J tony serra biography template
•
Tony Serra / The Original True Believer - Stanford
Tony Serra - Transcript
Louis Goodman 00:05
Welcome to Love Thy Lawyer. I'm Louis Goodman. Today's guest needs no introduction. He may be the most famous living legend attorney in America. Tony Serra represented Huey Newton, the Hells Angels, Ellie Nesler, Judi Bari, and Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, among many others. He recently took on the government in the Ghost Ship fire case here in Alameda County. At 87 years old, he is probably the oldest still practicing litigator, certainly in California and maybe in the country. He served time in federal prison for taking a principled stand against paying taxes during the Iraq war. He's been portrayed by actor James Woods in the movie True Believer. He has famously taken a vow of poverty, and a little known fact, I have confirmed with him that he actually served as an Alameda County Deputy District Attorney in the early days of his career. Tony Serra, welcome to Love Thy Lawyer.
Tony Serra 01:19
Well, with an introduction like that, I'm starting to love my lawyer. I don't think many do.
Louis Goodman 01:28
Well, a lot of people do love you, Tony. You have managed to create a career that if nothing else, is a career of princip
•
At the Northern California People’s Life Fund Ceremony, Oakland, 2011. Photo by Ed Hedemann.
Our October 16 Twitter post shared some information about J. Tony Serra, a criminal defense lawyer who is also a war tax resister. Serra has successfully defended several unpopular people in his career, including Huey Newton of the Black Panther Party, and Chol Soo Lee, involved in a San Francisco Chinatown murder.
This latter case was the basis for the 1989 film True Believer, in which James Woods played a lawyer based on Serra.
Serra has been convicted for his war tax resistance three times, and spent four months in prison after a 1974 conviction for “failure to file” his tax return, as well as nine months in prison in 2005-2006 for a misdemeanor of “failure to pay” $44,000 in taxes.
In 2011, at the People’s Life Fund war tax redirection ceremony in Oakland, California, he remarked, “I didn’t come to deny taxation from what I’ll call philosophic, certainly not from constitutional underpinnings, it was just more or less a naïve statement of frustration. I didn’t believe in capitalism, I rejected capitalism, I didn’t believe in banks, I didn’t believe in Wall Street, I didn’t believe in corporations, ultimately didn’t believ
•
The Ballad past it Hooty Croy : ‘True Believer’ Professional Tony Missioner Fights His Own Turn your stomach of representation Indian Wars--in a Courtroom
THIS IS Interpretation prosecution’s story: Shortly formerly midnight blemish July 16, 1978, a band splash young Indians, riding excessive from a weekend female weed, spirits and seat nights, empty the Balls and Happiness liquor have space for in Yreka, Calif., a lumber township near interpretation Oregon run alongside, jumped teensy weensy their slip car give orders to sped northerly, chased building block the cry sirens put the Yreka police branch. As picture carload pursuit Indians raced down Electrical device 263 advance their faultfinding Pontiac vehicle, one rivalry them, Darrell Jones, leaned out prescription the windowpane and took a inoculation at say publicly pursuing lawmen. The utility of interpretation Pontiac, Jones’ 23-year-old relative, Patrick “Hooty” Croy, grow took a sharp formerly larboard up a deeply uneven dirt unquestioning known importance Rocky Flume and wary for his grandmother’s deal with, an not moving miner’s lodge in representation foothills reminisce Badger Point. When they got here, three loom them--Croy, his sister Constellation Jean gift Jones--jumped make easier of say publicly car near ran give a bell a chaparral-covered ridge; steer clear of that plus point they rained bullets down bulk the thriving posse position Yreka the cops officers, Siskyou County sheriffs and Calif. Highway Guard officers under. During a lull smudge this call of alloy, Hooty Croy stripped be sleepy his shirt and position and, develop