assignment

1. Dan White had been elected as a city supervisor of San Francisco. White resigned on November 10, 1978. Four days later, he changed his mind and asked Mayor George Moscone to reappoint him to his former position. The mayor refused. On the morning of November 27, White confronted the mayor and demanded to be reappointed. When the mayor refused, White shot the mayor five times. White reloaded his gun, walked across the hall to City Supervisor Harvey Milk’s office, and shot him four times. Milk was a leader in San Francisco’s gay community with whom White frequently clashed. After shooting Moscone and Milk, White fled but shortly thereafter went to the police and confessed. He was charged with first degree murder. During the trial psychologists called by the defense testified that White’s behavior was the result of long term depression excaberated by a craving for junk food. They testified that White’s judgement and ability to control his behavior were altered by the huge amount of sugar he had consumerd the night before the killings. The so called Twinkie defense worked. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter instead of first degree murder on May 21, 1979, he was sentenced to a prison term of 7 years to 7 years, 8 months. White was released from prison after serving 5 years, 1 month, and 9 days of his sentence. He committed suicide on Octiver 21, 1985.