Trials

Margolick is the former author of the New York Times "At The Bar" column. He was recently promoted from the national legal affairs correspondent to San Francisco bureau chief for the New York Times. Margolick is presently covering the O.J. Simpson trial for the Times. His legal columns have been collected into a new book, At the Bar: The Passions and Peccadilloes of American Lawyers.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz has served as an expert witness for the prosecution in the murder trials of John Hinkley, Joel Rifkin, Jeffrey Dahmer and others. In each case he presented evidence against the defense of insanity, saying that these men knew that they were committing terrible crimes. Dietz also has a consulting firm, Threat Assessment, which focuses on workplace violence. He is a consultant to the HBO special "Murder 9 to 5," which examines murder at work.

Anne Maguire and her son Patrick were part of the Maguire Seven, the family who was wrongfully arrested in 1974 on suspicion of manufacturing bombs for the Irish Republican Army. The family was tortured, tried, convicted, and jailed, and was not reunited for eleven years. Anne spent eight years in prison; Patrick spent four after being convicted at the age of 13. Anne has written a book about their experience, called "Miscarriage of Justice."

Ed Ryder and Reverend James McCloskey The story of one man's fight for freedom. Three days after Ryder arrived at Holmesburg prison to do time for theft, he was accused of murdering a prisoner in his cell block. For twenty years, Ryder fought to prove his innocence... the city of Philadelphia rallying behind him. Reverend James McCloskey, who helps prisoners he believes are unjustly convicted get pardons, spearheaded the efforts for Ryder's release. Now Ryder is a free man.

Kalin wrote, directed and co-produced the new movie,"Swoon." It explores the lives of "thrill killers" Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. They were Jewish and homosexual; the film looks at how anti-semitism and homophobia figured into their 1920s trial. "Swoon" is Kalin's first feature film. He worked for three years as a producer for AIDSFILMS and is a founding member of the AIDS activist collective Gran Fury.

Garbus recently defended Peter Matthiessen's controversial book, "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," against two separate libel suits. Among many other projects, Garbus is currently helping to write a new constitution for Czechoslovakia.

The new film Cry in the Dark dramatizes the true story of Lindy Chamberlain, who was wrongfully convicted of infanticide while camping in Australia. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the movie proves Schepisi is a great director.

Walter Polovchak. Polovchak was a 12-year-old Ukrainian immigrant living with his family in Chicago, when he refused to return with them to the Soviet Union. His decision provoked a storm of controversy from his family and authorities in both countries and attracted worldwide media attention. The court battles continued for five years until Polovchak reached his 18th birthday in 1985 and was sworn in as an American citizen.

Philadelphia Ed Hermance is named as a co-conspirator in an obscenity trial in England for smuggling "obscene" materials to London's prominent gay bookstore Gay's the Word. Hermance is the co-owner of Philadelphia's Giovanni's Room, a gay and feminist bookstore, and he believes the trial represents discrimination.