Biography
Gail Madden was a co-defendant convicted of the first-degree murder of Plainfield, New Jersey police officer John V. Gleason Jr., who was beaten to death by a crowd during the July 16, 1967 Plainfield rebellion. Tried alongside George Merritt Jr., she was convicted in December 1968 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the convictions over erroneous jury instructions on the degrees of murder, and in 1972 the New Jersey Supreme Court (State v. Madden, 61 N.J. 377) affirmed that reversal and remanded for retrial. She was one of the "Plainfield's Black Hostages" whose freedom a defense committee championed.
The original defense pamphlet states that Gail Madden was initially arrested for alleged looting 15 or 20 minutes after the July 16, 1967 assault on police officer Gleason. That initial looting allegation is distinguished from the later murder prosecution. The pamphlet does not establish her first jail admission or any intervening bail or release, so the source date is retained in context without assigning it to the later murder case’s structured arrest field.
