Biography
Marvin Fentis was a Black Texan who, The Black Panther reported, was already serving two life sentences for defending himself against two Garland, Texas police officers when, in August 1974, he was brought to Houston, tried, and convicted of the murder of a Houston police officer — and sentenced to 38 more years on what his defense attorney, Grey Washington, called purely circumstantial evidence, after police "concentrated on finding three Black men" to fit a fabricated description. Documented in The Black Panther (August 31, 1974).
In an August 10, 1974 Black Panther letter, Marvin J. Fentis described two life convictions in Garland and a separate pending murder prosecution in Houston, where trial was scheduled for August 12. His letter gives a Humble, Texas detention address. The scheduled trial and life sentences do not establish admission or release dates.
