(wikipedia)

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (born May 6, 1937), a middleweight boxer between 1961 and 1966, is better known for his controversial convictions (1967, 1976) for three June 1966 murders in Paterson, New Jersey, and his subsequent release from prison in 1985.
The question of Carter's actual guilt or innocence remains a strongly polarizing one, however this much is certain: either the criminal justice system released a triple murderer from the punishment that two separate juries had recommended, or it imprisoned an innocent man for almost 20 years.

Pre-boxing life
Carter grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, a middle son among seven children. His parents had a stable, long-lasting marriage, provided well for the family, and raised their other six children without significant problems. Only Rubin seems to have acquired a criminal record, one that resulted in his being sentenced to a juvenile reformatory for assault and robbery shortly after his fourteenth birthday.
Carter escaped from the reformatory in 1954 and joined the United States Army at age seventeen. Several months after completing infantry basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he was shipped to Germany, where, according to his 1974 autobiography, he became interested in boxing. However, Carter was a poor soldier, and was court-martialed four times for charges ranging from insubordination to being AWOL. In May 1956, the Army discharged him as "unfit for military service", well short of his scheduled date of separation. He had served twenty-one months of his three-year term of enlistment.
After his return to New Jersey, Carter was picked up by authorities and made to serve an additional 10 months for escaping from the reformatory. Shortly after being released, Carter was arrested for a series of street muggings, which included assault and robbery of a middle-aged black woman. He pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to the New Jersey State Penitentiary, where he would remain for the next four years.

[edit]Boxing career
While in prison, Carter resumed his interest in boxing, and promptly upon his release in September 1961, turned professional. At 5 feet 8 inches, Carter was shorter than the average middleweight, but he fought all of his professional career at 155-160 pounds. His shaven head, prominent mustache, unwavering stare and solid frame made him an intimidating presence in the ring decades before such a look became commonplace. His aggressive style and punching power (which resulted in many early-round knockouts) drew attention, establishing him as a crowd favorite and earning him the nickname “Hurricane”. After he had beaten a number of legitimate middleweight contenders such as Florentino Fernandez, Holley Mims, Gomeo Brennan, and George Benton, the boxing world took notice. Ring Magazine first listed him as one of its "Top 10" middleweight contenders in July, 1963.
He fought six times in 1963, winning four of the fights and losing two.[1] He remained ranked in the lower part of the top 10 until December 20, when he surprised the boxing world by flooring past and future world champion Emile Griffith twice in the first round and scoring a technical knockout.
That win resulted in Carter being ranked as the #3 contender for Joey Giardello's middleweight title. Carter won two more fights (one a decision over future heavyweight champion Jimmy Ellis) in 1964, before meeting Giardello in Philadelphia for a 15-round championship match on December 14. Carter fought well, but the judges awarded Giardello a unanimous decision. Most of the press concurred; an informal poll conducted among sportswriters at ringside showed that 14 of 18 agreed that Giardello had outboxed the challenger. Carter was gracious in defeat and did not protest the judging.
After that fight, Carter's standing as a contender—as reflected by his ranking in Ring Magazine—began to decline. He fought nine times in 1965, but lost four of five fights against top contenders (Luis Manuel Rodriguez, Harry Scott and Dick Tiger). Tiger, in particular, had no problem with Carter, flooring him three times in their match. "It was", Carter said, "the worst beating that I took in my life - inside or outside the ring".[2]

