Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
On this date ...
1974: A federal judge, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling dealing with former President Nixon and the Watergate tapes, overturned the My Lai murder conviction of former Army Lt. William Calley.
Calley had been sentenced to life in prison in 1971 by a court-martial board, but his sentence had been reduced to 20 years by a military appeals board and then to 10 years by Army Secretary Howard Callaway.
Judge J. Robert Elliott overturned the conviction on grounds of massive pretrial publicity, denial of Calley’s rights to confront unfriendly witnesses and improperly drawn charges.
A year later, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Calley’s murder conviction. He initially had been convicted for the killing of at least 22 Vietnamese civilians when his unit made a sweep through the village of My Lai in 1968, though the number of dead civilians was 504.
— Dan Barks, director of Tucumcari Parks and Recreation, announced he would attempt a 75-hour nonstop fundraising walk on Oct. 7. Proceeds would be used to buy playground and park equipment. Barks raised $1,850 during a 50-hour walk last year.
— Tucumcari’s satellite campus of Eastern New Mexico University-High Plains Area Vocational-Technical School announced it would offer a full-time building construction (carpentry) class in the spring of 1975.
— Darrell Ray, 16, of McAlister posed for a photo with his reserve champion fat calf and Lea County rancher Dessie Sawyer, who bought the animal during the Junior Livestock Auction at the New Mexico State Fair.