Ex_Panther acquitted of 26-year-old murder charges in Philly Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source:Michael Novick Jury acquits fugitive of 1970 slaying of police officer Associated Press, 11/03/97 20:11 PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A black man who dodged arrest for 26 years was acquitted Monday of murdering a white police officer in a 1970 confrontation that sparked two days of racial unrest. Richard Bernard Thomas, 51, was convicted by the racially mixed jury of only fleeing to avoid prosecution. He was acquitted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault and possession of explosives. He could get up to seven years in prison when sentenced Jan. 5. ``We didn't lose - the people lost,'' said prosecutor Roger King. Thomas was accused of being a member of the Black Unity Council, an offshoot of the Black Panthers blamed for shooting a number of police officers and plotting to blow up police stations in the 1970s. Members were accused of shooting two officers the same day in August 1970. One of the officers, Sgt. Frank Von Colln, died. Over the next two days, police swarmed the streets in search of suspects, fired tear gas into the Black Panthers headquarters and strip-searched many of its members in public. Three more officers were shot. Amid the commotion, 15 more people were arrested, and weapons and grenades were seized. Thomas was able to slip away. He was on the run for 26 years, living under an assumed name in New York City, where he drove a cab. He later moved to Chicago. He stayed out of trouble, got married and became a father, but his past returned in 1996 when he was picked up by an Illinois officer who was looking for a pickpocket. A check showed Thomas was wanted for murder. At trial, Thomas' lawyers claimed there was no evidence linking him to the slaying and he was only on the lam to avoid a racially biased justice system in Philadelphia. ``There is nothing at all in any of this that connects Mr. Thomas to any of the weapons, any of the grenades,'' said defense lawyer Nino Tinari, who attacked the credibility of witnesses against Thomas. One man - a teen-ager at the time of the killing - said he saw Thomas shoot Van Colln, but Tinari claimed he could not have seen the shooting from his vantage point. A woman identified Thomas as one of the men who met in her home before the shootings to discuss murdering police officers. Tinari said her testimony conflicted with sworn statements she made in the cases of other alleged members of the Black Unity Council. Five men were convicted in the 1970s for the shootings and plots in which Thomas was charged. Prosecutors said Thomas was just as guilty as the others. Evidence included an address book belonging to Thomas that contained names and telephone numbers for members of the Black Unity Council, and a scrap of paper containing Thomas' phone number and the name ``Ricky.'' ``This man is the `Ricky' that attended the meetings about killing pigs,'' King said. The verdict was reached by a jury of seven blacks and five whites. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Be PART of the solution -- People Against Racist Terror/ PO Box 1055/Culver City CA 90232-1055/310-288-5003/ Order our journal "Turning the Tide." mnovickttt@igc.org Free Mumia Abu Jamal! Free All POW's and Political Prisoners! Abolish the Racist Death Penalty! ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-11.06.97-19:55:36-19251