[edit]The murders
On June 17, 1966, at around 2:30 a.m. two black males entered the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey, and started shooting. The bartender, Jim Oliver, and a male customer, Fred "Cedar Grove Bob" Nauyoks, were killed instantly. A badly wounded female customer, Hazel Tanis, died almost a month later, having been shot in the throat, stomach, intestine, spleen and left lung, and her arm shattered by shotgun pellets. A third customer, Willie Marins, survived the attack, despite being shot in the head and losing sight in one eye.[3] Petty criminal, Alfred Bello, who had been near the Lafayette to commit a burglary that same night, was an eyewitness. Bello was one of the first people on the scene of the shootings and called a telephone operator to alert the police. A resident on the second floor (above the Lafayette), Patricia Graham (later Patricia Valentine), saw two black males get into a white car and drive west away from the bar. Another neighbor, Ronald Ruggiero, also heard the shots and when he looked from his window he saw Bello running on Lafayette Street towards 16th Street. He also heard the screech of tires and saw a white car shoot past, heading west, with two black males in the front seat. Carter's car matched the description provided by the witnesses; the police stopped it and brought Carter and another occupant, John Artis, to the scene about thirty minutes after the incident. There was little physical evidence, police took no fingerprints at the crime scene, and lacked the necessary facilities to conduct a paraffin test on Carter and Artis. None of the eyewitnesses identified Carter or Artis as one of the shooters, nor did Marins when the police took Carter and Artis to the hospital to be viewed by him. However, on searching Carter's car, police found a live .32 caliber pistol round and a 12-gauge shotgun shell - the same calibers used in the shootings. Carter and Artis were taken to police headquarters and questioned. In the afternoon, both men underwent polygraph testing. Although there are serious questions about exactly what happened during the testing, examiner John J. McGuire subsequently reported the following conclusion about each man: "After a careful analysis of the polygraph record of this subject, it is the opinion of the examiner that this subject was attempting deception to all the pertinent questions. And was involved in this crime. After the examination and confronted with the examiners opinion the subject denied any participation in the crime". The scientific merit and reliability of polygraph tests are disputed however, and they are generally inadmissible as evidence. Carter and Artis were released later that day.

[edit]First conviction and appeal
Several months later, Bello disclosed to the police that he had had an accomplice during the attempted burglary, one Arthur Dexter Bradley. On further questioning, Bello and Bradley both independently identified Carter as one of the two black males that they had seen carrying weapons outside the bar the night of the murders; Bello also identified Artis as the other. Based on this additional evidence, Carter and Artis were arrested and indicted.
Even though the defense showed that the accused didn't match the descriptions that witnesses gave on June 17, the two stuck to their testimony. This, plus evidence of the identification of Carter's car by Patricia Valentine, the ammunition found in Carter's car, and questions about the testimony given by Carter's alibi witnesses, convinced an all-white jury that Carter and Artis were the killers. Both men were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
During his time in prison, Carter wrote his autobiography "The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to #45472", which was published in 1974. He maintained his innocence, and won increasing public support for a retrial or pardon. Bob Dylan wrote and performed a song, called "Hurricane" (1975), which expressed the view that Carter was innocent. Meanwhile, Carter's supporters persuaded Bello and Bradley to recant the testimony they had given at the 1967 trial,[4] and these recantations were used as the basis for a motion for a new trial. But Judge Larner, who presided over both the original trial and the recantation hearing, ruled that the recantations "lacked the ring of truth", and denied the motion.[5]
However, defense attorneys made yet another motion, based on evidence which came to light during the recantation hearing process (some of which was contained on a police tape recording of an interview with Bello). Although Larner denied this motion as well (agreeing with the prosecution view that they had tried to present testimony about the interview, but were blocked by the defense), the New Jersey Supreme Court granted Carter and Artis a new trial in 1976, holding that the evidence of various "deals" made between the prosecution and witnesses Bello and Bradley should have been disclosed to the defense before or during the 1967 trial.
Despite enormous public and political pressure to drop the case, Prosecutor Burrell Ives Humphreys made the difficult decision to re-prosecute the by-now ten-year-old murder indictments. However, he made an offer to both Carter and Artis - a "no-risk" polygraph test. If either man would take and "pass" a polygraph test conducted by a nationally-recognized expert, Humphreys would drop the prosecution as to that man. Were he to "fail" the test, there would be no adverse consequences. [6]
Generally, courts do not regard polygraph tests as sufficently reliable to admit in evidence. But if both sides have agreed that the results will be admissible, a judge will admit the polygraph test results and the jury can hear the examiner's opinion. Because of this, the usual offer made to a defendant is a two-edged sword; pass and go free, fail and the results will be admitted in evidence against you. Humphreys's offer to Carter and Artis was remarkable, because he did not insist on the second provision; the results would not become evidence if Carter or Artis failed the test.
However, both men rejected the offer.
Because Bello had told a number of different versions of the events of that night, Humphreys insisted that Bello repeat his identification of the defendants to two different polygraphers. Although both concluded that Bello was speaking truthfully, one of the polygraphers also reached the conclusion that Bello had been inside the Lafayette Bar either immediately before or during the shootings, and orally reported this information to the prosecution team. In his follow-up written report, however, the polygrapher stated only that Bello's 1967 testimony (which placed him outside the bar, on the street during the shootings) was truthful.

