by Rhashad Pittman
special to The Current

Intriguing stories of tragedy and triumph make their way to the UM-St. Louis campus. On Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m., Rubin "Hurricane" Carter will lecture at the J.C. Penney auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, but a ticket is required and is available through the Office of Student Activities.

Boxing lovers simply knew him as "Hurricane," the no. 1 contender for the Middleweight Championship.

His style was often called fast and furious, and soon he had many loyal fans. His popularity was short-lived, however. Carter soon found himself behind bars for 19 years as a result of being wrongfully convicted of a triple murder.

Carter's story began on the evening of June 17, 1966. Carter and his companion, John Artis, were pulled over by police while driving through Carter's native town of Paterson, New Jersey. In a 1975 interview Carter told Penthouse magazine that he was used to getting harassed by police due to his participation in the civil rights movement.

"As long as I stayed within that role, within that prize-fighting ring, . . . I was acceptable. But when I didn't want to see people brutalized any longer . . . no matter who committed the brutality, black people or white people, I was harassed for my beliefs," Carter said.

Carter and Artis were taken down to a crime scene where a multiple murder had been committed. The key witnesses and the only surviving victim were unable to identify Carter and Artis as the murderers.

After spending seventeen hours in relentless interrogation and passing a lie-detector test, Carter was released temporarily. Five months later, Carter and Artis were arrested and charged with the murders.

In spite of the fact that the murder weapon was not found and the prosecution's two key witnesses were ex-convicts who later recanted their testimony, the all-white jury gave both Carter and Artis three consecutive life sentences.

The initial trial reached national headlines attracting attention from some celebrities.

World Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali expressed his support to the reporters in Las Vegas before his bout with Ron Lyle.

"I'm dedicating this fight to Rubin Carter," Ali said.

Even legendary singer Bob Dylan took part in the support of Carter. In 1975, Dylan co-wrote a song depicting Carter's life. The song, simply titled "Hurricane," was later recorded on Dylan's album "Desire."

Dylan also spoke of Carter with admiration after visiting him in prison.

"The first time I saw him, I left knowing one thing . . . I realized that the man's philosophy and my philosophy were running down the same road, and you don't meet too many people like that," Dylan said.

While imprisoned, Carter wrote an autobiography entitled "The 16th Round: From Number 1 to Number 45472," which reflected the turmoil that such an event could have on even the strongest of spirits.

"I come to you in the only manner left open to me. I've tried the courts, exhausted my life's earnings, and tortured my two loved ones with little grains and tidbits of hope that may never materialize," wrote Carter.

Judge H. Lee Sarokin of Federal District Court in Newark, NJ overturned his second-trial convictions after he received evidence that proved the prosecution committed "grave constitutional violations." He immediately granted Carter a writ of habeas corpus.

In 1985 Carter was released from prison. Three years later all indictments were dismissed.

His story has been made into a major motion picture, "Hurricane," starring Denzel Washington. Universal Pictures plans to release the movie in January.