By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org, Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923. Demjanjuk's Chief Defense Counsel, O'connor, Contests His Firing Israeli lawyer Yoram Sheftel, who represented accused Nazi war criminal and Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk during his trial in the '80s, has long-been a polarizing figure in the countrys criminal justice system. Shea & Shea - A Professional Law Corporation. On November 14, 1958, he was naturalized as a United States citizen by the United States District Court in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Eli Harati, the Dan Hadani Collection, the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel. Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Prisoner in Federal Custody at 2 (filed April 25, 1985) [Hereinafter "Habeas Petition"]. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. He couldnt have got a fairer trial.. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In the decades since Demjanjuk's case,Sheftel, whos also a popular radio talk show host in Israel, continues to agitate, incite, and divide. He says he was never in Treblinka but was a prisoner for most of World War II, after which he obtained U.S. citizenship and. Mark O'Connor, Demjanjuk's Defense Attorney. He was already a father of three during his time at Treblinka, they said. They (the family) didnt understand the culture or country the way I did, he said of Israel. The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. And then the Israeli acted as family enforcer to make sure that Demjanjuk complied even though it was against his former clients better judgment, the letter added. Matter of Demjanjuk, 603 F. Supp. 1468 (N.D. Ohio 1985) - Justia Law Disclaimer | 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. The American attorney, Mark OConnor, has contested Demjanjuks decision to fire him, claiming the defendant was totally crestfallen and confused when he signed a June 30 letter of dismissal. . It has tried to discredit witnesses, questioning their memory of events more than 40 years ago, and has alleged that key prosecution documents are Soviet forgeries. In August 1977, the Justice Department submitted a request to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to revoke Demjanjuk's citizenship, based on his concealment on his 1951 immigration application of having worked at Nazi death camps. So what exactly happened to Sheftel, a man who decided to do something his fellow countrymen thought of as a betrayal? Tension and disagreement was evident among the defense lawyers since the trial opened last February 16. Demjanjuk was acquitted of war crimes at Treblinka but is still suspected of having served at other concentration camps. IMDbPro. The criminal defense attorney noted the case was a source of several agonizing family arguments. We have complete confidence in Mr. Sheftel.. In Erickson, Mark; Erickson, Ljubica (eds.). YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. His photograph was soon identified as matching the appearance of Ivan the Terrible by Treblinka survivors, resulting in the revoking of his American citizenship. So what exactly happened to Sheftel, a man who decided to do something his fellow countrymen thought of as a betrayal? A high official with the National Catholic Welfare Conference, OConnor was appointed to influential government posts including the Displaced Persons Commission and the National Security Council by President Harry Truman. In 1997, Mark O'Connor faced every guitarist's worst fear. Mark O'Connor Self - Demjanjuk's Defense Attorney 4 episodes 2019 Ted Henry Self - TV Reporter 5 episodes 2019 Zvi Tal Self 4 episodes 2019 Ed Nishnic Jr. Self - Demjanjuk's Grandson 4 episodes 2019 Lawrence Douglas Self - Professor of Law 4 episodes 2019 Dalia Dorner Self 5 episodes 2019 Richard Rashke Self - Historian 'The Devil Next Door': Why Did John Demjanjuk Fire Mark O'Connor Seven guards took turns watching over him, with an adjacent jail cell converted into a guard room. In his place, Demjanjuk hired Israeli trial lawyer Yoram Sheftel whom O'Connor had hired as co-counsel. Chief defense attorney Mark O'Conner (standing) addresses a question to John Demjanjuk during Demjanjuk's trial. The Demjanjuk family retained OConnors two associates, Israeli lawyer Yoram Sheftel and John Gill, an American. Hes a Nazi, hes a killer Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres told the international press, while Demjanjuk, using broken English, told the judge presiding over a preliminary hearing: I am completely [the] wrong person. These cookies are set via embedded youtube-videos. Demjanjuk, who had been accused of participating in the killing of roughly 900,000 Jewish prisoners at Treblinka, an extermination camp in German-occupied Poland, faced the death penalty, according to the Los AngelesTimes. Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, Demjanjuk's citizenship was revoked for having lied about his past in 1981, with the judge persuaded especially by the testimony of Otto Horn. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In 2017, Sheftel represented Elor Azaria, the young Israeli soldier whofatally shotan unarmed Palestinian man as he laid helpless on the ground during a 2016 skirmish in the West Bank, the New York Times reported. Demjanjuk was a gentle old man who'd bounce O'Connor's 3-year-old daughter on his knee, smiling and talking nonsense. This cookie is set by Google and is used to distinguish users. It was April 1987, upwardof two months after the trial had begun. The documentary interviews several figures from the trial, including Demjanjuk's attorney and family members and Israeli and American prosecutors, journalists, and academics. On November 18, 1983 the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, acting for and in behalf of the government of Israel, filed a complaint requesting that this Court conduct a hearing to determine whether John Demjanjuk is extraditable to Israel . Useful Enemies: John Demjanjuk and America's open-door policy for Nazi war criminals. Demjanjuk's trial before the special tribunal (Supreme Court Judge Dov Levin, and Jerusalem District Court Judges Zvi Tal and Dahlia Dorner) was opened with the reading out session on November 26, 1986. I am the one who cares for John Demjanjuk, OConnor told the press conference. Attorney Mark O'connor Who Defended John Demjanjuk 2019 In his talks before the I.H.R., Brentar insisted that Demjanjuk was innocent, because the crimes he was charged with are a fabrication created by the Jews. His application for asylum was denied on 31 May 1984. It was one of the exceptions he took with the court and ultimately with his defense, OConnor said. The mans not broken, his spirits are high. He was conscripted into the Soviet Army in 1941 but was wounded and captured by the Germans a year later. Mark C. O'Connor - Rich May, P.C. One week later it sentenced him to death by hanging. Contact, New content will be added above the current area of focus upon selection, Demjanjuk was born in Dubovi Makharyntsi, a farming village in the western part of Soviet Ukraine. Sheftel also ruffled the feathers of Demjanjuk's former attorney Mark O'Connor, who was fired by Demjanjuk just weeks before testifying. John Demjanjuk emerged from an EL Al commercial airliner with his hands cuffed, and was slowly led down the stairs and onto the tarmac of Ben Gurion International Airport by a police escort. It cant be said that he (Demjanjuk) didnt have every opportunity to present evidence, he said. In his 1951 US visa application form, Demjanjuk had written Marchenko in the space reserved for his mothers maiden name. He had recently been extradited from the U.S. All along, Demjanjuk had insisted he was innocent,and that the accusations against him were nothing but a case of mistaken identity. Where are the other lawyers who claim to be leaders of the defense? He subsequently took up residence in Seven Hills, Ohio. Writer Lawrence Douglas has called the case "the most highly publicized denaturalization proceeding in American history.".