An eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.
Henri Young stole five dollars from a post office and ended up going to prison - to the most famous, or infamous, prison of them all: Alcatraz. He tried to escape, failed, and spent three years and two months in solitary confinement - in a dungeon, with no light, no heat and no toilet. Milton Glenn, the assistant warden, who was given free reign by his duty-shirking superior, was responsible for Young's treatment. Glenn even took a straight razor and hobbled Young for life. After three years and two months, Young was taken out of solitary confinement and put with the rest of the prisoners. Almost immediately, Young took a spoon and stabbed a fellow prisoner in the neck, killing him. Now, Young is on trial for murder, and if he's convicted he'll go to the gas chamber. An eager and idealistic young attorney, James Stamphill, is given this impossible case, and argues before a shocked courtroom that Young had a co-conspirator. The true murderer, he says, was Alcatraz.—J. Spurlin
Based on a true story through Henri Young, an inmate on Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, who attempted to escape Alcatraz in 1938 with three other inmates, including the infamous Arthur 'Doc' Barker, but was caught and sent to rehabilitation in solitary confinement. After spending three years in the hole, Young is sent back to normal prison, only to get revenge on Rufus Mccain, an inmate who tried to escape Alcatraz with Young, only to betray and turn him in. Then in June 1941, Young murdered McCain and was put on trail for first-degree murder. Then, James Stamphill, a San Francisco public defender, is appointed as Young's lawyer, and attempts to defend Young by explaining the brutal and harsh system of Alcatraz that has dehumanized Young.
Inspired by a true story. A petty criminal sent to Alcatraz in the 1930s is caught attempting to make an escape. As punishment, he is put in solitary confinement. The maximum stay is supposed to be 19 days, but Henri spends years alone, cold and in complete darkness, only to emerge a madman and soon to be a murderer. The story follows a rookie lawyer attempting to prove that Alcatraz was to blame, and that Henri should not be executed.—Rob Hartill
Henri Young was convicted for stealing $5 from a post office and sent to Alcatraz, the most secure jail for the most dangerous criminals. After a futile escape mission, he was sent to a dungeon and got out after a thousand days, though 19 days in dungeon was the maximum official punishment allowed. He became scared, confused, and savage and killed one of the prisoners. It was a sure-to-lose case, so James Stamphill, a fresh law graduate, was appointed as Young's lawyer. The rest is history: how the dungeons of Alcatraz were closed forever.—amioDgreat
