Editing Assata Shakur (section)

====Defense attorneys====
[[File:William Kunstler.jpg|thumb|Lawyer [[William Kunstler]] was the chief of Shakur's defense staff.]]

Shakur's defense attorneys were [[William Kunstler]] (the chief of Shakur's defense staff),<ref name="wag"/> Stuart Ball, Robert Bloom, [[Raymond A. Brown]],<ref>Berger, Joseph. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/nyregion/12brown.html "Raymond A. Brown, Civil Rights Lawyer, Dies at 94"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 11, 2009. Accessed October 12, 2009.</ref> Stanley Cohen (who died of unknown causes early on in the Turnpike trial), Lennox Hinds, [[Florynce Kennedy]], Louis Myers, Laurence Stern, and Evelyn Williams, Shakur's aunt.<ref name="nelson"/><ref name="wag"/><ref>Shakur, 1987, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=kVVp9RLqlYwC&pg=PA247 247].</ref> Of these attorneys, Kunstler, Ball, Cohen, Myers, Stern and Williams appeared in court for the turnpike trial.<ref name="NYT_1977-03-26">{{cite news|author= Waggoner, Walter H.|date= March 26, 1977|url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70710FC3A5F167493C4AB1788D85F438785F9 |title=Joanne Chesimard Convicted in Killing Of Jersey Trooper| work= The New York Times|access-date=October 18, 2007}}</ref><ref>Williams, 1993, pp. 162–163.</ref> Kunstler became involved in Shakur's trials in 1975, when contacted by Williams, and commuted from New York City to New Brunswick every day with Stern.<ref>Kunstler, 1994, pp. 275–276.</ref>

Her attorneys, in particular Lennox Hinds, were often held in [[contempt of court]], which the [[National Conference of Black Lawyers]] cited as an example of systemic bias in the judicial system.<ref>''The New York Times'' (May 9, 1977). "Black Legal Group Assails U.S. Courts; Lawyers at Conference Find Bias Still Exists Against Blacks Despite Constitutional Bans", p. 67, column 6.</ref> The New Jersey Legal Ethics Committee also investigated complaints against Hinds for comparing Shakur's murder trial to "legalized lynching"<ref>''The New York Times'' (March 2, 1977), "Complaint on Lawyer". Section 2, p. 21, column 2.</ref> undertaken by a "[[kangaroo court]]".<ref name="kirsta"/><ref>In the Matter of Hinds, 449 A.2d 483 (N.J. 1982).</ref> Hinds' disciplinary proceeding reached the U.S. Supreme Court in ''Middlesex County Ethics Committee v. Garden State Bar Ass'n'' (1982).<ref>Middlesex County Ethics Committee v. Garden State Bar Ass'n, 457 U.S. 423 (1982).</ref> According to Kunstler's autobiography, the sizable contingent of New Jersey State Troopers guarding the courthouse were under strict orders from their commander, Col. Clinton Pagano, to completely shun Shakur's defense attorneys.<ref name="k276"/>

Judge Appleby also threatened Kunstler with dismissal and contempt of court after he delivered an October 21, 1976, speech at nearby [[Rutgers University]] that in part discussed the upcoming trial,<ref>[[Martin Waldron|Waldron, Martin]] (December 3, 1976), "Kunstler and the Courts in a Battle On Right to Discuss Pending Trial". ''The New York Times'', Section 2, p. 21, column 1.</ref> but later ruled that Kunstler could represent Shakur.<ref>''The New York Times'' (December 15, 1976), "Judge Approves Kunstler". Section 2, p. 53, column 1.</ref> Until obtaining a court order, Kunstler was forced to strip naked and undergo a body search before each visit with Shakur—during which Shakur was shackled to a bed by both ankles.<ref name="kirsta"/> Judge Appleby also refused to investigate a burglary of her defense counsel's office that resulted in the disappearance of trial documents,<ref name="joy"/> amounting to half of the legal papers related to her case.<ref>Christol, 2001, p. 139.</ref> Her lawyers also claimed that their offices were secretly recorded.<ref name="p81"/>