They Huey P. Newton Reader

1141 The Hue. --
P. Newton Reader
had been on my right when he first asked the question, and the jury
on my left. He wanted me to speak toward him, but I turned my back
and began giving details of the incident to the jury, which took a while.
Since he had asked the question about the incident, he could not interrupt
my answer without looking stupid, so I seized the time and took
the play away from him.
The jury seemed fascinated with my description of the affair and
was with me all the way. Jensen obviously got so disgusted with what
was happening that he left his position ncar the clerk's desk and sat
down looking very dejected---as I was later told. At any rate, I described
the incident fully, leaned back, and turned to my right for Jensen's next
question; he was no longer there. I was surprised at not seeing him
where he had last been standing, so I said, "Where is he?" Then I saw
him seated at the table, and I smiled at him and said, "Oh, there you
are. I thought you had gone home." The courtroom broke up at this,
and the judge admonished me.
Much of Jensen's cross-examination had continual reference to official
reports and documents, which he kept consulting while I was on
the stand. Reading a report that is filed in some record system and
stamped with an official seal of approval can be very impressive: the
printed page somehow suggests that whatever is described represents
the truth, that it faithfully describes what took place. And so, when
Jensen brought up official police testimony of what had happened to
me in the past-in arrests, in courts, in various trials-he thought he
was offering the jury proof of my violent and crime-filled past. But,
far from distressing or embarrassing me, every one of his challenges
presented a chance to tell the jury what had really taken place and to
describe them in the larger context of what life is like for Black people
in this country. In this way, I was able to demonstrate how the police
had harassed the Black Panthers and looked for every opportunity they
could to arrest us and destroy our organization.
To give Jensen credit, he did not miss very much. But I countered
every piece of "official" evidence with an explanation that went beyond
words on a page. And I think the jury came to understand that no official
document ever contains the whole truth. Events are dictated by a
number of mitigating circumstances and a whole system of values and
customs that can never be conveyed in print.