Dan White

Dan White

In 1978, Dan White shot and killed both the mayor of San Francisco and supervisor Harvey Milk in the city hall. He was charged with Voluntary Manslaughter rather than murder because his defense lawyer argued that he had eaten a lot of sugary food before the murders and was depressed. He was normally very health conscious. His prison sentence for both murders was only 5 years. This became known as the “Twinkie Defense.” Dan White was a whistleblower too. A few years earlier, he had quit the San Francisco police department after reporting another cop for beating a handcuffed suspect.

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