... Hettinger was forced to resign from the LAPD in 1966, after being accused of shoplifting. Years later, he was elected a supervisor of Kern County, California, where he served multiple consecutive terms. ... He died of liver disease in 1994 at age 59. The suspects. Powell was ...
Murder trials in California are bifurcated. The first part focuses, on the guilt of the defendants and the second, on the sentence. After being found guilty, Powell fired his attorneys, John Moore and Kathryn McDonald, and conducted his own defense in the sentence hearing. But, like Smith, he was sentenced to death. He immediately filed an appeal.
No judge in Los Angeles wanted to touch the case. Thomas LeSage, a brand-new judge, was assigned to it. When he asked if there were any pretrial motions, Kanarek launched his patented barrage of irrelevancies. It culminated when he accused Halpin of mouthing an obscenity. The prosecutor's patience broke.
In March 1972, seven years after the murder, the California Supreme Court, considering the trial of Robert P. Anderson, ruled that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment. All death sentences were automatically commuted.
Aftermath. In April 1982, following the release from prison of Powell's accomplice Jimmy Lee Smith, Valerie Campbell, the daughter of the slain Officer Ian Campbell, contacted John Mancino.
The Onion Field is a 1973 nonfiction book by Joseph Wambaugh, a sergeant for the Los Angeles Police Department, chronicling the kidnapping of two plainclothes LAPD officers by a pair of criminals during a traffic stop and the subsequent murder of one of the officers.
It starred John Savage as Karl Hettinger, James Woods as Gregory Powell, Franklyn Seales as Jimmy Smith, and Ted Danson (in his film debut) as Ian Campbell.
The two men, Gregory Ulas Powell (age 30) and Jimmy Lee Smith (a.k.a. "Jimmy Youngblood", age 32), had recently committed a string of robberies, and "each had a pistol tucked into his trousers".
Although Hettinger escaped, he felt scorned by his fellow officers and officials at the Los Angeles Police Department, and suffered severe emotional trauma for both the initial incident and the following treatment. Eventually a police training video was made using his experience as an example of what not to do when stopping and approaching a vehicle.
Under the Little Lindbergh Law at that time, kidnapping became a capital crime only if the victim were harmed or if a ransom were demanded. Today, kidnapping in California is punishable by life imprisonment, either with or without the possibility of parole, depending on the circumstances.
Imran Ali (Washington County Attorney's Office) In addition to prosecuting former officer Kim Potter, who resigned after killing the 20-year-old, Ellison will review the criminal charges. Ali had supported the charges of second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 shooting, according to The Associated Press, while public pressure has been strong ...
Bronx boy, 16, killed by gunmen on scooters — a year after barely surviving a shooting — in possible revenge for other recent teen slayings. Burger King staff quits, uses marquee to announce it. Wright’s shooting took place during the trial of Minnesota ex-cop Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd last May.
Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, died after he was shot by an officer during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, Minn., on Sunday, April 11. Ali wrote that he prays for healing and for the dissipation of partisan platforms.
Theresa Braine has written breaking news for the New York Daily News National Desk since November 2018, with an emphasis on environmental reporting and indigenous issues. She has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent based in Mexico City and has been a copy editor and copy chief for various national magazines.