Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [105]
The defense team called twenty-two inmates to testify on Young’s behalf. These witnesses would further strengthen Young’s case by listing allegations of horrible abuse and punishment. Among the many inmates to testify for Young were Harold Brest, who would himself attempt to escape from Alcatraz in 1943; Harmon Waley, a well-known inmate who was a principle architect of the famous Weyerhaeuser kidnapping; Burton Phillips, who in 1937 would had viciously attack Warden Johnston in the dining hall on Alcatraz, rendering him unconscious; William Dainard; James Grove; William Dunnock; Carl Hood; and Samuel C. Berlin, who would offer some of the most compelling testimony of all.
Inmate Harold Brest during his transfer to the San Francisco courthouse to testify on behalf of Henri Young. Warden Johnston is standing on the left, and Bureau of Prisons Director James Bennett is on the right.
Inmate Harmon Waley being led to court during the Young trial. Note Alcatraz Correctional Officer Phil Bergen on the right. The inmate on the far left with his head lowered is William Dunnock.
During Harmon Waley’s testimony, the witness claimed that on one occasion he had been severely beaten by guards and thrown into the prison dungeon, simply for asking to be examined by a doctor and given medicine for an illness. Associate Warden Miller testified that Waley had been considered a troublemaker and had spent frequent periods in isolation for his insolent behavior. Inmate James Grove testified that he was driven insane by conditions at Alcatraz, and that he had to be transferred to the Springfield Medical Facility in a straight jacket. Harold Brest said Young had confided to him that “he couldn’t stop himself from doing what he had done,” and he also stated that in his opinion, the confining conditions at Alcatraz had contributed to the murder of McCain. Samuel Berlin claimed that many of the deaths that had occurred on Alcatraz had been the direct result of inmate conditions and treatment, specifically referring to inmate Ed Wutke, who had committed suicide.
Young himself also took the stand, articulately emphasizing his time spent in isolation and the abuse he had suffered at the hands of guards. He alleged ghastly beatings by Associate Warden Miller, claiming to have lost several teeth in the assaults. These allegations proved frivolous, since prison records showed no teeth lost during the period in question, and only one tooth extraction performed at Young’s request in January of 1941. Young would further testify that he had been left to rot in the dark, damp, and moldy dungeon for weeks, without clothing, light, or running water.
William Wesley Dunnock also claimed to have received beatings from Miller, and stated that he was aware of other inmates being abused – once again mentioning Ed Wutke, whom Defense Attorney Abrams later claimed was “driven to suicide” because of his “unbearable treatment” on Alcatraz.
Associate Warden Miller testified that he had never assaulted Young, but that he had ordered him to isolation on several occasions due to his unruly conduct. Several witnesses came to testify on Miller’s behalf, stating that he always maintained Warden Johnston’s policy of proper and fair handling of the inmates. Further testimony was introduced to prove that Johnston had been one of the foremost advocates for inmate rights and rehabilitation. His record as Warden at Folsom and San Quentin supported his record of dedication to helping inmates reform. It was Johnston who had instituted work and educational programs for inmates at San Quentin and he had brought the same curriculum to Alcatraz. When Johnston was called to the stand, he vehemently defended the Alcatraz regimen. Johnston believed in strict but humane reform, later writing: “I believed that every human has some good spot, that I always tried to find that spot, and that I never closed the door of hope on any man.”
Despite favorable evidence supporting Young’s just treatment