[edit]Second conviction and appeal
During the new trial, witness Alfred Bello abandoned his recantation and repeated the testimony he had given in 1967, identifying Carter and Artis as the two armed men he had seen at the Lafayette Grill. Judge Leopizzi instructed the jurors that if they did not believe Bello, they should acquit the defendants. The State objected and requested that the Court instruct the jury that a conviction could be based on the other evidence the State had presented, but this request was denied. Carter and Artis were once again found guilty, this time by a jury that included two African-Americans, in under nine hours. Carter and Artis were again sentenced to life in prison. Carter's defense continued to appeal on various grounds. In 1982, the Supreme Court of New Jersey acknowledged that the prosecution had withheld evidence, a so-called Brady violation, but affirmed the conviction in a 4-3 decision.

[edit]Appeal at the federal court
Three years later, Carter's attorneys filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, an often unsuccessful collateral attack on the judgment of a state court requesting federal review of the constitutionality of the state court's decision. The effort paid off; in 1985, United States District Court judge Haddon Lee Sarokin ruled that Carter and Artis had not received a fair trial, saying that the prosecution had been "based on racism rather than reason and concealment rather than disclosure." He chided the State of New Jersey for having withheld evidence regarding Bello's problematic polygraph testing and related issues, and set aside their convictions.[7] New Jersey prosecutors unsuccessfully appealed Sarokin's ruling to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals who affirmed Sarokin's opinion on one of the two grounds used to free Carter, but not the other, and to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. The Supreme Court controls its own docket, and unlike most other courts, it does not have to resolve every case appealed to it, it decides which ones it will hear, and "denies certiorari" to the others, meaning that it will not consider and decide the case, which is what happened to Passaic County's appeal.[8]
Although Passaic County prosecutors could have tried Carter and Artis a third time, they chose not to. Witnesses had disappeared or died, the cost of mounting a third prosecution would have been extremely high, and it was unclear what result a third conviction would have produced. Artis, for one, had already been paroled and would not have been returned to prison even had he been re-convicted. In 1988, New Jersey prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the original indictments brought against Carter and Artis in 1966, effectively dropping all charges.

[edit]Aftermath
John Artis, after being released on parole in 1985, was imprisoned again in 1986 when he pled guilty to dealing cocaine and to receiving a stolen handgun. Now a social worker, he works with troubled youth in Virginia.
Carter has lived on a farm just outside Toronto, Ontario, Canada, since 1988, and was executive director of The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted from 1993 until 2005. He now works as a motivational speaker. Carter publicly resigned from the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted when the prosecutor of Guy Paul Morin, a wrongfully convicted man, was promoted to a judgeship and the ADWC declined to support Carter's protest of the appointment. On October 14, 2005, Rubin Carter received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from York University (Toronto, Ontario) as well as Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia) in recognition of his work with the ADWC and the Innocence Project.
Carter's career record in boxing was 27 wins, 12 losses and one draw in 40 fights, with 8 knockouts and 11 technical knockouts. He received an honorary championship title belt from the World Boxing Council in 1993, as did Joey Giardello at the same banquet held in Las Vegas. In reality, these "belts" are essentially just mementos.
Carter's saga inspired a 1999 feature film called The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington in the title role.

http://www.the-hurricane.com/

THE HURRICANE
Running time: 112 mins
Starring: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Deborah Unger, Liev Schreiber, John Hannah, Dan Hedaya, Clancy Brown, David Paymer, Rod Steiger

As true stories go, The Hurricane certainly has all the necessary ingredients: an innocent man victimized by a corrupt system; a fight for freedom spanning almost 20 years and a David and Goliath courtroom battle which finally redresses the balance.

Unfortunately, Norman Jewison's earnest and worthy film poses more questions than it answers, and paints some of its characters in such broad strokes that one has to question where the truth ends and artistic licence begins.

