“It took over 4 1/2 years to win this case!” said Cisco Torres.
Judge Philip Moscone signed and filed an order dismissing charges against Francisco Torres late Thursday, August 18th. Cisco was the last former Black Panther member facing charges in this 1971 case about the killing of a SF Police Sergeant. In 1973 several of the men were brutally tortured by police in Louisiana to elicit false confessions. The case was dismissed in the 1970s, but charges were filed again in January of 2007 against eight former Black Panthers. They all resisted this renewed repression. Charges against Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Richard O’Neal and Harold Taylor were previously dismissed for insufficient evidence. Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim plead to greatly reduced charges, receiving time served and probation.