The New York Times-20080124-Fugitive Accused of Shooting Chicago Officer Is to Surrender
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Fugitive Accused of Shooting Chicago Officer Is to Surrender
A man who the authorities say was a Black Panther who shot a Chicago police officer almost 40 years ago will return here from Canada, where he fled, to face trial.
The authorities say that in March 1969 Joseph Pannell, then 19, fired several shots at Officer Terrence Knox after the officer asked why he was not in school. One bullet severed an artery in the officer's arm, the authorities say, causing permanent damage.
A lawyer for Mr. Pannell, John Norris, said Wednesday that his client, who denies any association with the Black Panthers, acted in self-defense after the officer drew a gun. After his arrest, Mr. Pannell was freed on bail. He fled to Canada, where he lived under an assumed name, Douglas Gary Freeman, raised a family and worked as a library research assistant until he was found and arrested in 2004.
He fought extradition, arguing in part that a black man accused of shooting a police officer would not receive a fair trial. After losing in lower courts, he filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but withdrew it this week.
The balance finally tipped, Mr. Norris said, adding that Mr. Pannell was heartened by what he perceived as a new political climate in Chicago, symbolized by the support of Mayor Richard M. Daley and other political leaders for the presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama.
Underpinning that endorsement rests a city that deeply desires to make a clean break with the past and to create the kind of society Dr. King dreamed of, Mr. Pannell wrote on his Web site.
Mr. Knox, 60, said Mr. Pannell's trial would cause painful memories but would bring closure. It was his decision to drag this on for 40 years, Mr. Knox said, not mine.
