Davis and seven other defendants were charged with inciting a riot and conspiracy. Originally the Chicago Eight, they became the Chicago Seven when Black Panther leader Bobby Seale had his trial severed from the others.
The Chicago Seven trial was memorialized in the Aaron Sorkin film The Trial of the Chicago 7, which captured the political theater at the trial by Davis and the others. All seven defendants were acquitted of conspiracy, but Davis and four others were convicted of inciting to riot and sentence to five years in prison. That verdict was overturned on appeal.
