What's online?
The entire collection is scanned and online.
What's in the entire collection?
This collection consists entirely of the transcription of the Coroner's Inquest into the death of Jonny Gammage. This case was covered by the media around the United States, as the death of Jonny Gammage occurred during a traffic stop where law enforcement brutality lead to his death. Thirty-seven individuals were called to testify during the inquest.
About the death of Jonny Gammage
On October 12, 1995 police officers from Brentwood, Baldwin and Whitehall in the South Hills of Pittsburgh stopped Jonny Gammage, a black motorist, who was driving a Jaguar on Route 51, just inside the city limits of Pittsburgh. Within minutes of the vehicle being pulled over, an altercation between the officers and Gammage took place, with Gammage being restrained and forced to the ground. Gammage died at the scene. From November 1-3, 1995, the Allegheny County Coroner’s office conducted an inquest into the death of Mr. Gammage. The grand jury at the inquest ruled that homicide charges should be brought against the five officers involved in the restraint of Gammage. The officers were: Milton Mullholland (Brentwood Police), John Vojtas (Brentwood Police), Michael Albert (Baldwin Police), Keith Henderson (Whitehall Police) and Shawn Patterson (Whitehall Police). Ultimately, District Attorney Robert Colville chose to file involuntary manslaughter charges against Mullholland, Albert and Vojtas even though pathologist Cyril Wecht found that Gammage's death was a result of asphyxiation due to unnecessary compression of the lower neck and upper chest area. Mullholland and Albert were tried together and their first trial ended in a mistrial and a second trial ended with the jury deadlocked. Vojtas’ was tried separately and found not guilty. Jonny Gammage was visiting his cousin Ray Seals, Jr., in Pittsburgh. Seals played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers at the time. Both Gammage and Seals had been born and reared in Syracuse, NY, and had maintained a close relationship throughout their lives. While in Pittsburgh, Seals loaned his Jaguar to Gammage to drive. The Gammage case ignited the Pittsburgh region, as his death was the direct result of police brutality and systemic racism, much like that seen in the more recent deaths of Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castille, and many, many others. There was wide spread national media coverage of this case and it became the subject of several song lyrics and a play. The incident was also one of the impetuses for creation of a Citizens Police Review Board in the City of Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh Professor Attilio “Buck” Favorini is an award winning playwright who wrote “The Gammage Project,” based on the events of October 12, 1995. The transcription of the coroner’s inquest found here are from Favorini and was used by him during his research on the case.
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