The Hurricane Story
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06/17/66 Two men and a woman are fatally shot at the Lafayette Bar and
Grill in Paterson, NY. Rubin Carter and John Artis are questioned
by the police, are not identified by the surviving victims,
pass lie-detector tests, and are released. Police declare that
Carter and Artis "were never suspects".
06/29/66 Carter and Artis testify voluntarily before a Passaic County
grand jury and are exonerated. Neither are they indicted by grand
juries sitting in Aug, Sept, and Oct.
10/14/66 Alfred P. Bello, a well-known local criminal and a suspect
himself, gives the police a signed statement claiming he saw
Carter and Artis at the murder scene. Carter and Artis are
arrested and later indicted for the triple murders.
05/27/67 An all-white jury convicts Carter and Artis. The prosecutor
seeks death penalty, but the jury recommends mercy. Carter and
Artis are sentenced to three life terms.
........
04/30/74 Carter is illegally transferred from Rahway State Prison to the
Vroom Readjustment Unit at the Trenton State Psychiatric Hospital.
07/74 Carter files a federal suit against the state for inflicting cruel
and unusual punishment. After a hearing, Federal District Judge
Clarkson S. Fisher orders Carter's immediate release from illegal
detention in the Readjustment Unit.
09/74 Carter's book, The Sixteenth Round, is published by Viking Press.
Bello and Arthur P. Bradley, the only witnesses to claim Carter
and Artis were at the scene, separately recant and state they were
pressured by Paterson detectives to give false testimony; they were
offered inducements of $10,000 in reward money and promises of
lenient treatment in criminal charges pending against them.
05/75 Carter sends a copy of his book to Dylan "because of his prior
commitment to the civil rights struggle".
06/75 Dylan visits Carter in prison. "The first time I saw him, I left
knowing one thing ... I realized that the man's philosophy and
my philosophy were running down the same road, and you don't meet
too many people like that".
07/75 Dylan writes the song Hurricane together with Jacques Levy.
07/30/75 Dylan records Hurricane in New York. This version is never released.
09/10/75 Dylan performs Hurricane for the first time in the TV-program
"The World Of John Hammond". The song is performed at every
Rolling Thunder Revue show in 1975.
10/24/75 Hurricane is rerecorded with slightly different lyrics. CBS lawyers
feel that the lines about Bradley and Bello "robbing the bodies"
can lead to legitation. (Later they are sued by Ms Patty Valentine,
who lost her suit in 1979).
11/75 Release of the Hurricane single.
12/07/75 As part of the campaign to get Carter free, Rolling Thunder Revue
plays a show at the Correctional Institution For Women at Clinton,
NJ, where Carter is temporarily imprisoned. Dylan again visits
Carter, accompanied by the press.
12/08/75 Last show of the 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue Tour is a four hour
benefit concert for Carter at the Madison Square Garden in NYC.
The show is labeled "Night Of The Hurricane".
01/25/76 A second and last benefit concert, "Second Night Of The Hurricane"
is held in Houston, TX. Last performance of Hurricane ever (?).
01/16/76 Release of Desire.
03/17/76 The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously overturns the convictions,
ruling that the prosecution withheld evidence favorable to the
defense, and orders a new trial.
Carter and Artis are released on bail.
12/22/76 After a second trial in which the prosecution was allowed to argue
for the first time that the murders were motivated by racial
revenge, Carter and Artis are reconvicted; the same life sentences
are imposed, and they are forced to return to prison.
........
12/22/81 Artis is released on parole, after serving 15 years.
08/17/82 The New Jersey Supreme Court, in a 4-to-3 decision, rejects an
appeal for a new trial.
11/07/85 Judge H. Lee Sarokin of Federal District Court in Newark,
NJ overturns the second trial convictions after finding that the
prosecution committed "grave constitutional violations";
the convictions were based on "racism rather than reason
and concealment rather than disclosure".
11/08/85 The prosecutors argue that Carter is dangerous and should remain
in prison pending the state's appeal. Finding no evidence of
dangerousness, Judge Sarokin orders Carter free without bail:
"human decency mandates his immediate release".
Carter has served 19 years in prison.
12/19/85 The prosecutors assert to the United States Third Circuit Court
of Appeals that Carter is a danger to the community and should
be reincarcerated pending appeal.
01/17/86 The court rejects the state's arguments, and Carter remains free.
08/21/87 The US Court of Appeals upholds Judge Sarokin's decision throwing
out the convictions.
01/11/88 The US Supreme Court denies the state's appeal, thus affirming
Judge Sarokin's rulings.
02/19/88 The Passaic County's Precutor's Office announce that they will
not seek a third trial, and they file a motion to dismiss the
1966 indictments against Carter and Artis.
02/26/88 A Passaic County judge signs the order dismissing the indictments.
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Sources: The various Dylan biographies and "Outside The Law", Look Back 1988.
ISP