• Discrepancy: The Army Days. Rubin states in the film that he learned prizefighting, and came home with medals covering his uniform. He even states in his book that he was asked to compete in the Olympics, but that he would have had to re-enlist to do so.

• Truth: Rubin decides now (still an escapee) to join the Army. He discovers he can train to be a prizefighter while in there, and also discovers a slightly slanted form of Islam (basically, that man himself was God). When he does come home, he is not cloaked in medals, (see pics below) or honorably discharged...quite the opposite actually. Rubin Carter was basically thrown out of the Army. He had a problem with authority, and problems with his continuing violence. When this happens, the Army will give a general or honorable discharge just to get them out of their base. He was immediately thrown back in jail upon his return. Now, the movie will insinuate that Rubin was the pillar of society when he was released. Truth: he became inseparable with a jail mate of his. "We started hanging out in Hogan's -the players' lounge, so to speak-where all the half-assed pimps and hustlers, pool sharks, and would-be gangsters thrive in every black community." (Quote from Rubin Carter) Then he admits to stealing a woman's purse, for no obvious reason, other than he wanted to. Here's what he had to say about that situation. "Then out of the clear blue sky, without rhyme or reason, I snatched a woman's pocketbook - right then in broad daylight! I don't know why I did it! With my pockets loaded down, jam packed full of my own money, it was the most dastardly thing I'd ever done, I simply snatched that poor lady's purse and ran like hell - and she was a black woman. Little A (his thug friend) ran with me. But since I really didn't know why I had done what I was doing,...he ran with me...and that was his mistake. Because further on down the street, still giddy with my folly, I hit a man...then, I went hog-wild and did it again."   (He got 2-6 years for this offense)

Carter was thrown out of the Army in 1956 after four courts martial. He was considered "unfit for military service" and served only 21 months. (See Prosecutor's Brief at bottom of this page)

The photo at left appears in Carter's autobiography, published in 1974. The medals and insignia over his shirt pockets and on his cap do not appear in the photo published in James Hirsch's pro-Carter book, "Hurricane." Yet, the images of Carter are clearly the same, and both have the same half-erased handwriting on them. In Hirsch's book the caption says the photo is "Courtesy of Rubin Carter."

What's more, the insignia on his sleeve is different in the two photos. Both seem to be Airborne "Screaming Eagles" patches, but the patch at right is much darker, is considerably farther to the right and is missing the word "Airborne."

The medals in Carter's autobiography appear to have been penciled onto the photograph by a retouching artist.

Prosecutor's Brief:

MILITARY

According to prison records (Exhibit K) the defendant entered the U.S. Army on August 27, 1954. He was separated on May 29, 1956 with the designation: "Unfitness." During his 21 months in the military, he was convicted by court-martial on four occasions. The charges are described as "disobeying a lawful order (three times), failure to make reveille, disrespectful in language to a non-commissioned officer and treated his superior officer with contempt." (Exhibit K, PPS. 2-3).

In 1973, while serving a sentence for the Lafayette Bar murders after the first trial, the defendant, Rubin Carter authored a book entitled The Sixteenth Round. (Exhibit L. The appellants have included in this exhibit only the pages excerpted.) The appellants contend that certain facts are not accurately recorded in this book. However, the appellants present this document to the Court because we contend it is relevant as an exposition of the defendant's perception of himself and his relationship with society. He repeatedly portrays his deep hatred and bitterness. The defendant discusses his military experience and at one point records his reflections while traveling from Fort Jackson to Fort Campbell.

America the dirty white racist bitch....I was mad at my mother, my father, at all the niggers who held themselves in contempt of their color.... "Fuck those crackers!"....

I notice something else, too: all these honkies were wearing guns, every last one of them. I decided I would have to get me one too. This Army life was not making me any nastier than what I was, but it wasn't making it any easier for me either. It just made me care a little less than usual, which wasn't really a helluva lot in the first place. pps.119-120.

(Photos and brief courtesy of Cal Deal's Website; Used with permission)

-Next Section: More on this prison term.