Alcatraz Justice

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In May of 1946, Alcatraz was rocked by the most sensational and bloody escape attempt in the island's history Six convicts obtained guns and took nine guards hostage, one of whom was the author's father. Before the uprising was quelled, two guards and three prisoners lay dead and fifteen officers had been wounded.Drawing from his background as a litigation attorney with thirty-five years of jury trial experience, Ernest Lageson gives life to the drama played out after the crime. Presiding over the trial was a judge who, it could be argued, was prejudicial in favor of the prosecution, and who berated one young defense attorney mercilessly in front of the jury The most experienced of the defense team was ill-prepared and self-aggrandizing with the press. One of the defendants was severely mentally challenged and had been diagnosed as schizophrenic. In a dramatic, four-week courtroom battle, the surviving insurgents were found guilty of first-degree murder.