"The People Are Behind Juan Corona": The Opening of the Corona Trial, September 1972 (AP Newsreel)

Name: "The People Are Behind Juan Corona": The Opening of the Corona Trial, September 1972 (AP Newsreel)
Uploaded: 2015-07-23T00:00:00Z
Duration: 4 min 16 s
Description: Associated Press film from outside the courthouse as Juan Corona's trial opened in Fairfield, California: protesters, his brother Pedro, and supporters who insisted he was innocent.

Associated Press film from outside the courthouse as Juan Corona's trial opened in Fairfield, California: protesters, his brother Pedro, and supporters who insisted he was innocent.

Subject: Juan Corona
Recorded: September 11, 1972
Runtime: 4:16

Content warning: Concerns the murders of 25 farmworkers; no detail of the killings is spoken.

The Interview

This is not an interview with Juan Corona, who is not heard. It is an Associated Press newsreel filmed on September 11, 1972, as his murder trial opened in Fairfield, California. There is no narrator. The film records a protest outside, a man who says he has been refused the right to go back into the courtroom, Corona's brother Pedro, who says the judge barred him from the trial, and Corona supporters answering an off-camera interviewer's questions.

Historical Context

In May and June 1971 the bodies of 25 men, most of them transient farmworkers, were found buried in peach orchards along the Feather River in Sutter County, California. Juan Corona, a labor contractor from Yuba City who hired workers for local growers, was arrested on May 26, 1971. The case was then described as the worst mass murder in U.S. history. His trial was moved from Sutter County to Solano County and opened in Fairfield on September 11, 1972, before Judge Richard Patton, with Richard Hawk for the defense and Sutter County District Attorney G. Dave Teja for the prosecution.

Circumstances

The trial drew demonstrations on Corona's behalf. Mexican-American protesters picketed outside the courthouse with signs such as "Don't Pick a Racist Jury" (most of the victims were white). AP's description says that "family speak and people protest as trial of Juan Corona ... begins".

What the Recording Covers

Pedro Corona introduces himself, says he came a long way to see his brother's trial, and complains that the judge ordered that they not go in and had changed his mind about bail (his claims). A supporter predicts that the prosecution will get no more than two jurors' votes and says a hung jury would be a victory for the defense. Another supporter says the authorities "singled out a Mexican from Yuba City area", that "the people are behind Juan Corona", and that a state expert's report cleared Corona but was being kept quiet (a claim not supported by the sources checked). Asked how long the trial would last, he notes the prosecution's plan to call 250 witnesses and says prosecutors with little evidence "throw as much mud on the wall as they can".

What Makes the Recording Significant

It records the charged atmosphere at the opening of one of the most contested mass murder trials of its time, and the voice of the defendant's own family, at a moment when his supporters were publicly confident of acquittal.

Archival Importance

The item is part of AP's own archive of syndicated news film, posted by AP Archive with a licensing link. It preserves unnarrated sound from the courthouse on the trial's first day.

Important Caveats

Juan Corona is not heard. The statements by his brother and supporters (that the evidence was worthless, that a state expert had cleared him, that he was singled out because he was Mexican) are their claims at the time. On January 18, 1973, a jury convicted Corona of 25 counts of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to 25 life terms. In 1978 the California Court of Appeal ordered a new trial because of failings by his defense; at the retrial in Hayward in 1982 he was again convicted on all 25 counts. He died in state custody in 2019. That Pedro Corona is Juan Corona's brother is his own statement and was not independently confirmed. The supporters and the first speaker are not named.

Protesters: [no intelligible speech: protest outside the trial, applause; the captions catch the words "third world"]

Man Barred From The Courtroom: The thing that I see that I can do at this time is to inform the public that I have been refused the right to, uh, go back into the courtroom and participate in the trial that is being had for Juan Corona.

Pedro Corona: My name is Pedro Corona. I just come from a long ways to see the trial to my brother, and I don't understand why the judge [unclear: "gave us" / "give that us"] those orders to don't go in, because he are the crooked, he [unclear: "are" / "don't are"] the man, because he changed his mind when my brother was supposed to go and bail out, and he changed his mind. I like to do a question straight to him, why he comes so late sometimes, and he can do any time what he wants. He is the God, or what he is?

Interviewer: Well, you think you should have the equal right also to come?

Pedro Corona: I like to get the same rights to everyone, because I am Mexican and I got the [unclear: "right thing" / "right saying"] to every nationality, because I got blood in my hands and my body. I feel [unclear: "sane" / "San"] to everyone in the world.

Voices: [mostly unclear: Whisper reads "Well, if you need me, I can't come back. No, no, I can't come back. No, I'll put it in. I'll approach the judge"; the captions give only "no I'll apprach"]

Voices: [unclear: Whisper reads "Nobody has a good sound, because you need to put them on lights, and you've got their suit. You can wander around it"; the captions give "theud suit on"]

Supporter: My opinion is they don't have any evidence, uh, in the case really worth, uh, any serious consideration at all. I'd be very surprised at the end of the trial that if they have, I'd be very surprised they got two votes. Uh, the prosecution got two votes. I expect at least ten. And, uh, I think if they could hang the jury, it'd be a major victory for [unclear: "them" / "him"].

Interviewer: Any prejudice?

Supporter: Yeah, I think, um, they singled out a Mexican from Yuba City area for this. I think they felt that, um, that they haven't had a Mexican on stand, and they could get away with it. I think that the authorities probably thought that, um, the people were [unclear: "two and together" / "two in together"] to come out and support Juan Corona, but the people are behind Juan Corona. We're all one big family. He is innocent.

Interviewer: Do you have any, uh, any way, what do you base your opinion on?

Supporter: I base my opinion on the report from the, uh, the expert of the state, [unclear: "Mr. Stalmeyers" / "Mr stle Meers"], who has already made the report to the state that none of the evidence that has thus far been submitted to the state, uh, bears with Corona being guilty in any what way. But they're keeping this quiet. They're not making it public. We know this for a fact. In reality, they don't even have enough evidence to be holding him. He should be free. He should be out [unclear: "on the street" / "in the streets"], but they won't let him go.

Interviewer: How long do you believe this trial will last?

Supporter: I don't really know, uh, because I don't [unclear: "start off"], but the prosecution says they're going to call 250 witnesses, and that's going to take six months in all likelihood. It shouldn't last that long. If they put on the evidence they got, it'd last about three days. But, uh, typically, uh, when prosecutors have very little, they throw as much mud on the wall as they can, hoping something will stick, and that the jury will somehow get confused with the idea that they got a lot of witnesses, and therefore they got a good case.