DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Was "the Hurricane" innocent?

I re-watched the movie "The Hurricane" this weekend. I was once again angry and a little taken aback about how someone could be so wrongly treated. I started researching on the internet. it appears that the movie took quite a few liberties with what actually happened. Has anyone else gotten into this story and researched what really went on? I was steadfast in my belief that Rubin Carter was innocent after watching the movie. Now, I'm not so sure.

I would like to actually discuss all aspects of the case without the problems from the Toys R Us thread. I really would like more info and discussion, as this, much like the movie about the Black Panthers, angered me because of the treatment of people that was protrayed in the movie....and then the "other side" being so different.

All I know is..it's an awesome song.


Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall.
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood,
Cries out, "My God, they killed them all!"
Here comes the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Three bodies lyin' there does Patty see
And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously.
"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand.
I saw them leavin'," he says, and he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops."
And so Patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin'
In the hot New Jersey night.

Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around.
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In Paterson that's just the way things go.
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you wanna draw the heat.

Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops.
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around
He said, "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates."
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head.
Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty men.

Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in,
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs.
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
Says, "Wha'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!"
Yes, here's the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Four months later, the ghettos are in flame,
Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame.
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
"Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?"
"Don't forget that you are white."

Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure."
Cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow.
You'll be doin' society a favor.
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver.
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim."

Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much.
It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail.
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.

All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance.
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy .
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun,
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.

Rubin Carter was falsely tried.
The crime was murder "one," guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride.
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.

Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell.
That's the story of the Hurricane,
But it won't be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time he's done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

For the record, I believe he was innocent.

Honestly, I've never researched the actual merits of the case. But I'll just leave it at that, on one end you've got Hurrican on the other you've got Mumia Abu Jamal...no one knows for sure what happened those nights, except for those two individuals, and the deceased (and they aint talking)

I have no opinion either way about either case.

Modern techonology...changes everything. It's wonder the world made it this far!

That is a pretty good summation except for a couple of things. First, according to what I've found on the net that disagrees with the movie, there was another witness that identified the car (Patricia something) that lived acrossed the street. Second, there was a bullet and shotgun shell that both matched the weapons that were used in the shootings. Third, witnesses that were trying to establish an alibi for Carter said later on that he convinced them to lie for him.

It seems like a pretty strange set of circumstances. What really got me wondering if he was guilty and not just someone trying to continue the "frame up" is a few things. Carter resigned from the organization that was working for the wrongfully convicted. Carter failed a polygraph test in 1963 and then refused when given two more opportunities in 1976 with the prosecutor saying if he passed he would drop the charges. The "Canadians" that befriended him were attacked pretty unmercifully in his latest book after all their assistance (things they claim are lies).

One thing is for sure, the movie was definately not accurate with the facts, whether he was guilty or not. I could list all of them, but to be honest, would take up pages.

Quote:

---

(Patricia something)

---

Patty Valentine. Read the song I posted by Bob Dylan. It's a pretty historic and accurate song about what happened.

Actually, it appears to not be accurate at all.

http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter/song.html

I stand corrected. I could've sworn I read it was accurate. My apologies. Still a good song though.

See, that's just it. I thought it was, too, as I did the movie. I'm seeing more and more that while Carter may not have received a fair trial, he might very well have been guilty. It's frustrating to try to figure something like this out, only because of the outrage felt that a man was wrongfully in prison and actually may have been guilty.

I know about the case somewhat...I can certainly concur that the movie is an inaccurate portrayal...but based on what I've read, Carter was basically a scumbag. I don't think he did it, but I don't think he was a good person...it always seems to be something like that in these cases...the 'wrongful imprisonment/innocent man' angle is often presented in media as a good, kind-hearted or reformed person being screwed, when generally, it's a P.O.S. who may have been falsely judged because of reputation.

You want the read about 'injustices'. Read John Grisham's book "The Innocent Man". Don't get in trouble in Oklahoma.

Actually, I have that book right now. I haven't started it yet, but I did buy it.

Yes, it's new and it actually is a true story.

I don't have many facts on the case.....but I have a firm belief that the VAST majority of people convicted were done so correctly.

The ones wrong make the news......but it is a very small minority IMO.

Superbowldogg, please read Grisham's book "The Innocent Man" and you will see the point I'm trying to get across here re a conviction based on very little concrete evidence and a man or two loses their lives. I can't imagine sitting on death row for years on end waiting for the day of execution and all the time knowing you're innocent and you're there just because some DA because of political pressure, personal reputation whatever needs a fall guy for some unsolved crime committed way back. Terror personified.