Chuck Berry’s second trial for taking a minor across state lines for immoral purposes started in 1961.
The so-called “Apache trial” was over Berry’s relationship with Janice Escalante, an American Indian with roots in the Apache tribe. The two met at a bar near El Paso, Texas, in the late 1950s, and Escalante, who claimed to be 21, joined Berry and his traveling rock show on the road.
But soon after, the two had a falling-out and Escalante, who was actually a minor, went to the authorities.
During the first trial, Berry was convicted, but the ruling was later thrown out on appeal. However, the second trial’s conviction stuck and Berry was sentenced to three years in prison.
While in jail, first in Leavenworth Federal Prison, and later in a Missouri jail, Berry wrote the songs “No Particular Place to Go” and “You Never Can Tell.” He was released in 1963.