The film begins in 1966 with the arrest of middleweight boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter (Denzel Washington) and a companion for the murders of three people in a downtown New Jersey bar. Both men pleaded their innocence but the detective in charge of the case, Vincent Della Pesca (Dan Hedaya), who had harboured a grudge against Carter since childhood, framed both men for the crime and they were sentenced to three life terms in prison.

Racked with frustration and despair, Carter decided to channel his energies into writing his life story from his cell, producing a bestselling autobiography, The Sixteenth Round, which prompted two failed appeals and Bob Dylan to write a song in his name.

After 19 years behind bars, alienated teenager Lesra Martin (Vicellous Reon Shannon) read Carter's book and became was so moved by the case, that he put in motion a new appeal which would, ultimately, set Carter free.

There's no doubting Washington's commitment to the role. He spent more than a year preparing for The Hurricane, losing 60lbs in weight and working tirelessly for months with fight co_ordinator Terry Claybon to choreograph the exhilarating boxing matches which open the film.

For the most part, his performance simmers rather than boils, changing very little in tone during the 20 year period chronicled in the film (the only visible clue to the passing of time is flecks of grey in his moustache and beard).

There are moments when Washington really catches fire - notably in the prison scenes when his personality appears to fracture under the strain - but these are few and far between.

(wikipedia)


L'histoire d'Hurricane:

Sa Jeunesse

Rubin Carter grandit à Paterson dans le New Jersey, au milieu d'une famille de 7 enfants. Ses parents connurent un long et paisible mariage, subvenant au besoin de la famille, et éduquèrent leurs six autres enfants sans problème majeur. Rubin semble être le seul à avoir rencontré des problèmes avec la justice, l'amenant même à être condamné à un centre pour délinquants juvéniles suite à un braquage, peu après son quatorzième anniversaire.
Carter s'évada du centre en 1954 et s'engagea dans l'US Army à l'âge de 17 ans. Plusieurs mois après avoir achevé ses classes dans l'infanterie à Fort Jackson (Caroline du Sud), il ralia l'Allemagne, où, selon son autobiographie parue en 1974 1, il commença à s'intéresser à la boxe. Toutefois, Rubin Carter était un piètre soldat et fut traduit quatre fois en cour martiale avec des charges allant de l'insubordination à la désertion (ou absence illégale). En mai 1956, l'armée le renvoya en le reformant pour inaptitude au travail militaire, peu avant sa date de fin de service. En définitive, il aura servi 21 mois des 3 années prévues de son contrat.
Après son retour dans le New Jersey, Carter fut rattrapé par les autorités et dut faire 10 mois supplémentaires de détention pour son évasion de la maison de correction. Peu après sa libération, Carter fut arrêté pour une série d'agressions dans la rue. Il plaida coupable de tous les chefs d'accusation et fut condamné à la prison d'état du New Jersey, où il resta les quatre années qui suivirent.
Sa carrière de boxeur [modifier]
Pendant son incarcération, Rubin Carter reprit son intérêt pour la boxe, et finalement, à sa libération en septembre 1961, devint professionel. Mesurant 1m73, Carter était plus petit que la moyenne des poids moyens, mais il combattit toute sa carrière avec un poids proche des 70 kg (150-160 pds). Sa tête rasée, sa moustache imposante, son regard fixe et décidé, ainsi que son solide gabarit lui donnaient une intimidante stature sur le ring, des années avant qu'une telle allure ne se banalise.
Son style agressif et la puissance de ses coups (qui lui permirent de terminer beaucoup de ses combats par KO dès les premiers rounds) forçaient le respect, faisant de lui le favori des foules et lui faisant gagner le surnom de Hurricane (Ouragan). Après qu'il eut battu nombre de ses concurrents légitimes chez les poids moyens tels que Florentino Fernandez, Holley Mims, Gomeo Brennan, et George Benton, le monde de la boxe le prit au sérieux. Ring Magazine fut le premier à le classer dans son "Top 10" des poids moyens en juillet 1963.

