William A. Berry

William A. Berry (born William Aylor Berry; December 28, 1915 – June 16, 2004) was a Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court from 1958 to 1978. During World War II, Berry survived 33 months as a prisoner of war in Japan. While serving on the supreme court, he revealed corruption that became a major political scandal. Biography Berry was born in Ripley, Oklahoma, to Thomas Nelson Berry and Harrriet Virginia (née Patton) Berry, as a young man, he graduated from the Missouri Military Academy in 1930, and earned degrees from Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma School of Law. He was County Attorney for Payne County, but after the U. S. became involved in WWII, he joined the U. S. Naval Intelligence Service with the rank of Ensign. Stationed in Manila, he was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and incarcerated as a prisoner of war. He escaped from confinement once, but was recaptured, tried and given a sentence of death. However, the sentence was never carried out. He was liberated from Bilibid Prison by American forces during the liberation of the Philippines in 1945. Post-war career He ended his military service with the rank of lieutenant commander and had earned the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, two Presidential Unit Citations and two Battle Stars, including a Philippine Defense Citation. Returning to civilian life, he moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he began a private law practice in 1947, and became Assistant District Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. He resigned that post in 1950 to run for a seat in the legislature, a race that he lost. Moving to Oklahoma City, he ran for County Judge, Division 2, a newly created opening. Assigned to handle all juvenile cases coming before the County Court, he was in a position to persuade officialdom and voters that the county needed a juvenile detention facility. The facility was approved, funded, and opened in 1959. It was subsequently named "Berry House." 1964 supreme court scandal A scandal affecting the Oklahoma Supreme Court erupted into public view on April 8, 1964, when a Federal Grand Jury indicted Justice Earl Welch and semi-retired Justice N. S. Corn on charges of income tax evasion. Welch allegedly evaded $13,364 in income taxes for 1957 through 1961, and Corn allegedly evaded $11,063 in 1957 through 1959. Corn did not contest the charge and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was fined $11,250. The U.S.