Dan White during his 1977 campaign for Supervisor.

Daniel James "Dan" White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was a former San Francisco City Supervisor who assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978 at City Hall. In a controversial verdict, which led to the coining of the legal slang "the Twinkie defense," White was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. Daniel White, Dan White or Danny White may refer to: Dan White, former San Francisco Supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... San Francisco redirects here. ... Mayor Moscone George Richard Moscone (November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was the mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. ... For Harvey Milk High School Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978), an American politician and gay rights activist, was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California. ... is the 331st day of the year (332nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... San Francisco City Hall in Summer 2003. ... In jurisprudence, Twinkie defense is a derogatory label for a criminal defendants claims that some unusual biological factor entered into the causes or motives of the alleged crime, and that due to this biological factor, either they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law...

Early life

He grew up in a blue collar, Irish-American household. He attended Sacred Heart Cathedral High School in San Francisco. He served in the Vietnam War before returning to San Francisco to work as a police officer. He later worked as a firefighter. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 from the working-class Excelsior District (at this time, supervisors were elected by district, not at large as they were in the 1980s and 1990s). Irish Americans (Irish: Gael-Mheiriceánach) are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in the west European nation of Ireland. ... Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory or SHis a Catholic school in San Francisco, California. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... The San Francisco Police Department or S.F.P.D., is responsible for policing in the City and County of San Francisco. ... San Francisco Fire Department provides fire and emergency services to the City of San Francisco in San Franciso County. ... San Francisco skyline. ... The Excelsior District in San Francisco is the area along Mission Street, south of Interstate 280 and north of Geneva Avenue. ...

The assassinations

Main article: Moscone-Milk Assassinations

The politically conservative White frequently clashed with the Board's more liberal members, including Milk. That, combined with the position's low salary, prompted White to resign his seat in 1978. However, he changed his mind about resigning after his supporters, including the police chief and fellow supervisor Dianne Feinstein, lobbied him to withdraw his resignation and seek re-appointment from Moscone. San Francisco Examiners front page for Moscone-Milk Assassinations; November 28, 1978 The Moscone-Milk Assassinations took place on Monday, November 27, 1978, when San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... Liberalism is a political current embracing several historical and present-day ideologies that claim defense of individual liberty as the purpose of government. ... Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is currently the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. ...

Moscone refused to re-appoint White, after Milk and others urged Moscone not to do so. On November 27, 1978, White went to San Francisco City Hall to meet with Moscone and make a final plea for re-appointment. After Moscone turned down his request, White shot and killed Moscone, then reloaded and walked over to Milk's office and shot Milk five times resulting in his death, the final shot made at very close range. He then fled City Hall and turned himself in at a police station where he had been an officer. is the 331st day of the year (332nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... San Francisco City Hall in Summer 2003. ...

Trial

Main article: Twinkie defense

At his trial, White's defense argued that White's mental state at the time of the killings was one of diminished capacity due to depression. Therefore, they argued, he was not capable of premeditating his act of violence, and thus was not legally guilty of first-degree murder. Among several factors cited as evidence of White's depressed state was his consumption of sugary junk food (previously uncharacteristic of White, a health food advocate) in the months preceding the assassination. In the press, White's consumption of sugary junk food was widely misreported; the press claimed that the sugar in the food had caused (rather than reflected) his state of depression. White's defense was labeled "the Twinkie defense". In jurisprudence, Twinkie defense is a derogatory label for a criminal defendants claims that some unusual biological factor entered into the causes or motives of the alleged crime, and that due to this biological factor, either they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law... In jurisprudence, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a defense by excuse via which a defendant argues that that although they broke the law, they should not be held criminally liable for doing so, as their mental functions were diminished or impaired. ... On the Threshold of Eternity. ... Premeditation, in law, is when you think about and plan out a crime before you commit it. ... Cheetos The Luther Burger, a bacon cheeseburger which employs a glazed donut in place of each bun. ... In jurisprudence, Twinkie defense is a derogatory label for a criminal defendants claims that some unusual biological factor entered into the causes or motives of the alleged crime, and that due to this biological factor, either they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law...

