[Ppnews] Leonard Peltier Legal Update

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LEGAL UPDATE


Judge rejects plea to release FBI text sought in bid for new trial in slayings
THE BUFFALO NEWS
By MARK SOMMER
News Staff Reporter
05 Apr 2005
[]


Lawyers have failed to persuade a federal judge in Buffalo to release a key 
document that they argue could lead to a new trial for Leonard Peltier, now 
serving consecutive life sentences for the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI 
agents in South Dakota.

Citing legal provisions that protect identities of FBI personnel 
&  confidential sources, U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny has refused 
to provide the full text of a 1975 Teletype message from the FBI's Buffalo 
office to then-FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley.

A version with parts blacked out had been released last year.

Peltier's attorneys contend the message suggests that a New York FBI 
informant might have been trying to infiltrate Peltier's defense team.

Michael Kuzma, a Buffalo lawyer & member of Peltier's defense team, 
expressed frustration at the ruling.

"The judge didn't deal with my arguments about COINTELPRO & the FBI's war 
on the American Indian Movement," Kuzma said, referring to a domestic 
intelligence-gathering program launched in the late 1960s. "He sidestepped 
that issue, & it's key because (Freedom of Information Act) exemptions 
cannot be used to shield illegal or unauthorized investigative tactics."

COINTELPRO had included widespread surveillance of anti-war activists 
&  others protesting government policies.

Supporters have long considered Peltier a "political prisoner" & contend, 
with some validation in later court rulings, that withheld evidence & 
coerced testimony had marred his trial.

In 1976, Kelley testified that the FBI may have used informants against the 
American Indian Movement, whose members included Peltier, & that the 
organization had been on the bureau's list of "domestic terrorists."

Over the years, the FBI, which considers Peltier a cold-blooded killer, has 
fought release of its files on Peltier & spoken out against possible clemency.

Skretny deferred a final decision on releasing seven of the 15 requested 
pages; all had been withheld on national security grounds.

The attorney said he would appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals 
for the 2nd Circuit in New York City.

Peltier, a native of Grand Forks, N.D., has spent half of his 60 years 
behind bars in maximum-security prisons, most recently in Leavenworth 
Federal Penitentiary in Kansas.

Copyright 1999 - 2004 - The Buffalo News

<http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050405/1066777.asp>http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050405/1066777.asp

Reproduction of this material constitutes a 'fair use' of copyrighted 
material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law.  In 
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed 
without profit for research &  educational purposes.


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