Biography
One of the 'Attica Brothers' whose kidnapping and unlawful-imprisonment charges from the 1971 rebellion were dismissed as prosecutors conceded insufficient evidence; The Black Panther Vol. 14 no.12 (1975).
The March 1973 Attica News roster prints William Ortiz (Toriano) among the uprising prisoner defendants, linked to indictment 7, 8, 17, 31: kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, coercion and assault; kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and coercion; assault. The table lists maximum statutory exposure, not sentences actually imposed or time served; no custody dates or duration are inferred. The cover reports his distress about undisclosed and allegedly false charges and his subsequent return to Auburn after arraignment. The account describes indictments, not a new conviction or release. Source: https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/Attica/510.Prisons.AtticaNewsVol1No1.pdf#page=6
The Black Panther’s December 6, 1975 report individually names William Ortiz among four Attica defendants whose kidnapping and unlawful-imprisonment charges had been dismissed during the preceding week. Prosecutors sought dismissal after Raymond Sumter demanded an immediate trial, saying that they no longer had sufficient evidence for conviction.
The Black Panther, December 6, 1975, volume XIV no.12, PDF page 7; The Black Panther, December 6, 1975, volume XIV no.12, PDF page 24.
