Donnell Lankford

Donnell Lankford was a member of the Black Panther Party arrested in the April 6, 1968 gun battle between Panthers and Oakland police in which 17-year-old Bobby Hutton was killed. Indicted on two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, he was tried jointly with Terry Cotton (People v. Lankford and Cotton, Alameda County Superior Court No. 42287); both were convicted of the assault charges and acquitted of attempted murder. His case was later cited in In re Wells as part of the prosecution's pattern of striking Black jurors — no Black person served on any of the three related Panther juries.