Il prit part à six combats en 1963, comptabilisant 4 victoires pour 2 défaites.[3] Il resta classé au bas du top 10 jusqu'au 20 décembre, où, à la suprise générale, il mit deux fois au tapis l'ancien et futur champion du monde Emile Griffith au premier round, concrétisant un KO technique.
Cette victoire permit à Carter d'atteindre la 3ème place des prétendants au titre des poids moyens, détenu alors par Joey Giardello.
Carter remporta deux combats de plus (dont un sur décision d'arbitre sur le futur champion poids lourd Jimmy Ellis) en 1964, avant de rencontrer Joey Giardello à Philadelphie pour un championnat du monde en 15 rounds le 14 décembre. Carter se défendit bien, mais la décision des juges fut unanime pour récompenser Giardello. La plupart des journalistes étaient d'accord : une rapide concertation montra que 14 des 18 journalistes sportifs présents près du ring s'accordaient à dire que Giardello avait mieux boxé que son challenger. Carter resta digne dans la défaite et ne protesta pas contre la décision des juges.
Après ce combat, le statut de Carter en tant prétendant - illustré par son classement dans Ring Magazine - commença à chuter. Il combattit 9 fois en 1965, mais perdit 4 de ses 5 combats contre des concurrents sérieux (Luis Manuel Rodriguez, Harry Scott et Dick Tiger). Tiger, en particulier, ne rencontra pas de problème avec Carter, l'envoyant 3 fois au tapis lors du même match, en mars 1965. « C'était », dit Carter, « la pire raclée que j'ai prise dans ma vie - sur et en-dehors du ring ».2
Evolution du classement de Carter [modifier]
Publié par Ring Magazine, son classement ne cessait de chuter avant son emprisonnement :
? 1962 : non-classé
? 1963 : 3ème prétendant au titre
? 1964 : 3ème
? 20 mai 1965 : 3ème
? 20 novembre 1965 : 6ème
? 20 février 1966 : 7ème
? 20 mars 1966 : 9ème
Le triple meurtre [modifier]
Les victimes [modifier]
Le 17 juin 1966, à environ 2h30 du matin, deux hommes noirs sont entrés dans le Lafayette Bar et Grill, à Paterson (New Jersey) et ont commencé à tirer.
? Le patron, Jim Oliver, et un client, Fred "Cedar Grove Bob" Nauyoks, furent tués sur le coup.
? Hazel Tanis, une cliente grièvement blessée, fut touchée à la gorge, à l'estomac, aux intestins, à la rate et au poumon gauche, ainsi qu'à son bras qui éclata sous l'impact des balles de plomb. Elle mourut près d'un mois plus tard.
? Un troisième client, Willie Marins, survécu à l'attaque bien qu'il fut atteint à la tête, perdant l'usage d'un oeil.[4]
Les témoins [modifier]
Un petit délinquant, Alfred Bello, qui se trouvait près du Lafayette pour commettre un cambriolage la même nuit, fut témoin occulaire. Bello fut l'une des premières personnes sur la scène du crime et appela un opérateur téléphonique pour avertir la police.
Une résidente de l'appartement situé au deuxième étage au dessus du Lafayette, Patricia Graham (qui devint Patricia Valentine), vut quant à elle deux mâles noirs monter dans une voiture blanche et partir vers l'ouest en quittant le bar.
Un autre voisin, Ronald Ruggiero, entendit également les coups de feu et lorsqu'il regarda par sa fenêtre, il vit Bello courir de la rue Lafayette vers la 16ème rue. Il entendit aussi le crissement des pneus et vit une voiture blanche s'échapper, prendre le cap vers l'ouest, avec deux hommes noirs assis à l'avant.
L'arrestation [modifier]
La voiture de Carter correspondait à la description faite par les témoins. La police l'arrêta et amena Carter et l'autre occupant, John Artis, sur la scène du crime environ 30 minutes après l'incident. Il y avait peu de preuves matérielles, la police ne prit pas d'empreintes digitales sur le lieu du crime, et n'avait pas l'équipement nécessaire pour effectuer un test à la paraffine sur Carter et Artis.
Aucun des témoins occulaires n'identifia Carter ou Artis comme l'un des tireurs, pas plus que Willie Marins lorsque la police amena Carter et Artis à l'hôpital pour qu'il les voit.
Cependant, en fouillant la voiture de Carter, la police trouva un pistolet de calibre 32 à proximité et une cartouche de fusil de chasse de diamètre 12 - les mêmes calibres que ceux utilisés lors de la fusillade. Carter et Artis furent amenés au poste par la police et questionnés.
Dans l'après-midi, les deux hommes passèrent l'épreuve du détecteur de mensonge. Malgré les doutes, l'examinateur John J. McGuire rapporta plus tard les conclusions suivantes pour chacun des deux suspects : « Après une analyse rigoureuse de l'enregistrement du détecteur de mensonge du sujet, il est de l'avis de l'examinateur que ce sujet a tenté de frauder à toutes les questions pertinentes. Et était impliqué dans ce crime. Après l'interrogatoire et confronté à l'avis des examinateurs, le sujet a nié une quelconque participation au crime ».3 Les valeur et fiabilité scientifiques des tests au polygraphe étaient cependant discutées, et ceux-ci étaient généralement considérés comme des preuves irrecevables. Carter et Artis furent libérés plus tard dans la journée.
Première condamnation et appel

