Biography
Robert "Bobby" Skinner was a Black community organizer in Tucson, Arizona — active in educating his people but, by The Black Panther's account, not a member of any organization — whom local police had reportedly threatened ("We're going to get you"). He was one of four men charged in the October 3, 1969 Crown Liquors hold-up killing; while jailed he was also smeared with a "sodomy" charge that was laughed out of court. He went to trial, was convicted of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The case rested on a statement attributed to a one-eyed, heroin-using witness, Lucius Sorrell, whom the State had had declared incompetent to testify; prosecutor Horton Weiss. Police claimed the defendants were Black Panthers, which The Black Panther (April 17, 1971) said was false. Documented in The Black Panther.
