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Collis English

Date of birth:1925
Date of death:15. 12. 1952
Age:27 Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:Black
Era:1950s
State:New Jersey
Time Imprisoned:
4 Years 4 Months 26 Days
Support
Communism Trenton Six
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Biography

One of the Trenton Six. The Trenton Six were six young Black men arrested February 11, 1948 and charged with the murder of William Horner, a 73-year-old white second-hand shop owner, on the basis of confessions extracted during 60+ hours of interrogation without counsel. After a 55-day trial in Mercer County Court, an all-white jury convicted all six on August 6, 1948 and sentenced them to death — a verdict the Civil Rights Congress and NAACP called a "Northern lynching." NJ Supreme Court reversed 1949; on retrial four were acquitted, Cooper pleaded guilty, and English was convicted with a life-sentence recommendation. English died in prison late 1952.

Case

New Jersey State Prison, Trenton
Charges: New Jersey state murder of William Horner (Jan 27, 1948).
Arrested: Feb 10, 1948
Sentenced: Aug 5, 1948
Incarcerated: Aug 5, 1948
Released: Dec 31, 1952
Sentence: Death; commuted to life on retrial; died in prison late 1952
Prosecutor: Mario Volpe
Judge: Hon. Charles P. Hutchinson
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: New Jersey