| Written by Yussuf Simmonds, (Asst. Managing Editor), on 05-01-2008 00:00 |
|
|
Page 1 of 3  | Branton speaking at luncheon for
Justice Vaino Spencer.
|
When the annals of great legal scholars are written, a special place has to be allocated for Leo Branton Jr. the prominent civil rights and entertainment attorney. Though he does handle a heavy caseload at present, he is the legal scholar from whom many still seek sage legal counsel and guidance, and he reportedly lends his pro bono services to causes, people in need and cases with relevant social issues. Branton’s career is filled with milestones and legal “firsts” including a triple “AAA” client list of Hollywood celebrities, the estate of Jimi Hendrix and Ruth Washington, former publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel. He has been referred to as a “Black Perry Mason,” but that is a misnomer. Branton is the real deal; he is the standard. Perry Mason is fiction. It is Perry Mason who should be referred to as the “White Leo Branton.” He is known as a great litigator who performs legal magic, a description of his stellar performances while rendering arguments before juries—some of them “lily white.” One of his most celebrated cases was “People versus Angela Davis.” His successful closing arguments in that case is one of the cases that will forever be remembered in (legal) history and it is definitively used as an instructional tool in law schools throughout the country. In 2005, Professor Charles Ogletree hosted and moderated a panel of Davis’ brothers and the attorneys at her famous trial, including Branton. One of the highlights of the event was Branton’s reenactment of his closing statement, where he asked an all-White jury to “imagine they were Black” to explain Davis’ flight, one of the core issues of the prosecution’s case. No story about Branton can be properly told without reference to the Davis case which lasted several months. It was the trial of the century before the “other” trial of the century. Professor Davis, a young Black woman, was charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, and Branton was called in to defend her. His closing arguments zoomed in on one of the most significant pieces of evidence: her flight from the area of the crime which the prosecution argued showed a “consciousness of guilt.” The trial was a focal point during the Civil Rights Era and it served as a standard for modern day litigation, pioneering the use of the media, jury consultants and highlighting the unreliability of eyewitnesses. Branton used the history of Blacks in America—a fact that was prominently displayed in the courtroom—there was not a single Black person sitting in the jury box. This was Santa Clara County, California, 1972. (While defending a Black serviceman, a member of the U. S. Air Force, charged with the murder of a White couple in 1951, Branton challenged the jury system in Riverside County, California which eventually led to the selection of that county’s first Black juror).
<< Start < Previous 1 2 3 Next > End >>
Users' Comments (0) 
|
|
|
