Painful memories of Sleepy Lagoon case resurface

Manuel Reyes was a 17-year-old high school dropout when he, along when 21 other Mexican American men, was tried on charges in the August 1942 slaying of a young farmworker near Montebello. It was dubbed the Sleepy Lagoon murder case, which became one of the state's most infamous trials, still reverberating through the legal system today.

It was one of the largest mass trials in American history, tinged with racial hostility and marred by questionable legal maneuvers and hysterical media coverage. The judge forced the defendants (pictured) to sit apart from their attorneys. Evidence included a report by a sheriff's expert on foreign relations that stated that "this Mexican element feels a desire to kill or at least to draw blood."

An all-white jury convicted three of the men for first-degree murder. Reyes was one of nine found guilty of second-degree murder. Five were convicted of assault and five were acquitted. But those convictions were overturned in 1944 by an appeals court that found  "no evidence to show that any of the defendants murdered the deceased."

The case, which served in part as the inspiration for the Chicano play and movie "Zoot Suit," continues to be cited today when defendants appeal on the basis of an unfair trial.

After being released from San Quentin prison, Reyes served in the Army and eventually opened a South Los Angeles taco stand. He died earlier this month from cancer at age 82.

"My dad just told me he was guilty by association because they were Hispanic," his  youngest son, Mario Reyes, told The Times' Dennis McLellan. "He said they just rounded up a bunch of Mexicans and let some go. He never went into details about anything that happened that night."

--Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Carolyn Sherley]

Were they found guilty? Well, then, they had to do their time. Doesn't any young person realize that very often the crime is "guilty by association"? One of the first things to teach a child so they choose their friends wisely and work hard not to put themselves in situations over which they have no control.

[LoveZilla]

A sad, sad reminder on how "far" Mexicans-Americans have "come".
The first to shed blood in the defense of "their" Country,and last, in every possibly
significant (i.e., Economic,Political) aspect. Meanwhile, ANY other self-anointed
"minorities" are GIVEN the fast-track to EVERYTHING.
Only in America.

[Yvonne Benavides]

Even today Mexican Americans get treated badly. YB