Panthers Apologize

Hilliard, Douglas Freed;
Seale Wants 'Fair Trial'

By STUART ROSOW and JIM ROSS

Superior Court Judge Harold R. Mulvey yesterday freed two national Black Panther Party leaders after they apologized for last week's courtroom scuffle with a court officer.

David Hilliard, chief of staff, and Emory Douglas, minister of culture, were sentenced last week to six months for contempt of court after the outburst.

Bobby Seale, national chairman of the Black Panther Party, appeared in court yesterday and said he wanted "a fair trial".

Seale, speaking on behalf of the Panthers, promised that there would be no further disruptions in the courtroom by Panthers.

The sentences for Hilliard and Douglas were commuted by Mulvey to "time served", amounting to one week, after the two had apologized for the outbreak.

Mulvey freed two other persons who had been convicted of contempt of court last Tuesday. Mrs. Joyce Townsend and Glenn Davis, both of Bridgeport, also had their sentences commuted to time served.

John Nelson
Panthers and Panther supporters protest the trial yesterday morning. Superior Court Judge Harold R. Mulvey made a surprise decision to free Panther leaders David Hilliard and Emory Douglas.

Seale, speaking for Hilliard and Douglas, told the judge, "I am pleased that you are trying to see that we have a fair trial.

There is the necessity of peace and decorum in the courtroom if the trial is to be fair," Seale said.

"We want to see a fair trial. Our position is to maintain decorum in the courtroom. There is no need for disruption," he said.

Seale encouraged the Panthers "to pledge allegiance to liberty and justice, not to capitalism, the murder of blacks in the streets, or the Vietnam war, but to real liberty and justice."

Seale said he believed a fair trial was possible, telling Mulvey, "I respect your honor very much for allowing us to have a fair trial."

### 'Misunderstanding'

Hilliard, in his apology to the court, attributed the scuffle to "a misunderstanding". He said he and Douglas did not realize that the plain-sclothesman standing next to them was a court officer.

"If I was the spearhead of a disruption, then I extend my apologies to the court," he said.

Hilliard echoed Seale's statements, saying the Panthers are bound to "uphold the constitution and carry out peaceful assembly in and around the courthouse."

"It is not our intention to cause disruptions," he added.

### 'No Further Interference'

Mulvey, who had conferred with the Panthers in his chambers before their court statements, said he was "pleased to know that there would be no further interference" with court room proceedings.

Mulvey then accepted the apologies and commuted the sentences.

He added that the trial would be "done properly, to the best of my abilities."

The scheduled courtroom proceedings, which included the presentation of a motion for bail for Seale, were postponed until this morning due to the delay involved in the contempt discussions.

Mulvey also ordered the paper, which Hilliard was reading when the scuffle occured, returned to Hilliard. The judge said no one had read the paper.

### Modifies Court Order

At the morning session of court, Mulvey issued a ten-point order modifying a previous court order which restricts demonstrations to within 500 feet of the courthouse or to the Elm and Church Street corner of the green. He then adjourned court until 2.

The order specifies procedures for bringing violators to trial. The steps in the violation are as follows:

* The violator will be brought before the clerk and informed of his right to counsel.

(continued on page 6)

March Cancelled

Coffin Alters Plans:
'Community Volatile'

By CHUCK CRITCHLOW

Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr.
announced yesterday afternoon
that he will cancel a non-violent
march to the New Haven Court
House Friday.

He did not rule out the
possibility of such a march at a
later date, or a demonstration
tomorrow not involving civil
disobedience.

The Yale chaplain made his
announcement to a disappointed
group of over 500 who came to
Battel Chapel to organize for the
proposed march.

"I propose that we not go ahead with the demonstration as planned for this Friday, but that we remain prepared at any time if an injustice is committed to exercise our option," Coffin said.

"Day by day, almost hour by hour, the situation changes," he told the group.

He cited several recent
developments which have
changed his position on the
situation since Sunday.

One reason for the march
suspension arose from cautions
given to Coffin yesterday af-
ternoon by a group of blacks and
whites from the New Haven
community.

"The situation in the community has become more volatile since Sunday," he observed. "Any type of gathering might lead to violence."

He said that while marchers
might conduct themselves in an
orderly fashion, the reactions of
observers might be violent. Any
violence would detract from the

credibility of the marchers' non-violent intentions, he added.

Coffin further observed that at
this time a march would be
viewed by the outside community
as a private student endeavor
and that it might be better to wait
for a "wider base with the
community and a clearer issue."

The dropping of contempt
charges and Seale's statement
that he has "hope for a fair trial"
caused the chaplain to comment
that a fair trial is at least no
longer impossible.

Coffin remarked that national
ignorance of the issues has been
dispelled considerably. He
mentioned the Yale strike, art-
ticles in the New York Times, and
the activities surrounding
Senator Edward Kennedy's
speech as reasons.

He described the speeches
made by Third World Liberation
Front leaders at the Kennedy
luncheon as "very very fine and
proper--I hesitate to use the word
disruption because they were so
proper."

In the discussion which
followed, several people ex-
pressed their unhappiness with
Coffin's decision.

"It may well be that we'll have to play our option. I will continue to try--and I confess my helplessness--to do the very few things open to me to stop the trial," Coffin said.

For the present, he advised the
audience to "deal in those areas
where one still has some power to
work."