Biography
James K. Holley, 20, was one of the Carbondale 3 — Southern Illinois University students and Black Panthers arrested after the November 12, 1970 pre-dawn police siege of the Panther house at 401 North Washington Street in Carbondale, Illinois, in which university, state and local police fired 778 bullets into the building during a nearly three-hour standoff. All six occupants were charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery of a police officer; Holley, Michael Johnson and Leonard Thomas were arrested and prosecuted as the Carbondale 3. In the summer of 1971 a Jackson County jury acquitted them on all 41 counts, with the People's Law Office (Jeff Haas, Michael Deutsch, Flint Taylor, Steve White) defending, and charges against the other three were dropped. The siege is the subject of the documentary 778 Bullets. How long the three were held before trial has not been located.
African World (September 4, 1971, p. 3) reported that the Carbondale Three trial opened on August 9, 1971, and that eight jurors had been selected by August 13. It listed seven attempted-murder counts, mob action, and criminal damage to property among the charges at the opening. These trial dates do not establish additional custody endpoints. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/periodicals/african-world/v01n23-sep-04-1971-african%20world.pdf
