Biography
Randy Williams was a Black Panther and former 101st Airborne serviceman arrested in East Oakland on April 17, 1970. The party's April 25 newspaper reports that he remained in a jail cell for several days, that his attorney eventually obtained access, and that his wife was not allowed to see him until the following Tuesday. The report alleged severe injuries and delayed medical care. Police accused him of participating in an armed confrontation; the party disputed those allegations. An individual verdict, sentence and release date have not been established.
The Black Panther (July 19, 1971, p. 3) reported that Williams had remained in Alameda County Jail for over a year and that his trial began July 6, 1971. The paper said bail had been reduced from $150,000 to $75,000 in October 1970 but that the sheriff refused to accept the funds. These facts extend the documented detention history; they do not establish his eventual release or trial outcome. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/black-panther/06%20no%2025%201-20%20jul%2019%201971.pdf
Randy Williams was a Black Panther and former 101st Airborne serviceman arrested in East Oakland on April 17, 1970. The party's April 25 newspaper reports that he remained in a jail cell for several days, that his attorney eventually obtained access, and that his wife was not allowed to see him until the following Tuesday. The report alleged severe injuries and delayed medical care. Police accused him of participating in an armed confrontation; the party disputed those allegations. An individual verdict, sentence and release date have not been established. The contemporary report establishes actual multiday jail custody after the April 17, 1970 arrest, including three days in a cold cell and later visits by counsel and his wife. Injury and denial-of-treatment claims are attributed to the party newspaper and its account of counsel’s observations. The three days describe a component of custody, not its complete duration. No conviction, imposed term, exact admission or release is supplied.
In a letter dated August 3 and published in the August 21, 1971 Black Panther, Williams reported that the jury had found him guilty on all but one charge, with Charles Garry present as his attorney. The same issue reports consecutive sentences of two to fourteen years on each of eight assault counts for Williams and Melvin Holloway. His letter's expected move to Vacaville and statement that he would remain until at least the eighteenth do not establish an actual transfer or sentencing date.
The Black Panther, August 21, 1971, PDF page 9; The Black Panther, August 21, 1971, PDF page 11.
By October 12, 1971, Randy Williams was at San Quentin, having arrived there less than a month earlier. The party newspaper reproduced a visiting-room letter excluding his wife, Mary Nell Williams, from visits effective October 13 and published his essay advocating solidarity among prisoners. It identified his prison number as B36364. The transfer is part of the custody documented since 1970; the report does not establish a separate admission, verdict or release.
Original document 1246, PDF page 9; Original document 1246, PDF page 14.
