- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of interviews with the attorneys for murder suspects in the Lemuel Penn case, Danielsville, Georgia, 1964 August 26
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Date of Original:
- 1964-08-26
- Subject:
- Murder--Georgia--Madison County
Trials (Murder)--Georgia--Danielsville
African Americans--Violence against--Georgia--Madison County
Criminal defense lawyers--Georgia
Georgia--Race relations--History--20th century
Ku Klux Klan (1915- )--Georgia--Athens
Penn, Lemuel--Death and burial
Lackey, James S.--Trials, litigation, etc.
Sims, Howard (Joseph Howard)--Trials, litigation, etc.
Myers, Cecil William--Trials, litigation, etc.
Darsey, John--Interviews
Williford, John W.--Interviews
Hudson, Jim, 1929-2010--Interviews
Skelton, Carey
Johnson, Clete D.
Darsey, John
Hudson, Jim, 1929-2010 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Madison County, Danielsville, 34.12428, -83.22126
- Medium:
- news
unedited footage - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of interviews with the attorneys for murder suspects in the Lemuel Penn case, Danielsville, Georgia, 1964 August 26. An unidentified reporter (first name is "Russ") conducts separate interviews in a room in the country courthouse in Danielsville. In the first clip, John Darsey, representing Cecil William Myers, says he will place a "not guilty" plea. Given that he was only appointed by Judge Carey Skelton as counsel that morning, the question of requesting a continuance was still open, especially since the case appears on the docket for the following Monday. The question of the three suspects being tried together had not yet been determined, but the attorneys had requested that the three should be interviewed by their attorneys as a group. In the second clip, Mr. Darsey responds to the question of the effect of the national media coverage on the case. He also comments on jury selection. In the third clip, John W. Williford is interviewed regarding the confession of his client James S. Lackey. Mr. Williford was appointed by Judge Skelton as counsel the Friday before this interview. He comments on the responsibilities of attorneys when they are appointed to cases and about when representation should begin. He notes that the Madison County Solicitor General, Clete D. Johnson, had objected to the joint interviews of the suspects with their attorneys but the decision was still pending at the time of this interview. He also comments on the detailed reports written by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and provided to the prosecution, but that are not available to the defense attorneys at that time. The fourth clip focuses on the issue of out-of-state witnesses in the trial. Mr. Williford indicates that these are character witnesses for Mr. Lackey. The fifth clip begins the interview with James Hudson of Athens, representing Joseph Howard Sims. He discusses the possibility of separating the cases, jury selection, and possible problems with motions and evidence. He comments that the federal civil rights law does not have anything to do with the case as it is a murder trial. He also says that they plan to object to evidence gathered by the FBI. He refuses to comment on the possibility of a continuance. The sixth clip includes Mr. Williford's comments regarding the validity and admissibility of any statements Mr. Lackey may have made to the FBI. The final clips in the series are silent. They show several shots of a car parked at a garage area, street views around the Madison County courthouse in Danielsville, and an historic marker for Madison County.Lemuel Penn, an African American, was returning to Washington D.C. with two other African American officers, Major Howard E. Brown and Lt. Col. John D. Howard, from their two weeks of summer training at Fort Benning, Ga. Early in the morning of July 10, the three men stopped outside the entrance to the University of Georgia to change drivers at which time Penn took the wheel. At some time after they left Athens, their car was followed by another vehicle containing members of the Athens area Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. James S. Lackey was driving; Joseph Howard Sims was in the front passenger seat, with Cecil William Myers in the back. Both Sims and Myers carried sawed-off shot guns. According to Lackey's original statements to the FBI, as they approached the bridge over the Broad River near Colbert in Madison County, he pulled along side the vehicle being driven by Penn. Sims and Myers opened fire on the car killing Penn instantly. Brown and Howard were able to control the car and stop it. They turned around to return to Athens, but lost control in the morning fog and ran into a ditch. They were finally able to flag down a driver who went to Colbert to notify the police. While the local police in Colbert were unwilling to believe the story given by the two Reservists, Lt. Colonel Howard was finally allowed to call the provost marshal at Ft. Benning. Later that morning a member of the Army's Criminal Investigation Division arrived from Ft. Gordon to place Howard and Brown under their protection. On the morning of July 11, FBI Special Agents Jack B. Simpson and William J. Watry from Atlanta, Ga., and Clarence Brom and Arthur S. Hamilton from Newark, N.J. arrived in Athens to begin their investigation.
Supporting information was taken from the following sources: "Lemuel Penn Murder." The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Web 27 March 2013. Another Voice from Oconee County. Rpt. of Auchmutey, Jim. "60 Years, Civil Rights in the South: Madison County Confronts Dark Past." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 9 July 2004. Web 27 March 2013. Belknap, Michal R. Federal Law and Southern Order: Racial Violence and Constitutional Conflict in the Post-Brown South. Athens, Ga.: U of Georgia P, c1987. 161. Shipp, Bill. Murder at Broad River Bridge: The Slaying of Lemuel Penn by Members of the Ku Klux Klan. Atlanta, Ga.: Peachtree P, c1981.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Clip number: wsbn47089 - External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn47089
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn47089
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn47089/presentation/manifest.json
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn47089, Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of interviews with the attorneys for murder suspects in the Lemuel Penn case, Danielsville, Georgia, 1964 August 26, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1195, 18:00/33:18, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 15 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Holding Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
