[News] Supreme Court Rejects Indian Activist Peltier's Appeal

Mon Apr 19 16:56:51 EDT 2004

PO Box 583

Lawrence, KS 66044

www.leonardpeltier.org

info at leonardpeltier.org

785-842-5774; 785-842-5796

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

Peltier Attorney Respond to the US Supreme Court Denial of Appeal

      In yet another outrageous decision by the courts, the U.S. Supreme
Court refused to grant certiorari to review the 10th Circuit’s denial of
Leonard’s request to be considered for parole.  The U.S. Supreme court
did so in the face of the 10th Circuit's recognition that the government
indisputably engaged in misconduct in the prosecution of Leonard.  This
is another pitiful failure of our justice system to correct undisputed
government wrongs.  Despite the supposed checks and balances ingrained
in the constitution, it is clear that there are no checks and balances
and this is nothing more than a concerted effort between the Courts,
Congress, and the Executive Branch to trample on American Indian rights
and to hide the outrageous misconduct of governmental agencies.

      If in fact, I am wrong in this opinion, then Congress will
immediately conduct an investigation into the FBI’s misconduct at Pine
Ridge and in Leonard’s case, as we have recently requested of Congress.
It is once again time to make our voices heard loudly and demand that
our government accounts for its misdeeds; anything less means that we
will all be subject to the Kafkaesque treatment suffered by Leonard.

~Barry Bachrach, Esq

 >From The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee:  We will not let Leonard’s
issues go away and further commentaries and strategies will be released
within the next few days.

April 19, 2004

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse

_________________________________________

Supreme Court Rejects Indian Activist Peltier's Appeal

Mon Apr 19, 2004 10:10 AM ET

<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4866337&s
ection=news>
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4866337§io
n=news

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected

on Monday an appeal seeking parole for American Indian

activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted for the 1975

killings of two FBI agents.

Without any comment, the justices let stand a U.S.

appeals court ruling that denied Peltier's bid for a parole

hearing and for release from prison.

Peltier, whose case has received international

attention, has been in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas,

serving two consecutive life sentences for the slayings of

the agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South

Dakota.

FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams got into a

firefight with Indians when they went to the reservation to

arrest four people charged with armed robbery. The

agents were wounded from a distance, became incapacitated and

were killed by shots fired at point-blank range.

At issue was a U.S. Parole Commission decision that

Peltier was ineligible for parole until Dec. 31, 2008,

because he ambushed the agents before executing them. A U.S.

appeals court in Denver last year upheld the

commission's decision.

Peltier's lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court.

They said the appeals court "erroneously" affirmed the

commission decision and claimed government misconduct

during prosecution of the case because of withholding of

evidence and coercing witnesses to testify falsely.

Because of the commission decision, Peltier will have to

serve at least double the sentence he would have

received under federal guidelines, his lawyers said. They said

he should have been eligible for parole after more than

16 years in prison.

"For over 28 years, Mr. Peltier has suffered indignity

and injustice," Attorney Carl Nadler wrote in asking the

high court to hear the appeal.

"It truly is a sad commentary upon our judicial system

and our government that a man must suffer 28 years in

prison because 'someone' must pay for a crime that the

government could not prove he committed," Nadler said.

Four people were charged in the slayings. Two were

acquitted and the government dropped its case against a

third. Peltier escaped to Canada and was later extradited,

tried, convicted and sentenced.

Peltier has unsuccessfully brought a number of appeals

challenging his conviction and sentence.

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