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Lawton-Gardner: Trial Goes To The Jury

By VVAW

The second trial of Gary Lawton (VVAW/WSO member) and Zurebu Gardner (both charged with the 1971 killing of 2 policemen) went to jury on Nov. 15th, but at press time the jury is still deliberating. Hopefully, this jury will make a definitive decision for acquittal, unlike the Indio jury which voted 9-3 for acquittal and forced a re-trial.

The past month has been a revealing one for our judicial system. After the DA had already delivered his closing remarks a month ago, the defense won the right to reopen the case in light of new evidence. The evidence consisted of the fact that Jonathan Cameron (government star witness) had been bribed to lie on the stand. This testimony regarding government pay-off of a witness was presented by 4 inmates of the Blythe Correction Institution.

Following this testimony, the trial again proceeded to closing remarks. The DA went first and his closing statement consisted of emotionalism, with a complete ignoring of the facts. Government witnesses had been proved to be liars on the stand, so the DA could not rely on the facts of the case to prove the guilt of Gary and Zurebu. The only facts Ports presented was that there were two dead white policemen and there were black men seen running away from the shootings. Apparently, the DA expected the jury to draw the conclusion that the two men on trial were naturally the guilty ones.

Keller (Lawton's attorney) then presented his remarks to the jury and began with the statement: "I have never been this nervous in a closing argument but only because this case is so really personally offensive." Unlike the DA, Keller went on to deal with the facts of the case. The most important testimony was that of the five eyewitnesses to the shootings. Out of the five, four of them testified that the person they saw leaving the murder was definitely not Gary Lawton. The fifth eyewitness was Sgt. Carpenter (Riverside Police Dept.) who has known Gary for 8 years. Carpenter testified that he couldn't say one way or the other whether or not the man he saw was Gary. This major testimony by the eyewitnesses has without a doubt proven the innocence of Gary and Zurebu. In closing, Keller told the jury: "Gary Lawton isn't looking for your sympathy. He is not looking for anything except that which he has a right to and that which you promised to give him...and that is a fair and honest trial.

Though the atmosphere of this trial has been one permeated with racism and repression, the facts of the case have proven that Gary and Zurebu were not near the site of the shootings. The government has worked long and hard to frame these two brothers but we feel confident that their efforts will not succeed. If the jury is truly composed of honest people, there should be no doubt in their minds that what they have witnessed for the past six months has been a feeble attempt at frame-up.

Send the desperately needed funds to: Riverside Political Prisoners Defense Committee, P.O. Box 5154, San Bernardino, Cal.