David Bancroft will appear on a new CNN original series, “The Radical Story of Patty Hearst,” which will explore the transformation of Patty Hearst from kidnapped heiress to terrorist. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Bancroft played a major role in prosecuting the case against Patty Hearst in 1976. He will discuss the prominent case in episodes 5 and 6, which will air on February 25 at 9:00 and 10:00 PM PT.
“The Radical Story of Patty Hearst” will premiere on February 11 at 9:00 and 10:00 PM PT.
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The Patty Hearst case is one of the most famous kidnapping and criminal cases in U.S. history. In 1974, Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of media mogul William Randolph Hearst, was abducted from her Berkeley, California apartment by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small left-wing urban guerrilla group.
Initially, Hearst appeared to be a victim, but her case took a dramatic turn when, two months after her kidnapping, she was seen participating in a bank robbery with the SLA. She adopted the name “Tania” and publicly expressed support for the group’s revolutionary cause. The case raised questions about whether Hearst had been brainwashed or coerced by her captors into committing crimes or whether she had willingly joined them.
In 1975, Hearst was arrested, and in a highly publicized trial, she was convicted of bank robbery and other crimes despite her defense that she had been brainwashed. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison, later reduced to seven years. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence, and in 2001, she was fully pardoned by President Bill Clinton.
The case remains controversial, as it highlighted issues of coercion, psychological manipulation, and criminal responsibility.
Richard J. Sideman and David P. Bancroft found Sideman & Bancroft in San Francisco shortly after in 1978.
