Emile Zola Berman (November 3, 1902 – July 3, 1981) was an American

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

. He was named after the French novelist

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

(1840–1902). During World War II he was an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...

in the

10th Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. He was discharged as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Famous cases

Berman first became nationally known in 1956 when he defended

Staff Sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...

Matthew McKeon Matthew McKeon (October 26, 1924November 11, 2003) was a U.S. Marine. As a staff sergeant, he gained notoriety when the Ribbon Creek incident on April 8, 1956, led to the drowning of six recruits. McKeon was found guilty of negligent homicide and ...

who was accused of manslaughter after leading men into a creek during a training exercise on

Parris Island Parris is both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Parris Afton Bonds, American novelist * Parris Campbell (born 1997), American football player * Parris Duffus (born 1970), retired American ice hockey go ...

. Six of the men drowned, but Berman was able to get an acquittal on the most serious charges. In 1969, Berman was part of the defense team of

Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (; ar, سرحان بشارة سرحان ''Sirḥān Bišāra Sirḥān'', born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian Jordanian man who was convicted for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy, a United States Sena ...

, the assassin of

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

. Berman received criticism for defending an avowed

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...

but countered his critics by stating that he was defending Sirhan's rights and not his beliefs.

Notes

References

External links

"Milestones: Jul. 20, 1981"
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

''. July 20, 1981. 1902 births 1981 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) 20th-century American lawyers Jewish American attorneys Jewish American military personnel Criminal defense lawyers Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy United States Army Air Forces officers {{US-law-bio-stub