George Crockett III

Judge George William Crockett III served on the Detroit Recorder's Court (later the Wayne County Circuit Court) from 1976 until 2003.[1] He was known for presiding over the 1993 Malice Green case, and for his father, George Crockett, Jr., an influential civil rights activist, congressman and judge who preceded and served with him on the Recorder's Court.[2][3]

George W. Crockett III
Born(1938-12-23)December 23, 1938
Fairmont, West Virginia
DiedJuly 1, 2016(2016-07-01) (aged 77)
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMorehouse College, BA, History, Spanish, Detroit College of Law

Early life and education

Crockett was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, to parents George Crockett, Jr., and Ethelene Jones Crockett, an influential physician, activist, and Michigan's first African-American female OB/GYN, who would go on to lead the American Lung Association.[4][5]

Crockett graduated in 1959 from Windsor Mountain School, in Lenox, MA[6] and Morehouse College in Atlanta, graduating in 1961. During his time at Morehouse, he was arrested at a sit-in protest against racial segregation.[7] Crockett went on to receive a juris doctorate degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1964.[8]

After earning his degree, Crockett went into private practice at Goodman, Crockett, Eden, Robb and Philo in Detroit (his father's firm, and one of the first racially integrated law firms in the country)[9] and with Alphonse Lewis, Jr. in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[10] From 1970-1976 he worked at the Legal Aid and Defender Association of Detroit,[11] under renowned attorney Myzell Sowell, who during his twelve-year tenure built the Defender Association into an incubator of Detroit's legal talent; sixteen of the attorneys who worked under Sowell in this time went on to become judges.[12]

In 1977, Crockett was elected to the Detroit Recorder's Court as a judge, where he briefly served on the same bench as his father, who was the Chief Judge of the Recorder's Court until his election to Congress in 1980.[13] The younger Crockett stayed on the Recorder's court until its merger with the Wayne County Circuit Court in 1997, where he continued to serve until his retirement in 2003. Crockett was succeeded on Michigan's Third Circuit Judicial Court by Judge Edward Ewell, Jr.[14][15]

Crockett was also a member of the Wolverine Bar Association, a group founded by African-American lawyers when they were forbidden from joining the Michigan Bar Association.[16]

Crockett became known nationwide for presiding over the trial of police officers Walter Budzyn and Larry Nevers for the 1992 killing of Malice Green. The trial attracted controversy and public scrutiny as an example of police brutality in the charged atmosphere following the 1991 Rodney King beating in Los Angeles.[17] Assistant Prosecutor Kym Worthy led the prosecution team.[18] The two white Detroit police officers were found guilty by two separate juries of second-degree murder, and Crockett sentenced them to 12–25 years and 8–18 years respectively.[19][20][21]

Although the case was a media spectacle and included some disputes between the Detroit news media and the Judge, Crockett was praised for his commitment to fairness.[22] According to Edward Littlejohn, a Wayne State University Law School professor emeritus, “his handling of that case probably prevented upheavals in the community. He kept everybody calm. I thought he was the perfect judge for that case ... He was fair across the board ...”[23]

Death

Crockett remained active after his retirement, and moved to Florida in 2015. He died on Friday, July 1, 2016 from lung cancer.[24]

References
  1. Hicks, Mark (5 July 2016). "Judge Crockett, who presided in Malice Green case, dies". The Detroit News. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  2. Hicks, Mark (5 July 2016). "Judge Crockett, who presided in Malice Green case, dies". The Detroit News. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  3. "Detroit Judge Crockett Welcomes Son to Bench". Jet Magazine. Johnson Publishing Company: 29. 9 December 1976. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  4. "Crockett, Ethelene" (PDF). michiganwomenshalloffame.org. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  5. Wright, Charles H (1995). The National Medical Association demands equal opportunity: nothing more, nothing less. Charro Book Co. p. 273.
  6. Chartock, Roselle Kline (2014). Windsor Mountain School: A Beloved Berkshire Institution. Chapter 5: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781625849762. Retrieved 23 December 2018.CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. Hicks, Mark (5 July 2016). "Judge Crockett, who presided in Malice Green case, dies". The Detroit News. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  8. Laitner, Bill (6 Jul 2016). "George Crockett III 1938-2016". Detroit Free Press. p. A9. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  9. Svoboda, Sandra. "Fighting the Goodman fight". Detroit Metro Times (10 January 2007). Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  10. Hicks, Mark (5 July 2016). "Judge Crockett, who presided in Malice Green case, dies". The Detroit News. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  11. "Detroit's Judge Crockett's Son on Staff to Aid Poor". Jet Magazine. Johnson Publishing Company. 26 March 1970. p. 20. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  12. Wilson, Danton (5 August 2009). "A Lawyer's Lawyer, Myzell Sowell Mentored Top Detroit Legal Minds". Michigan Chronicle.
  13. "Detroit Judge Crockett Welcomes Son to Bench". Jet Magazine. Johnson Publishing Company: 29. 9 December 1976. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  14. Edward, Roz (1 November 2017). "Made Man Honorable Edward Ewell, Jr. Puts Citizens First". Michigan Chronicle.
  15. "Former Governors - Governor Granholm Appoints Edward Ewell, Jr. Judge of 3rd Judicial Circuit Court". www.michigan.gov. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  16. Laitner, Bill (6 Jul 2016). "George Crockett III, Judge in Malice Green trail, dies". Detroit Free Press. p. A9. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  17. Levin, Doron P. (7 November 1992). "Detroit Suspends Policemen In Fatal Beating of Motorist". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  18. Anderson, Elisha (3 November 2017). "25 years ago, Malice Green became the face of police brutality in Detroit". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  19. "Two Fired White Detroit Police Officers Guilty of Murder of Black Man". Jet Magazine. Johnson Publishing Company. 6 September 1993. pp. 8, 10. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  20. "Ex-Detroit Officers Ordered To Prison for Beating Death". The New York Times. 13 October 1993. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  21. Nauss, Donald (13 October 1993). "Ex-Officers Get Prison in Detroit Murder". Los Angeles Times.
  22. Basheda, Valarie; Sweeney, Ann (27 June 1993). "Judge's feelings toward news raised question of impartiality". Detroit Free Press.
  23. Laitner, Bill (6 Jul 2016). "George Crockett III 1938-2016". Detroit Free Press. p. A9. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  24. Laitner, Bill (6 Jul 2016). "George Crockett III 1938-2016". Detroit Free Press. p. A9. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
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