Paul Echols and Kenneth Ray Gibbons v. L. B. Sullivan

In his § 1983 suit Echols claimed that the employees of the Alabama Board of Corrections threatened his life and health if he testified on behalf of a fellow prisoner at the latter’s trial for murder. The district court filed a memorandum opinion and entered judgment for the defendant. We vacate and remand for findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Rule 52(a), F.R.Civ.P.

On January 18,1974, Echols was incarcerated in the segregation unit at the Fountain Correctional Center, Atmore, Alabama. On that day, an uprising by black prisoners occurred in the unit, during which two…