Judge June Patel
vacates the conviction of
Fred Korematsu who challenged the Japanese American evacuation
during WWII. In other words - In the Korematsu's
case, the court hearing the coram nobis appeal found that in his original
trial the government withheld and distorted evidence, leading to his conviction.
FYI - "CORAM NOBIS - In our presence; before us. The office of "writ of
coram nobis" is to bring attention of court to, and obtain relief from
errors of fact, such as a valid defense existing in facts of case, but
which, without negligence on defendant's part, was not made, either through
duress or fraud or excusable mistake, where facts did not appear on face
of record, and were such as, if known in season, would have prevented
rendition of the judgment questioned. The essence of coram nobis is that
it is addressed to the very court which renders the judgment in which
injustice is alleged to have been done, in contrast to appeals or review
directed to another court; the words "coram nobis", meaning "our court,"
as compared to the common-law writ of coram vobis," meaning "your court,"
clearly point this up."
1985
As
an Air Force officer on detached duty with NASA, Onizuka was chosen to
serve on the first dedicated Department of Defense classified space shuttle
mission. He served as the mission specialist on STS-51-C from January
24-27, 1985 on the Discovery orbiter. The Challenger flight was his second
Shuttle mission. He
(along with Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judy Resnik died on January
28, 1986 when NASA's Challenger exploded 1 min. 13 sec. after launch.
It was the United States' first in-flight tragedy.
The
STS-51L was the 25th mission of the Space Shuttle Program, and the tenth
of Space Shuttle Orbiter Challenger. Challenger, and her crew of seven,
was launched at 11:38am EST from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex
39 Pad B. Approximately 73 seconds later, Challenger was destroyed as
a result of aerodynamic stress, killing all onboard. The cause was rooted
in the history of the Space Shuttle Program: The o-rings on the solid
rocket boosters could not properly seal at cold temperatures.
Ellison Shoji Onizuka (June 24, 1946-January 28, 1986) was born and raised
on Kona, Hawaii. He received a BS degree in Aeronautical Engineering in
1968 and a Masters Degree in 1969 from the University of Colorado. The
following year, he joined the U.S. Air Force and became a flight engineer.
Onizuka later attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air
Force Base in California and was a test pilot. He has flown over 1700
hours on 43 different aircraft.
In 1978, he was selected by NASA for the astronaut program in 1978. He
has spent over 72 hours in space on two spaceflights. Onizuka became the
first Asian-American in space aboard Mission 51-C in 1985. This was a
Department of Defense mission. Onizuka was killed in the explosion of
the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986.
Out of the seven astronauts' families, Colonel Onizuka's widow, Lorna
Onizuka, was the only survivor who did not file a lawsuit against Morton
Thiokol, the company which built the solid rocket booster (the one that
caused the explosion) for the death of her husband. Her explanation was
short and simple when the press querried her motive. Her husband chose
a career as a pilot. He piloted an experimental spacecraft (the Challenger)
and he died in the line of duty. It was not Morton Thiokol's fault, in
her opinion and she was sure her late husband would not want her to blame
anyone. He chose to live by the sword and he proudly died by the sword.
1985
HAING NGOR WINS AN OSCAR
Haing S. Ngor wins an Oscar
for Best Supporting Actor in the film "The Killing Fields" for playing
the role of Dith Pran, who tried
to stop the holocaust in Cambodia.
1985
