Freed in New Haven

It had promised to be one of the most celebrated trials of the decade. In New Haven, Conn., Bobby G. Scale, national chairman of the Black Panther Party, stood charged by the state with ordering the murder of Fellow Panther Alex Rackley. A rally last year in support of Scale and his codefendant, Mrs. Ericka Huggins, attracted 15,000 demonstrators and a host of National Guardsmen to the New Haven Green, and "Free Ericka, Free Bobby" became a protest watchword, aerosoled onto sidewalks and building fronts across the country. The jury selection required a laborious four months; more than 1,500 individuals were called and 1,035 examined before the body was empaneled. No less a figure than Yale President Kingman Brewster voiced skepticism that any black revolutionary could get a fair trial in the U.S.

Glazed Eyes. Yet, when the trial came to an end last week, only a few hundred spectators were on hand. Mrs. Huggins alternately smiled, wept and shook her head; Scale sagged low in his seat, eyes glazed. Then, in what seemed more a marriage ceremony than a murder trial, the two rose and embraced after the judge declared: "The motion to dismiss is granted in each case and the prisoners are discharged forthwith."

In freeing Mrs. Huggins, 23, and Seale, 34, Presiding Judge Harold M. Mulvey added an unprecedented chapter to the Panthers' already crowded legal history. Only the day before, the seven white and five black veniremen had announced their failure to reach a verdict after six days of deliberation. The final vote was 10 to 2 for acquittal.

Prosecutor Arnold Markle quickly asserted that the state wanted a retrial. Mulvey turned him down, ruling: "With the massive publicity attendant upon the trial just completed, I find it impossible to believe that an unbiased jury could be selected without superhuman efforts which this court, the state and these defendants should not be called upon either to make or endure." He went on to explain that the hung jury, and the fact that Mrs. Huggins had been confined "for more than two years" and Seale "for at least that amount of time," had been important factors in his decision to drop charges.

Extremely Weak Case. The chief witness in the state's case was George Sams Jr., a participant in the Rackley killing, who last year pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Sams contended that on the night of the torture, Seale had visited the house where Rackley, a suspected police informer, was being held and had given the order to "do away with him." The whole prosecution effort was bent on proving that even if Seale had not actually given the order to have Rackley killed, he, as well as Mrs. Huggins, had at least known about it. It failed. Juror Mary Armstrong afterward described the state's case as "very weak, extremely weak."

Defense Attorney Charles Garry labeled the entire trial an exercise in "preventive detention." The arrests of Seale, Panther Defense Minister Huey Newton and others around the country, he maintained, "have been nothing less than a concentrated effort by the FBI, CIA and local officials to systematically do away with the Black Panther Party."

Purposefully or not, federal, state and local governments have kept the Panthers hamstrung by litigation. In addition to Seale, who has been in jail for the past two years, Newton has spent 34 months of the past five years in prison. Panther Chief of Staff David Hillard was arrested on charges, since dropped, that he threatened the life of the President in a speech in California. Eldridge Cleaver left the country to avoid prosecution for unlawful flight and assault with intent to kill, and various other Panther supernumeraries are or have been bogged down in courts across the country.

Says Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz, a specialist in criminal law and constitutional litigation: "There are elements of preventive detention in these cases because defendants have been held in jail for long periods during trials that result in acquittal or hung juries. So that the government achieves its purpose despite losing the verdict." Indeed, in the two years since Seale and the New York Panther 21 (exonerated of bombing conspiracy charges two weeks ago) were jailed, the party has become virtually extinct. Rent by factionalism and internecine killing, the Panthers hardly exist as a large force in the community--if they ever were one.

Cause for Smiles. Following Mulvey's verdict, a dazed and speechless Mrs. Huggins left the courtroom to chants of "Ericka, Ericka. . .Power. . .You're free, you're free." Dozens of well-wishers rushed forward to touch her or held small children up for her to see. For a moment, it appeared as though she might be crushed by the crowd, but Elbert Howard, a brawny Panther known as "Big Man," and Rosemary Gross, the mother of one of Bobby's children, led her away.

As she paused momentarily for a shout of "Power to the people!" to subside, she peered up. "Look at the sun," she said, smiling and shaking her head. Seale, too, had cause to smile. Two days after the New Haven verdict, the Seventh U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago granted him release on bond pending appeal on contempt charges stemming from the Chicago Riot conspiracy trial. At week's end, he was released from custody, a free man.

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