Percy Foreman
{{short description|American lawyer (1902–1988)}}
{{infobox person
|name=Percy Foreman
|birth_name=Percy Eugene Foreman
|birth_date={{birth date|1902|6|21}}
|birth_place=near Bold Springs, Texas, U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1988|8|25|1902|6|21}}
|education=Staunton Military Academy
University of Texas
|occupation=Criminal defense attorney
|known_for=Representing many famous clients, including Edwin Walker, James Earl Ray, Charles Harrelson, and Candy Mossler
|spouse=Marguerite
|children=2
}}
Percy Eugene Foreman (June 21, 1902 – August 25, 1988) was a criminal defense attorney from Houston, Texas largely known for representing many famous clients.
Early Life
Foreman was born near Bold Springs, Texas on June 21, 1902.Compare Michael Dorman, King of the Courtroom: Percy Foreman for the Defense, p. 35 (Dell Publishing, New York 1969) (hereinafter "Dorman"), which indicates "Bold Springs," to the Texas State Historical Association, which reports "Cold Springs". The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, at
[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffo49]. Bold Springs is in Polk County, while Cold Springs is in Cherokee County. Foreman moved to Livingston, Texas, when he was six years old.East Texas Historical Association. He was the son of Ransom Parson Hill Foreman and William Pinckney (Rogers) Foreman, a former sheriff of Polk County, Texas.{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffo49|title=FOREMAN, PERCY EUGENE|last=J.|first=KLEINER, DIANA|date=2010-06-12|website=tshaonline.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-26}}
Foreman attended Staunton Military Academy in Virginia for one year, graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1927,The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, at
[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffo49] and was admitted to the Texas Bar on January 17, 1928.State Bar of Texas, record for Percy Foreman, at [http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Find_A_Lawyer&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=323276].
Career
Foreman was a respected master of tactics. He lost only 53 of 1500 death penalty cases and only one case resulted in execution (Steve Mitchell, electrocuted in Texas in 1951).[https://web.archive.org/web/20080101130220/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839902,00.html "There Is No Better Than Me" - TIME]{{cite web |url=http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/TEXAS.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-06-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517002818/http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/TEXAS.htm |archivedate=2008-05-17 }}
Foreman's clients included General Edwin Walker,Dorman, p. 107. James Earl Ray,Dorman, p. 280.{{Cite web|url=https://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=2018_00409|title=Percy Foreman on James Earl Ray (1968)|last=KPRC-TV|date=1968|website=Texas Archive of the Moving Image|access-date=2018-10-25}}{{cite web | url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/assassins/ray/11.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018050952/http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/assassins/ray/11.html | archive-date=2006-10-18 | title=James Earl Ray: The Man Who Killed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr }} Charles Harrelson,Texas Ranger Dispatch Magazine at {{cite web |url=http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/12/Pages/Dean.htm |title=TEXAS RANGER DISPATCH Magazine |accessdate=2008-06-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624052705/http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/12/Pages/Dean.htm |archivedate=2008-06-24 }}. Candy Mossler,Dorman, p. 150. and various organized crime kingpins.
Jack Ruby requested that Foreman represent him after he shot Lee Harvey Oswald.[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/26/obituaries/percy-foreman-texas-lawyer-86-defended-the-assassin-of-dr-king.html Percy Foreman, Texas Lawyer, 86; Defended the Assassin of Dr. King], By James Baron, 1988-08-26, The New York Times
Famed defense attorneys Richard Haynes"Counsel For The Defense - Dallas Observer". DallasObserver.com. 2003-10-02. Retrieved 2015-10-29. and Dick DeGuerin"Houston brothers shine in legal spotlight - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. 2008-02-11. both worked with Foreman early in their careers and credit him as a mentor.
In 1966, Foreman received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}
He went on to become one of the best known trial lawyers in Texas, with the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association creating the Percy Foreman Lawyer of the Year Award in 1984.{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers |title=Percy Foreman Lawyer of the Year Award |url=http://www.tcdla.com/TCDLA/About/Percy_Foreman_Lawyer_of_the_Year_Award.aspx |access-date=2018-10-26 |website=www.tcdla.com}}
Personal Life
Foreman was married twice. Foreman had a son, William, with his first wife and a daughter, Marguerite, with his second wife.
His sister Carrin Foreman was superintendent of the Sugar Land Independent School District from 1924 to 1930.City of Sugar Land. Sugar Land. Arcadia Publishing, 2010. {{ISBN|0738578800}}, 9780738578804. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=iylT4HsEKWcC&pg=PA55 55].
See also
{{Portal|Texas|Biography|Law}}
- Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice (episode: The Candy Scandal)
- Judd, for the Defense (television series with main character reportedly based on Percy Foreman)
Notes
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Category:American criminal defense lawyers
Category:People from Livingston, Texas