Biography
James Wagner was a Black prisoner at Soledad State Prison and one of the Soledad Seven, a group the Black Panther newspaper described as Black militants serving indeterminate sentences. Following the death of a guard at the prison's North Facility, officials isolated fifteen prisoners incommunicado for forty-nine days. The newspaper individually named James Wagner among seven prisoners charged with murder and conspiracy in the first week of September 1970 and reported that all seven were brought to a preliminary hearing on October 13, 1970. The newspaper said his prosecution remained pending and the trial began on May 10, 1971 in Salinas. The underlying conviction, original admission date and eventual physical release remain unverified; the forty-nine days describe a segregation component, not his total imprisonment.
The Soledad Seven report states that on February 1, 1971 the court dropped conspiracy counts against Jesse Phillips, Roosevelt Williams and James Wagner but retained murder charges. It reports dismissal of all charges against four other, unnamed defendants. Dropping a charge did not establish release from their underlying prison confinement. The Black Panther, February 13, 1971, original PDF page 15. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/black-panther/06%20no%203%201-20%20feb%2013%201971.pdf#page=15
The June 29, 1971 Free Angela newsletter individually names Jessie Lee Phillips, James Wagner and Roosevelt Williams as the remaining three Soledad Seven defendants and reports the prosecution dropping the charges against them after inmate witnesses exposed alleged threats and coercion used to construct the case. This later dismissal differs from the February report that only conspiracy counts had been dropped. It is a disposition of the prison prosecution, not proof of physical release from their underlying sentences. No exact dismissal day, original admission or complete actual custody duration is printed; the coercion account is attributed to the defense newsletter. Source: https://www.bibliotechecivichepadova.it/sites/default/files/opera/documenti/sezione-6-serie-10-273.pdf#page=3
James Wagner was a Black prisoner at Soledad State Prison and one of the Soledad Seven, a group the Black Panther newspaper described as Black militants serving indeterminate sentences. Following the death of a guard at the prison's North Facility, officials isolated fifteen prisoners incommunicado for forty-nine days. The newspaper individually named James Wagner among seven prisoners charged with murder and conspiracy in the first week of September 1970 and reported that all seven were brought to a preliminary hearing on October 13, 1970. The newspaper said his prosecution remained pending and the trial began on May 10, 1971 in Salinas. The underlying conviction, original admission date and eventual physical release remain unverified; the forty-nine days describe a segregation component, not his total imprisonment.
Source-reported institution: Soledad State Prison.
