Percy Eugene Foreman (June 21, 1902 – August 25, 1988) was a criminal defense attorney from

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. Foreman was born near Bold Springs, Texas. Foreman moved to

Livingston, Texas Livingston is a town in and the county seat of Polk County, Texas. With a population of 5,640 at the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Polk County. It is located about 46 miles south of Lufkin and was originally settled in 1835 as S ...

when he was six years old. He was the son of Ransom Parson Hill Foreman and William Pinckney (Rogers) Foreman, a former sheriff of

Polk County, Texas Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,123. Its county seat is Livingston. The county is named after James K. Polk. The Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation of the federally ...

. Percy Foreman attended

Staunton Military Academy Staunton Military Academy was a private all-male military school located in Staunton, Virginia. Founded in 1884, the academy closed in 1976. The school was highly regarded for its academic and military programs, and many notable American politica ...

in Virginia for one year, graduated from the

University of Texas Law School The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

in 1927, and was admitted to the Texas Bar on January 17, 1928. 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. 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 Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in 1951). Foreman's clients included General Edwin Walker,

James Earl Ray James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive convicted for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After this Ray was on the run and was cap ...

, Charles Harrelson,

Candy Mossler Candace Mossler (née Weatherby; February 18, 1920 - October 26, 1976) was a socialite at the center of a sensational, highly publicized murder trial in the 1960s. Background Candace Mossler and her nephew Melvin Lane Powers, with whom she was ...

, and various

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

kingpins.

Jack Ruby Jack Leon Ruby (born Jacob Leon Rubenstein; April 25, 1911January 3, 1967) was an American nightclub owner and alleged associate of the Chicago Outfit who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of ...

requested that Foreman represent him after he shot

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

.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 Richard Haynes may refer to: * Richard Haynes (cricketer) (1913–1976), English cricketer * Richard Haynes (lawyer) (1927–2017), American defense attorney * Richard Haynes (musician) (born 1983), Australian clarinettist * Richard Septimus Hay ...

and Dick DeGuerin 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 The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

Family

Percy Foreman had two marriages with the second, to Marguerite Obert, lasting from April 21, 1957 until her death in 1979. Foreman adopted his son, William Foreman, with his first wife and had his daughter, Marguerite Foreman, with his second wife. His sister Carrin Foreman was superintendent of the

Sugar Land Independent School District Sugar Land Independent School District #17 was a school district headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas. History It was created under a state law that was approved and became law on March 18, 1918. Under state law, there was a 7-person board, and a ...

from 1924 to 1930. When she married she gave up her position. She died on March 1, 1932 due to childbirth.City of Sugar Land. ''Sugar Land''.

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American publisher of neighborhood, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publ ...

, 2010. , 9780738578804. p
55

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foreman, Percy 1902 births 1988 deaths Texas lawyers Criminal defense lawyers People from Livingston, Texas University of Texas School of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers

Family

See also

Notes

External links