Plusieurs mois plus tard, Bello révéla à la police qu'il avait un complice lors sa tentative de cambriolage, Arthur Dexter Bradley. Après un interrogatoire supplémentaire, Bello et Bradley identifièrent, chacun séparemment, Carter comme l'un des deux Noirs qu'ils avaient vus armés sortir du bar la nuit des meurtres. Bello identifia aussi Artis en tant que deuxième homme. En se basant sur ces temoignages concordants, Carter et Artis furent arrêtés et inculpés.
Même si la défense montra que les accusés ne correspondaient pas aux descriptions que les témoins avaient données le 17 juin 1966, Bello et Bradley s'en tinrent à leur témoignage. Ajouté à l'identification de la voiture de Carter par Patricia Valentine, aux munitions trouvées dans la voiture de Carter, et aux doutes concernant les versions données par les témoins de l'alibi de Carter, cela convaincut un jury composé uniquement de Blancs que Carter et Artis étaient les tueurs. Les deux hommes furent jugés coupables et condamnés à la réclusion à perpétuité.
Soutien populaire et médiatique [
Voir l'article Hurricane (chanson).
Pendant sa peine de prison, Carter écrivit son autobiographie Le 16ème Round (The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to #45472), publiée en 1974. Il continua à clamer son innocence, et gagna un soutien populaire grandissant pour un nouveau procès ou une amnistie. Le chanteur Bob Dylan écrivit et joua une chanson en son honneur, intitulée Hurricane (1975), laquelle exprimait l'avis que Carter était innocent. Les faits tels que chantés par Bob Dylan peuvent être néanmoins remis en cause [5].
Tout au long de son incarcération, il fut soutenu par de nombreuses personnes, anonymes ou célèbres, telles que la chanteuse Joni Mitchell ou encore le boxeur Mohammed Ali.
Les retractions de Bello et Bradley
Pendant cette période, des enquêteurs et journalistes pro-Carter persuadèrent Alfred Bello et Arthur Bradley de revenir sur le témoignage qu'ils avaient donné au procès de 1967. En 1974, les deux témoins clés dans la condamnation de Carter se retractèrent. Ces retractions servirent comme base d'une motion pour un nouveau procès. Mais le juge Larner, qui présida à la fois au premier procès et à l'audition des retractations, décida que celles-ci "sonnaient faux", et rejeta la motion.4
Cependant, les avocats de la défense deposèrent une autre motion, basée sur de nouvelles preuves apportées pendant le procès de retractation (dont une qui reposait sur un enregistrement policier d'un entretien avec Bello). Bien que Larner rejeta également cette motion5, la Cour Suprême du New Jersey accorda à Carter et Artis un nouveau procès en 1976, concédant que la preuve de divers "marchés" passés entre l'accusation et les témoins Bello et Bredley aurait dû être divulguée à la défense avant ou pendant le procès de 1967.6
En dépit de l'énorme pression politique et populaire pour abandonner l'affaire, le procureur Burrell Yves Humphreys prit la difficile décision de continuer les poursuites pour les actes d'accusation de meurtre, alors vieux de 19 ans. Toutefois, il fit une offre similaire à Carter et Artis : un test "sans risque" au détecteur de mensonge. Si l'un ou l'autre des deux hommes passait et réussissait un passage au détecteur de mensonge sous l'autorité d'un expert reconnu, Humphreys abandonnerait les charges contre lui. Dans le cas où il échouerait au test, il n'y aurait aucune conséquence défavorable. [6]
Généralement, les tribunaux ne considèrent pas ces tests comme suffisament fiables pour les admettre comme preuve. Mais si les deux parties se mettent d'accord pour que les tests soient recevables, un juge admettra les résultats du test du détecteur de mensonge comme pièce du dossier et le jury pourra écouter l'avis des experts. A cause de cela, l'offre habituellement faite à un accusé est à double tranchant : Réussissez et partez libre, Echouez et les preuves seront à charge contre vous. L'offre de Humphreys à Carter et Artis était exceptionnelle, parce qu'il ne tenait pas à la deuxième condition : les résultats ne seraient pas retenus contre Carter et Artis si ceux-ci échouaient aux tests.
Pourtant, les deux hommes déclinèrent l'offre.
L'année suivante, en 1975, Bello changea de nouveau sa version de l'histoire, contrairement à Bradley. Il déclara qu'en réalité, il était à l'intérieur du bar au moment des coups de feu.
Vu que Bello avait raconté nombre de versions différentes des évènements de cette nuit-là, Humphreys insista pour qu'il repète son identification des accusés devant deux experts différents. Bien que les deux experts conclurent que Bello disait la vérité, l'un d'eux en vint aussi à la conclusion que Bello était dans le Lafayette Bar soit juste avant, soit pendant la fusillade, et répéta verbalement cette information à l'équipe de l'accusation. Dans son rapport écrit, en revanche, l'expert affirma uniquement que le témoignage de Bello de 1967 (qui le situait en dehors du bar, dans la rue, au moment des coups de feu) était vrai.
Seconde condamnation et l'appel

