Hurricane Carter

   In 1975, Bob Dylan, the famous American folk songwriter, wrote a song entitled "Hurricane," recounting the retrial and second conviction of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, an African American professional boxer who had been found guilty of a triple murder.
   The first conviction came in 1967, after Carter and another man, John Artis, were identified as the two black men who had entered a Paterson, New Jersey bar and killed the bartender and two patrons. The man who had identified them, Alfred Bello, saw them walking from the direction of the bar and hid from them as they approached and got in their car, which was parked nearby. His testimony served as a central point in the conviction of Carter and Artis.
   Eight years later, Bello recanted his testimony, and Carter and Artis were released on bail, pending a retrial. Once the court proceedings began, Bello was given a polygraph test, and it was confirmed that Bello was telling the truth about having seen Carter and Artis...after already claiming that he hadn't, which is what prompted the retrial. It was also overlooked that he claimed in the 1975 trial that he had been both inside and outside of the bar during the shooting, while in the first trial he claimed that he had never entered the bar. This contradicting claim was added to when a tape recording of an interview with Bello revealed that he may have been bribed or induced into testifying.
   Regardless, after almost nine hours of deliberation, a jury found both Carter and Artis still guilty. However, in 1981, Artis was released on parole, prompting Carter's attorneys to appeal for a writ of habeas corpus three years later. Finally, in 1985, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted it, citing racial prejudices and gross oversights in regards to the police work done on the case, and Carter was released.
   While Carter was eventually found innocent, the media responses to his case have been found to be largely questionable. Dylan's aforementioned song makes a host of claims about Carter that have been considered inaccuracies and embellishments. Also, in 1999, the film, The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington as Carter was released, which, while receiving positive reviews and numerous awards, was slammed for its historical inaccuracies.
   Most of the accusations come regarding Carter's habits outside of the ring; for example, during his short-lived release in 1975, a woman who participated in a fundraiser for his bail claims to have been beat by Carter over a disputed hotel bill. This was eventually dismissed in court.
   Also, Carter himself stated that he and another man used to wander about on the streets, armed with guns, looking to pick fights - he even claimed to have knocked out a horse at one point.
   He served in the Army, as well, though for a short time - he was court martialed four times and eventually considered unfit for service.
   Does this change the fact that the U.S. justice system finds him innocent of the fated 1966 triple homicide? No; these statements have hardly anything to do with the case. The point is that, during the whole incident, he became a media darling and a rallying point for civil rights activists that led to claims that he was "all love." Meanwhile, his often violent habits and tendencies were casually left out of question.
  Still, after his release, Carter eventually became president of the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted, a Canadian organization that advocated individuals such as himself who are convicted of crimes they did not commit. Perhaps he had a change of heart; after all, he was in prison for almost twenty years.
   I don't believe I was trying to prove a point here; I think it's just a fascinating tale of another civil rights case that got heavy media attention but was, perhaps, inaccurately portrayed.