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Arrest of 600 Mexican-American youthsThe case arose from the homicide of Jose Diaz, whose body was found at the Sleepy Lagoon reservoir in southeast Los Angeles, California on August 2, 1942. Racial prejudice and press hysteria, primarily in the Herald-Express and The Los Angeles Times, resulted in the arrest of 600 Mexican-American youths in connection to the murder. California historian Carey McWilliams noted that a few months earlier that over 120,000 Japanese Americans were detained and interned in detention camps. McWilliams later argued that there were common links between the Japanese-American internment and the anti-Mexican response in the Sleepy Lagoon case. Criminal trialThe resulting criminal trial is now generally viewed as lacking in the fundamental requirements of due process. Twenty-two Chicano youths were indicted on the murder charges and placed on trial. The courtroom was small and during the trial the defendants were not allowed sit near or to communicate with their attorneys. Over defense objection, evidence of gang affiliation was introduced.
Convictions reversed on appealThe East Los Angeles, California community came to the support of the defendants. They created the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee, composed of Leftists, African-Americans, and Mexican-American community leaders. In October, 1944, the Court of Appeal of the State of California reversed the convictions, in the case of People v Zamora 66 Cal.App.2d 166. Louie Encinas was eventually, decades later, identified by his sister as the true killer; stabbing him moments before the defendants arrived. He later committed suicide. Officially the murder remains unsolved. See also
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