Percy Eugene Foreman(June 21, 1902 – August 25, 1988) was a criminal defenseattorneyfromHouston, Texas.Foreman was born near Bold Springs, Texas.[1]Foreman moved toLivingston, Texas,when he was six years old.[2]He was the son of Ransom Parson Hill Foreman and William Pinckney (Rogers) Foreman, a former sheriff ofPolk County, Texas.[3]Percy Foreman attendedStaunton Military Academyin Virginia for one year, graduated from theUniversity of Texas Law Schoolin 1927,[4]and was admitted to the Texas Bar on January 17, 1928.[5]He went on to become one of the best known trial lawyers in Texas, with the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association creating the Percy Foreman Lawyer of the Year Award in 1984.[6]
Foreman was a respected master of tactics. He lost only 53 of 1500 death-penalty cases and only one case resulted in execution (Steve Mitchell,electrocutedinTexasin 1951).[7][8]
Foreman's clients included GeneralEdwin Walker,[9]James Earl Ray,[10][11][12]Charles Harrelson,[13]Candy Mossler,[14]and variousorganized crimekingpins.
Jack Rubyrequested that Foreman represent him after he shotLee Harvey Oswald.[15]
Famed defense attorneysRichard Haynes[16]andDick DeGuerin[17]both worked with Foreman early in their careers and credit him as a mentor.
In 1966, Foreman received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[18]
Family
editPercy Foreman had two marriages with the second, to Marguerite Obert, lasting from April 21, 1957[3]until her death in 1979. Foreman adopted his son, William Foreman, with his first wife and had his daughter, Marguerite Foreman, with his second wife.[15]His sister Carrin Foreman was superintendent of theSugar Land Independent School Districtfrom 1924 to 1930. When she married she gave up her position. She died on March 1, 1932, due to childbirth.[19]
See also
edit
- Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice(episode:The Candy Scandal)
- Judd, for the Defense(television series with main character reportedly based on Percy Foreman)
Notes
edit- ^Compare Michael Dorman,King of the Courtroom: Percy Foreman for the Defense,p. 35 (Dell Publishing, New York 1969) (hereinafter "Dorman" ), which indicates "Bold Springs," to the Texas State Historical Association, which reports "Cold Springs".The Handbook of Texas Online,Texas State Historical Association, at [1].Bold Springs is in Polk County, while Cold Springs is in Cherokee County.
- ^East Texas Historical Association.
- ^abJ., KLEINER, DIANA (2010-06-12)."FOREMAN, PERCY EUGENE".tshaonline.org.Retrieved2018-10-26.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^The Handbook of Texas Online,Texas State Historical Association, at [2]
- ^State Bar of Texas, record for Percy Foreman, at[3].
- ^Association, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers."Percy Foreman Lawyer of the Year Award".www.tcdla.com.Retrieved2018-10-26.
- ^"There Is No Better Than Me" - TIME
- ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-05-17.Retrieved2008-06-04.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^Dorman, p. 107.
- ^Dorman, p. 280.
- ^KPRC-TV (1968)."Percy Foreman on James Earl Ray (1968)".Texas Archive of the Moving Image.Retrieved2018-10-25.
- ^"James Earl Ray: The Man Who Killed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr".Archived fromthe originalon 2006-10-18.
- ^Texas Ranger Dispatch Magazineat"TEXAS RANGER DISPATCH Magazine".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-06-24.Retrieved2008-06-24..
- ^Dorman, p. 150.
- ^abPercy Foreman, Texas Lawyer, 86; Defended the Assassin of Dr. King,By James Baron, 1988-08-26, The New York Times
- ^"Counsel For The Defense - Dallas Observer". DallasObserver.com. 2003-10-02. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^"Houston brothers shine in legal spotlight - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. 2008-02-11.
- ^"Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement".www.achievement.org.American Academy of Achievement.
- ^City of Sugar Land.Sugar Land.Arcadia Publishing,2010.ISBN0738578800,9780738578804. p.55.