Editing Caryl Chessman (section)

{{short description|American criminal and writer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Caryl Chessman
| image             = Caryl Chessman.jpg
| alt               = 
| caption           = Chessman on November 25, 1953
| birth_name        = Carol Whittier Chessman
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1921|05|27}}
| birth_place       = [[St. Joseph, Michigan]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1960|05|02|1921|05|27}}
| death_place       = [[San Quentin State Prison]], [[San Quentin, California]], U.S.
| death_cause       = [[Gas chamber|Execution by gas chamber]]
| penalty           = [[Capital punishment|Death]]
| apprehended       = January 23, 1948
| imprisoned        = [[San Quentin State Prison]]
| footnotes         = 
| conviction        = [[Kidnapping|Kidnapping for the purpose of robbery with infliction of bodily harm]] (3 counts)<br>[[Kidnapping|Kidnapping for the purpose of robbery]]<br>[[Rape|Attempted rape]]<br>[[Assault with a deadly weapon]]<br>[[Robbery|First degree robbery]] (8 counts)<br>[[Robbery|Attempted robbery]]<br>[[Robbery]]<br>[[Grand theft]]
| criminal_status   = [[Executed]]
}}

'''Caryl Whittier Chessman''' (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was a convicted [[robbery|robber]], [[kidnapping|kidnapper]], [[rape|serial rapist]], and writer who was sentenced to death for a series of crimes committed in January 1948 in the [[Greater Los Angeles Area|Los Angeles area]]. Chessman was charged with 17 counts and convicted under a loosely interpreted [[Federal Kidnapping Act|"Little Lindbergh law"]] – later repealed, but not retroactively – that defined kidnapping as a [[Capital punishment|capital offense]] under certain circumstances. His case attracted worldwide attention, and helped propel the movement to end the use of capital punishment in the state of California.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FindLaw's Supreme Court of California case and opinions. |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-supreme-court/1800550.html |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=Findlaw }}</ref>

While in prison, Chessman filed numerous legal actions of dubious merit that led to him being considered [[Vexatious litigation|vexatious]]. One judge wrote in 1957: "[Chessman is] playing a game with the courts, stalling for time while the facts of the case grow cold."<ref>{{cite web |title=WORKING INTHEBELLY OF THE BEAST: THE PRODUCTIVE INTELLECTUAL LABOR OF US PRISON WRITERS, 1929-2007 |url=http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/21722/1/good_ETD_Belly_of_Beast_Nathaniel_Heggins_Bryant_2.0.pdf |first=Nathaniel Zachery |last=Heggins Bryant |date=2005 |access-date=June 1, 2020}}</ref> Chessman wrote four books, including his 1954 memoir ''[[Cell 2455, Death Row]]''. The book was adapted for the screen [[Cell 2455, Death Row (1955 film)|in 1955]] and stars [[William Campbell (film actor)|William Campbell]] as a character modelled after Chessman.

He was executed in California's [[gas chamber]] in 1960.