Sanford “Sandy” Rosenblum has been practicing law for nearly 60 years, much of it in the Capital Region of New York State. Among the cases he’s argued, perhaps one of the most significant also happened to be one of his first major criminal defense cases: People v. Otis Larry Johnson.

In 1969, at the height of racial tensions, a white man was found murdered in the Palace Theater in Albany, a massive theater multiplex that held up to 1,000 people. Johnson, a black man with no criminal past, was charged with first-degree murder in the case.

“I was retained pro bono by five black ministers from Albany who came to my office and said they had tried to retain counsel in the community,” said Rosenblum in recalling the case. “But because there was, at the time, conflict between the black and white communities, no one would sign-on. I agreed to take the case pro bono.”

Many other attorneys might have had a problem interviewing witnesses and getting testimony at that time, but not Rosenblum. “I was known already in the black community because a goodly number of my clients came from the community,” he said. “My name was out on the street.”

Rosenblum took down statements from nearly 70 people. While they openly willing to give a statement, none were willing to admit that they witnessed the murder.

Then, by a stroke of luck, there was a break in the case. The courthouse had two elevators: one for civilians and one for the sheriff. The civilian elevator was full, so Rosenblum decided to take the sheriff’s elevator. Also in the elevator was a black deputy. “He told me, ‘go out to the county jail and interview two witnesses who are being held by the DA.’” said Rosenblum.

Rosenblum did just that. “Both of them were being held on trumped-up charges of burglary and were told if they testified against my client [falsely], they would spend no time in jail” He was able to get lengthy statements from them stating as such. They each also claimed to know who the real killer was.

Rosenblum went straight to the judge and DA with this information–which should have resulted in a dismissal of all charges. Instead, they rejected this information, and the case went to trial. “It was apparent during the trial that the DA and judge had decided to do anything they could do to get a conviction,” added Rosenblum.

To make matters worse, Rosenblum was up against an all-white jury. The prosecutor brought in 27 witnesses to identify the client. Throughout the three weeks that the trial took place, Rosenblum called no witnesses and never asked his client to testify.

Among the witnesses called by prosecutors were the two men in county jail whom Rosenblum had spoken to earlier. With the permission of the judge, Rosenblum read the statements they each had given him, in which they admitted that the DA was pressuring them to testify against Johnson and that they knew the killer was another man.

The jury discussed the case for three hours. Johnson was unanimously found not guilty.

Before Johnson could walk out of the courthouse a free man, prosecutors sprung a surprise, charging him with another felony offense. He was arrested and brought to Albany Police Court, where defendants are first arraigned. Rosenblum immediately suspected that these charges were the result of having embarrassed a DA set on obtaining a guilty verdict. Thankfully, Rosenblum was able to get the charges dismissed.

“This young man had never been in trouble before, and as long as I was practicing in Albany I never heard of him being in trouble again,” said Rosenblum.