The jury found White guilty of voluntary manslaughter rather than first degree murder. Outrage within San Francisco's gay community over the resulting seven-year sentence sparked the city's White Night Riots; general disdain for the outcome of the court case led to the elimination of California's "diminished capacity" law. Murder is both a legal and a moral term, that are not always coincident. ... The sociological construct of a gay community is complex among those that classify themselves as homosexual, ranging from full-embracement to complete and utter rejection of the concept. ... The White Night Riots, beginning on May 21, 1979, were the San Francisco, California, gay communitys response to the minimal sentence given to former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White for killing George Moscone, then Mayor of San Francisco and Harvey Milk, the openly gay supervisor of said city...

Imprisonment and death

White served five years of his seven-year sentence at Soledad State Prison and was paroled on January 6, 1984. Fearing he might be murdered in retaliation for his crimes, California State Corrections Officials secretly transported White to Los Angeles, where he served a year's parole. After satisfying the terms of his parole, White indicated he wanted to return to his lifelong home San Francisco, which prompted Mayor Feinstein to issue a public statement formally asking White not to return. Nevertheless, he did return. It has been suggested that Medical parole be merged into this article or section. ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... It has been suggested that Medical parole be merged into this article or section. ... Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is currently the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. ...

White found it impossible to have any semblance of a happy life, however. A second child, Rory, who had been born while he was in prison subsequent to conjugal visits, was born with disabilities. Despite the birth of a third child, a daughter Laura, his marriage to wife Mary Ann was not salvageable, and he became increasingly depressed.

On October 21, 1985, less than two years after his release from prison, White committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in his wife's garage by running a garden hose from the exhaust pipe to the inside of his car. The body was discovered by White's brother, Tom, shortly before 2 p.m. the same day. is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... Carbon monoxide, with the chemical formula CO, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas. ...

Alleged confession

In 1998 Frank Falzon, a homicide inspector with the San Francisco police, claimed to have met with White in 1984. At that meeting, White confessed that not only was his killing of Moscone and Milk premeditated, but that he had actually planned to kill another supervisor, Carol Ruth Silver, and then-member of the California State Assembly Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. as well. Falzon quoted White as having said, "I was on a mission. I wanted four of them. Carol Ruth Silver, she was the biggest snake . . . and Willie Brown, he was masterminding the whole thing." Falzon indicated that he believed White, stating: "I felt like I had been hit by a sledge-hammer...I found out it was a premeditated murder."^[1] The California State Assembly chamber California State Assembly Chamber in the State Capitol The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. ... Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. ...

Cultural references

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The story of the assassinations is told in the Academy Award-winning documentary film The Times of Harvey Milk (1984).
• Execution of Justice, a play by Emily Mann, chronicles the events leading to the assassinations.
• Dan White was portrayed by actor Tim Daly in the 1999 Showtime film Execution of Justice that chronicled the events leading to the assassination of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
• Dan White and the "Twinkie defense" were mentioned in the 2006 film Half Nelson during one of the intermittent history reports by the students in the film.
• The assassinations were the basis for a scene in the 1987 movie RoboCop, in which a junk food eating former municipal official uses an Uzi to take hostages at city hall because he wants his "...old job back!"^[2]
• The Dead Kennedys sang a different rendition of "I Fought the Law" about the assassinations.
• The Cosmetics, a San Francisco punk band, recorded the song "Twinkie Madness" about the City Hall murders, and Dan White's "Twinkie defense" on their 1979 EP "Colors that Scream."

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... The Times of Harvey Milk is an Academy Award-winning American documentary film of 1984. ... Execution of Justice is an award-winning ensemble play by Emily Mann chronicling the case of the People vs. ... Emily Mann is the Artistic Director of McCarter Theatre. ... Timothy Daly (born March 1, 1956, in New York) is an American screen and voice actor and producer. ... This article is about the pay TV channel. ... A Half-Nelson is a basic wrestling move where the dominant wrestler inserts his hand and arm up to his shoulder under the bottom wrestlers arm/armpit and places that hand on the back of the others head. ... RoboCop is a 1987 science-fiction, action movie and satire of business-driven capitalism, directed by Paul Verhoeven. ... The Uzi is a compact, boxy, light-weight submachine gun. ... The Dead Kennedys (often known by their initials DK, as in decay) are a punk band from San Francisco, California. ... I Fought the Law is a much-covered song originally recorded by Sonny Curtis and The Crickets (post Buddy Holly). ...

Notes

References

External links

• "48 Drawings from the trial by David Newman"
• New York Times article after the suicide.