SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Step back in time 100 years, to witness the jury-tampering trial that changed the course of famed trial attorney Clarence Darrow’s life forever: 1912’s The People v. Clarence Darrow.
This trial will be re-enacted Saturday, Sept. 10 at Santa Clara University’s Recital Hall, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including a lunch intermission. Information about registration is at SCU Law. Media are invited to attend, but are asked to register.
The re-enactment will feature current-day stars of the legal world, including U.S. District Court judge Charles Breyer; 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski; attorney and law professor Michael Tigar, defender of Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols; and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Trott.
Part Johnnie Cochrane, part William Kunstler, Clarence Darrow was arguably the most famous lawyer and orator for labor, civil rights, and progressive causes in history. His noble career was interrupted by accusations that he attempted to bribe a juror while defending union members who firebombed the Los Angeles Times building.
Santa Clara University School of Law is hosting the re-enactment of Darrow’s jury-tampering trial, which laid bare the bitter labor-relations environment of the times, and raised myriad legal-ethics questions. The event is part of the law school’s Centennial Weekend Celebration.
“Clarence Darrow’s brilliance as a lawyer inspired many of our finest professors and jurists to go to law school,” said Gerald Uelmen, the Santa Clara University law professor who organized the re-enactment. “The fact that his trial occurred almost-exactly 100 years ago to the day is great cause for reflection on the many positive values that drove him.”
* Tigar will play Darrow’s defense attorney Earl Rogers, the brilliant (albeit alcoholic) litigator notorious for successfully defending more than 70 accused murderers.
* Trott will portray the prosecutor in the case, the ambitious gubernatorial aspirant John D. Fredericks.
* The role of the facilitator of Darrow’s alleged jury tampering—his defense investigator Bert Franklin—will be played by the dean of Santa Clara Law, Donald Polden.
* Breyer will play the brilliant and deceptively disheveled Darrow, on whom the trial took a tremendous toll.
* The judge in the case, George Hutton, will be played by Kozinski.
* The allegedly bribed juror, George Lockwood, will be played by Santa Clara University law professor Robert Peterson.
About Santa Clara University School of Law
During this academic year, Santa Clara University School of Law is celebrating its first 100 years of educating lawyers who lead. Founded in 1911 on the site of California’s oldest operating higher-education institution, Santa Clara Law is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead, with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. One of the nation’s most diverse law schools, Santa Clara Law offers its 975 students an academically rigorous program, including graduate degrees in international law and intellectual property law; a combined J.D./MBA degree; a combined J.D./MSIS degree; and certificates in high technology law, international law, and public interest and social justice law. Santa Clara Law is located in the world-class business center of Silicon Valley, and is distinguished nationally for its top-ranked program in intellectual property. For more information, see law.scu.edu.