En mars 1976, la Cour Suprême du New Jersey cassa les précédents verdicts, estimant que les condamnés n'avaient pas bénéficié de tous leurs droits pour se défendre. Carter et Artis furent ainsi libérés sous caution (respectivement 20 000 $ et 15 000 $).
En décembre 1976, au second procès, Bello changea encore son témoignage, répétant celui donné en 1967 qui le situait en dehors du bar. Le juge Leopizzi indiqua aux jurés que s'ils ne croyaient pas au témoignage de Bello, ils seraient dans l'obligation d'acquitter les accusés. L'Etat fit objection et demanda à la cour d'informer le jury qu'une conviction pourrait être fondée sur l'autre preuve que l'Etat allait introduire, mais sa requête fut rejetée. Néanmoins, Carter et Artis furent encore désignés coupables, cette fois par un jury comprenant deux Afro-américains, en moins de 9 heures.
Après 6 mois de liberté, Carter et Artis furent renvoyés en prison à perpétuité.
La défense de Carter continua à faire appel pour diverses raisons. En 1982, la Cour Suprême du New Jersey admit que l'accusation avait retenu des preuves pouvant servir à la défense, une soi-disant violation de Brady, mais confirma les précédentes condamnations par 4 voix contre 3.7
Entre-temps, le 22 décembre 1981, John Artis bénéficia de la liberté conditionnelle.

Appel devant la Cour Suprême
Trois ans plus tard, les avocats de Carter déposèrent une demande d'habeas corpus à la cour fédérale, une pétition légale souvent infructueuse demandant la révision fédérale de la constitutionnalité des décisions de la cour d'état. L'effort fut payant : en novembre 1985, le juge Haddon Lee Sarokin de la Cour de District des Etats Unis déclara que Carter et Artis n'avaient pas reçu de procès équitable, considérant que l'accusation était « fondée sur le racisme plutôt que sur la raison et sur la dissimulation plutôt que sur la transparence. » 8 Il ordonna la libération immédiate de Carter "au nom de la simple décence". Il réprimanda l'état du New Jersey pour avoir caché les doutes sur les résultats de Bello au détecteur de mensonge, et mis de côté leur véracité.9
Les procureurs du New Jersey firent appel sans succès du verdict de Sarokin devant la cour d'appel des États-Unis pour le troisième circuit qui confirma l'avis de Sarokin sur un des deux points permettant la libération de Carter.1011 Ils s'adressèrent aussi à la cour suprême des États-Unis, qui refusa d'écouter le dossier.12
Bien qu'ils aient pu essayer les condamner une troisième fois, les procureurs du comté de Passaic choisirent de ne pas la faire. Depuis l'époque des faits, les témoins avaient disparu ou étaient morts, le coût aurait été extrêmement élevé. Même une condamnation n'aurait eu que peu de résultat. Artis, lui, avait déjà été libéré sur parole, et ne serait pas retourné en prison même s'il était recondamné. En 1988, les procureurs du New Jersey enregistrèrent une motion pour effacer les accusations originales intentées contre Carter et Artis en 1966, abandonnant réellement toutes les charges. Le 26 février 1988, Rubin Carter bénéficia d'un non-lieu.

