Alcatraz Justice: The Rocks Most Famous Murder Trial

In May of 1946, Alcatraz was rocked by the most sensational and bloody escape attempt in the island’s history. Six convicts obtained guns and took nine guards hostage, one of whom was the author’s father. Before the uprising was quelled, two guards and three prisoners lay dead and fifteen officers had been wounded. Alcatraz Justice chronicles the trial that followed. Drawing from his background as a litigation attorney with thirty-five years of jury trial experience, Ernest Lageson gives life to the drama played out by the four principal lawyers.

The trial came to have almost as much drama as the crime. Sitting on the bench was a judge who, it could be argued, was prejudicial to the prosecution, and who berated one young defense attorney mercilessly in front of the jury. The most experienced of the defense team was ill-prepared and self-aggrandizing with the press. One of the defendants was severely mentally challenged who also had been diagnosed schizophrenic. In a dramatic, four week courtroom battle, the surviving insurgents were found guilty of first-degree murder. This book gives frank and disturbing insight into our criminal justice system.

ERNEST B. LAGESON graduated from the University of California’s Law School in 1959. He began his career as a deputy district attorney in Contra Costa County. Over the next twenty-five years, he became nationally recognized for his work in civil jury and nonjury cases. Invited into such prestigious trail lawyer organizations, Lageson served as president of the Defense Research Institute. Mr. Lageson’s first book, Battle at Alcatraz, was published in 1999.