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In 1970, Marshall “Eddie” Conway was convicted of murdering Donald Sager, a Baltimore police officer. At the time, Conway was the Minister of Defense of the Black Panther Party in Baltimore. Sager and two other police officers were ambushed in their patrol cars by three men as they answered a call for domestic disturbance. The gunman killed Sager and wounded another officer.

Over the years, the NAACP has challenged Conway’s incarceration on the grounds that he was not given a fair trial. According to the organization, Conway was convicted although there was no physical evidence, no eyewitness and no forensic evidence presented.

Civil rights activists petitioned for a pardon for Conway but were refused. The other two defendants arrested with Conway were sentenced as well. One passed away in prison and the other was released in 2009 after a mistake by the trial judge was uncovered.

After serving more than 44 years in prison the, 67 year-old was released after a Maryland’s Supreme Court ruling that in cases tried before 1980, jurors were not adequately instructed.

Little Known Black History Fact: Marshall “Eddie” Conway  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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