~Leonard Peltier is an American Indian activist who has been incarcerated over two decades for a crime he did NOT commit. On June 26,1975, Peltier was one of the 30 or so men,women and children camped on the property of Cecelia and Harry Jumping Bull. Peltier was a member of A.I.M.(American Indian Movement) who were called onto the reservation by the traditional people to protect them from the violence and terrorism perpetrated upon them by tribal chairman Dick Wilson and his GOON squad (Guardians of the Oglala Nation) during a time of civil unrest.
............................................................................................................... ~On that tragic summer morning, June 26,1975, a covert buildup of FBI and other law enforcement agents began. By early afternoon, according to radio communications of the state police, recently released by the South Dakota Attorney General's Office, FBI agents were already hiding within the Jumping Bull property. Agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams were also in the area, ostensibly attempting to arrest a young man who had stolen a used pair of cowboy boots. They had no warrant. Government prosecutors insist that the agents were alone, traveling in separate vehicles and pursuing a red pickup truck. Today we know this scenario to be untrue. Today we know the agents were observing activity in the area and that there was backup nearby. When the agents pursued the red pickup for a short distance the pickup stopped and the men got out. To this day no one knows for sure who fired the first shot but a firefight erupted and when it was over two FBI agents and a young Indian man were dead. Within hours of the first shot being fired, according to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, hundreds of paramilitary- equipped, combat clad FBI Agents, and U.S. Marshals staged a dragnet through the reservation in a fever of revenge in which men, women and children were terrified and properties and houses were ransacked.
............................................................................................................... ~Some months later, four men were indicted for the murders of the agents. The charges against Jimmy Eagle were dropped. Dino Butler and Bob Robideau were tried in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. The jury realized that there was a civil war going on at that time and that the climate of fear was intense. Meanwhile, on advice of his elders, Leonard Peltier fled to Canada fearing that his life was in danger. A few months later he was captured and was then extradited from Canada on contradictory false statements by a woman whom he had never met, who claimed she was his girlfriend and had witnessed him shooting the agents. Today both the Canadian and American government admit the statements were false. The government prosecutor has called her a "fruitcake"
............................................................................................................... ~After the loss of the Iowa trial, the government decided to go all out to get Leonard Peltier. First, they shifted the jurisdiction from Iowa to Fargo, ND and Judge Paul Benson (a Nixon appointee) became the new judge. The FBI and federal prosecutors denied defense requests for evidence such as ballistics reports, and other reports which would have aided Leonard's defense. JudgeBenson denied the defense the right to present to the jury testimony about FBI misconduct around the case. Despite only circumstantial evidence against Leonard, he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
............................................................................................................... ~In December 1977, oral arguments on Peltier's first appeal were held. The U.S. 8th Ciruit Court of Appeals affirmed Peltier's conviction in September of 1978, despite finding disturbing evidence of coercion of witnesses and fabrication of evidence, including FBI perjury and the manufacture of evidence which caused Judge Ross to criticize the government harshly. In April of 1978, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered an Evidentiary Hearing concerning the previously withheld evidence, including the October 2,1977, teletype (ballistics report). Despite all this the Supreme Court refused to review Peltier's case. Through the Freedom of Information Act, Leonard's defense was able to obtain 12,000 pages of FBI files on his case. (Six thousand [6,000] pages of FBI files are still being withheld to this day on the grounds of "national security.") These files contradicted or threw into question every point of "evidence" against Leonard at his trial. In April 1984, the Appeals Court ordered the trial judge to hold an "evidentiary hearing" on the meaning of a teletype from the FBI office in Washington, D.C. to the field office in South Dakota, which stated that the gun attributed to Leonard could NOT have fired the bullet which was used in Leonard's trial to link him to the "murders." At the hearing in October 1984, the ballistics expert was caught giving perjured testimony. Judge Benson, in his decision, stated that since the agent came back and changed his testimony, he only added to his reliability.
............................................................................................................... ~During the second appeal in 1985, government prosecutor Crooks stated in open court, "we do not know who killed our agents, we simply don't." On October 11,1986, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of appeals stated, "we recognize improper conduct on the part of some FBI agents, but we are reluctant to impute even further improprieties to them." The court stated that had the prosecution not wrongfully withheld evidence from the defense, the outcome might have been different. They further found that both trial judge and jury believed the government's sole argument was that Peltier personally killed the two agents, and that the trial and sentence would have been "far different" had the government presented its case as aiding and abetting, which it had NOT done. Added to this was a mistake made by Leonard's own lawyer with regard to Norman Brown's testimony who during the grand jury investigation placed Peltier down at the agents cars and later recanted this testimony at the trial. Had Peltier's lawyer realized that Brown had never testified against Peltier, it could have tipped the scales to have his conviction overturned. Despite all this, the appeal was denied.
............................................................................................................... ~In April 1991, U.S. Court of Appeals Senior Judge Gerald Heaney, who wrote the 1986 denial sent a letter to Senator Inouye, asking for it to be forwarded to the President in support of a commutation of Peltier's sentence due to the improprieties evident throughout the case.
............................................................................................................... ~In July 1993, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals denied another appeal, stated in essence, that it does not want to consider the "reign of terror," illegal extradition, mental torture, and coercion of witnesses, perjury by the FBI, withholding of exculpatory evidence, fabrication of the murder weapon, and concession of the government because the charges were not brought out in a timely fashion.
............................................................................................................... ~A parole hearing was held in December 1995. During this hearing the government prosecutor Lynn Crooks again reiterated the fact that no direct evidence exists against Peltier. He added the government did NOT have evidence to "reconvict" if the case were to be tried again. Leonard's parole was denied in March of 1996. The Parole Commission stated that Peltier "had not given a specific account of his actions...consistent with the jury's verdict of guilt." How can an innocent person satisfy such a ridiculous qualification for parole?
............................................................................................................... ~On November 19,1993, a petition for Executive Clemency was filed. Five years later it is still "pending."
