Born in Bridgewater , Massachusetts to Armenian immigrant parents who had escaped the Hamidian massacres in the Ottoman Empire , Garry grew up in a farm town in California 's Central Valley . He worked his way through law school at night at a cleaning shop and was a Great Depression-era socialist who began his legal career defending militant trade unions . Like many in his generation , Garry earned his law degree without attending college , and suffered difficulty with spelling and syntax . An avowed Marxist lawyer , Garry earned a reputation of fighting for underdogs . He insisted on a full truthful disclosure from those he represented , and had a sign on his desk that read " the only clients of mine who go to San Quentin are the ones who lie to me . " In 1948 , Garry was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee ( HUAC ) . Garry declared that he was both a Christian and a Communist and , in response to queries regarding the denial of God by Communists , Garry responded by saying , " Mr. Chairman , what the Communists do for their God is their own business . What I do for my God is my own , and none of yours ! " In the 1950s , Garry represented other alleged Communists before the HUAC and refused to answer questions himself stating , " I told them to kiss my ass . " In 1968 , he was retained by the Black Panther Party as their chief counsel , and to defend Huey P. Newton in the 1967 slaying of Oakland Police Officer John Frey . Newton was convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter . Subsequently , he defended Black Panther Chairman Bobby Seale . Garry was famous for flair and courtroom dramatics , and one policeman , under intense questioning , jumped from the witness stand and pulled his gun on Garry
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Charles Garry