Biography
Chris Laury was a member of the Black Liberation Front in East Palo Alto, California. Police arrested him on May 7, 1971 over the alleged beating of Stanford Hospital clerk Mary Jane Schmidt during a hospital-workers’ struggle and set bail at $12,500. Laury maintained that he had been misidentified. His trial began in late November 1971, and a jury found Laury and co-defendant Leo Bazile not guilty of every charge. Police also stopped and arrested Laury with Samuel Bridges on May 16, 1971 while they were driving to Ukiah; both pleaded not guilty to the resulting weapons, marijuana and open-container accusations. No exact custody interval has been established for either arrest.
Pamoja Venceremos of July2,1971 reports that Laury and Samuel Bridges appeared in court on June24 following their May16 traffic stop. It reports a concealed-weapon conviction for Laury, a thirty-day suspended sentence and nine months of summary probation. These outcomes concern the separate May16 stop, not the May7 MaryJaneSchmidt prosecution in which he and LeoBazile were later acquitted. The source does not establish actual overnight confinement for the May16 episode.