Depuis l'affaire judiciaire
John Artis fut emprisonné une nouvelle fois en 1986 où il plaida coupable de vente de cocaïne et recel d'arme. Actuellement dans le domaine social, il travaille auprès des jeunes délinquants en Virginie.
Rubin Carter vit dans une ferme aux alentours de Toronto (Canada), depuis 1988. Il fut directeur exécutif de l'Association de Défense des Condamnés à Tort (Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted - ADWC) de 1993 à 2005. Il travaille actuellement comme conférencier. Carter démissionna publiquement de l'association quand le procureur de Guy Paul Morin, un homme condamné à tort, fut élu à la fonction de juge et que l'ADWC refusa de soutenir les protestations de Carter sur cette nomination. Le 14 octobre 2005, Rubin Carter reçut un honorifique doctorat en droit de l'université de York (Toronto, Ontario) ainsi que de l'université de Griffith (Brisbane, Australie) en mémoire de son travail auprès de l'ADWC et de l'Innocence Project.
Installé, lui, à Vancouver, Lesra Martin est aujourd'hui procureur auprès de la province de Colombie Britannique.
Annexes [modifier]
La carrière de boxeur de Carter comptabilise 27 victoires, 12 défaites et un ex-aequo en 40 combats, dont 8 KO et 11 KO techniques. Il reçut un titre honorifique de champion de la part de la WBC en 1993, tout comme Joey Giardello lors du même banquet à Las Vegas.
L'histoire de Carter a inspiré un long-métrage de 1999 intitulé Hurricane Carter avec Denzel Washington dans le rôle-titre. Ce film remporta le Golden Globe du meilleur acteur dramatique, et l'Ours d'argent de la meilleure interprétation masculine pour Denzel Washington.

picture of bob dylan and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter


"Hurricane" Bob Dylan

Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter patty valentine from the upper hall.
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood,
Cries out, my god, they killed them all!
Here comes the story of the hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Three bodies lyin there does patty see
And another man named bello, movin around mysteriously.
I didnt do it, he says, and he throws up his hands
I was only robbin the register, I hope you understand.
I saw them leavin, he says, and he stops
One of us had better call up the cops.
And so patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin
In the hot new jersey night.

Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin carter and a couple of friends are drivin around.
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In paterson thats just the way things go.
If youre black you might as well not show up on the street
less you wanna draw the heat.

Alfred bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops.
Him and arthur dexter bradley were just out prowlin around
He said, I saw two men runnin out, they looked like middleweights
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates.
And miss patty valentine just nodded her head.
Cop said, wait a minute, boys, this ones not dead
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty men.

Four in the mornin and they haul rubin in,
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs.
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin eye
Says, whad you bring him in here for? he aint the guy!
Yes, heres the story of the hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Four months later, the ghettos are in flame,
Rubins in south america, fightin for his name
While arthur dexter bradleys still in the robbery game
And the cops are puttin the screws to him, lookin for somebody to blame.
Remember that murder that happened in a bar?
Remember you said you saw the getaway car?
You think youd like to play ball with the law?
Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin that night?
Dont forget that you are white.

Arthur dexter bradley said, Im really not sure.
Cops said, a poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and were talkin to your friend bello
Now you dont wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow.
Youll be doin society a favor.
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin braver.
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He aint no gentleman jim.

Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much.
Its my work, hed say, and I do it for pay
And when its over Id just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail.
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.

All of rubins cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance.
The judge made rubins witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger.
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun,
The d.a. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.

Rubin carter was falsely tried.
The crime was murder one, guess who testified?
Bello and bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride.
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fools hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldnt help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.

Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While rubin sits like buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell.
Thats the story of the hurricane,
But it wont be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time hes done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.