Biography
Russell Jack Little, known in the Symbionese Liberation Army as Osceola or Osi, grew up in Pensacola, Florida, and attended the University of Florida before moving to Berkeley in 1972. He joined the Peking House collective and became an early member of the SLA. Police arrested Little and Joseph Remiro on January 10, 1974 after finding weapons and SLA material in their van. A jury convicted them in 1975 of murdering Oakland schools superintendent Marcus Foster and attempting to murder deputy superintendent Robert Blackburn. An appellate court overturned Little’s conviction because of an improper instruction to the jury. A Monterey County jury acquitted him at retrial on June 4, 1981, and he was released that day after 2,702 days in custody.
The report dates his acquittal of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder of a police officer to February 19, 1976 in Los Angeles. This is the Concord January 10, 1974 stop-and-shooting prosecution, distinct from the Foster murder case; acquittal does not establish physical release because another conviction and escape-attempt proceedings remained. The account says a police bullet wounded his shoulder and describes his self-representation. Pages11-13. Source: https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC514_scans/SLA%20Dragon/514.SLA.Dragon7.Febmarch1976.Periodical.pdf
The annotated May 1975 news script describes the Sacramento Foster-murder trial while the jury was still deliberating. It names prosecutor Lowell Jensen and distinguishes the prosecution’s theory of a plan from an actual conspiracy count, which it says was not charged. This pre-verdict report does not override the later judicial outcomes in the existing record. Source: News scripts, annotated May 31, 1975, PDF page 1. https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC516_scans/516.NI.071.5.13.1975.pdf#page=1
California Prisons: On Trial reports a June 27 conviction for attempted escape and assault on two guards, carrying five years to life in addition to the Marcus Foster life sentence. It describes defendants’ claims of threats in custody, a month on San Quentin death row after January 1974 arrests, and self-representation. Alleged gas-chamber intimidation is attributed testimony. The printed chronology is inconsistent about the Hearst kidnapping and is not used for a new precise custody date or overlapping custody total.
