John Artis, ‘Hurricane’ Carter’s co-defendant, dies at age 75
John Artis, the man wrongly convicted of murder alongside boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, died Nov. 7. He was 75.
Artis died of a gastric aneurysm at his home in Hampton, Va.
The miscarriage of justice that robbed Artis and Carter of 15 years of their lives became a 1975 Bob Dylan song, “Hurricane,” and a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington, “The Hurricane.”
![John Artis [l.] and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter are interviewed in corridor of Passaic County Courthouse.](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/YNUOL915e2kMDGtwFlDVXg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD05MjY-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/aol_ny_daily_news_10/2ac7424a225c1d15215cb3f5df315c9e)
Artis and Carter, two Black men, were accused of a triple murder in New Jersey in 1966. They were convicted by an all-white jury of killing three white people in a bar.
Two thieves testified against Artis and Carter at trial, but later recanted their statements. However, the duo remained in jail after one of the “witnesses” changed his mind again in the middle of the legal process.
Early in the investigation, Arits was offered a deal to incriminate Carter in exchange for his own freedom. He turned it down at great personal cost, maintaining the duo’s innocence.
Carter called Artis “my hero,” but his bravery was almost entirely written out of the 1999 film.
Artis was imprisoned in 1966, at age 20. He was granted parole in 1981, at age 35. A New Jersey judge finally threw out the convictions in 1985.
Dylan and Muhammad Ali were among the celebrities who learned of Carter’s case and lobbied for he and Artis’ freedom.
After they were freed, Carter and Artis became justice advocates for other wrongfully convicted people.
“He had a relatively healthy attitude compared to what most people would have. He wanted to just put that (prison time) behind him,” his lawyer and friend Fred Hogan said. “He always had a smile, and his famous saying was, ‘Cool beans.’”
Carter died in 2014 at 76.
With News Wire Services
