Arcadia
James Richardson, migrant worker, was on Death row for murdering his 7 children. There was compelling evidence that he was innocent. On May 27, 1968, a black fruit picker from Arcadia, Florida, went on trial for the murder of his seven children. The judge was white; the jury was white; so was the defense attorney who volunteered his services. The State’s case rested on three key witnesses, none of whom was called to testify. Yet James Richardson waited on Death Row at the Raiford, Florida State Prison.
Mark Lane was convinced James Richardson was innocent. He investigated the entire case, spending a year searching for witnesses throughout Florida. In Arcadia he presented the facts: characters, plot, motives, courtroom testimony, silent witnesses, the ambiance of a small southern town, the press – in short, the plight of the black man in a white community.
Subsequently, as the result of efforts in court by Mark Lane and a campaign led by Dick Gregory and Steve Jaffe out of court, an excellent article in Newsweek magazine and the support of David Frost through his television program, all resulting in thousand of letters to the Governor of Florida -- James Richardson was vindicated.
After 21 years in prison he walked out of the Arcadia jail with Mark Lane. Janet Reno, then the State's Attorney in Miami (Dade County), had been appointed as special counsel for the State and she agreed with Mr. Lane that Mr. Richardson had been unfairly convicted through the state's use of perjured testimony and suppression of exculpatory evidence. [ Mr. Lane had sought to secure the efforts of former District Attorney's to free a wrongly convicted man. Janet Reno's help was exemplary. Former Los Angeles assistant district attorney, Vincent Bugliosi, was among the few who refused to add his name to the plea to free James Richardson.]
