[Ppnews] Former Black Activist to be extradited from Canada

[Political Prisoner News]

FYI tonnes of info on the case and on ways to help and support can be found
at www.freemandrum.org, this is the site set up by Gary's family.


Canadian Press: Alleged Black Panther to be extradited

by Colin Perkel
Friday, November 25, 2005

TORONTO -- A man accused of being a militant Black Panther who shot and
paralyzed a Chicago police officer more than 35 years ago was ordered
extradited on Friday but won't be facing American justice anytime soon.

An Ontario judge ruled that Joseph Pannell, a married father of four who has
lived in the Toronto area for more than two decades, must return to the
United States to face charges of attempted murder for the 1969 
shooting of police
officer Terrence Knox.

After the ruling, Pannell's wife and four children stood in protest outside
the U.S. Consulate located across the street from the downtown courthouse.

"We all have bleeding hearts right now, but this is not over," said
Pannell's wife, Natercia Coelho.

"He came here because he feared for his life. What happened to him was wrong
in '69, and what happened today is wrong."

Pannell, a former Toronto library worker, spent more than two decades living
quietly in the west-end suburb of Mississauga under the name Gary Freeman.

He was arrested in July 2004 after the U.S. Department of Justice and the
FBI asked Canadian authorities to search for matches to his fingerprints.

Ontario Superior Court Justice David Watt ruled that Pannell's case met the
test for extradition because there was sufficient evidence to have committed
him to trial had Pannell faced the charges in Canada.

However, it is federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler who must now decide,
based on all the facts of the case, whether to turn him over to the Americans.

"Fight this surrender to the end," lawyer Julian Falconer said Pannell told
his defence team.

Pannell's lawyers now plan to make submissions to the minister, and it will
likely be at least six months before a decision, which can also be
challenged in the Ontario Court of Appeal, is rendered.

Pannell also said he plans to take Watt's ruling to the appeals court based
on the judge's decision to disallow cross-examination of the U.S. prosecutor
who provided a summary of the evidence against him.

"The ruling speaks to the inherent frailties in the system we have for
extradition," Falconer said.

"The question is why a Canadian court is left in the position where our own
system gives us almost no right or opportunity to assess the reliability of
the information by which we're extraditing him."

Pannell, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, has never denied shooting
Knox, who was then 21, but said it happened in self-defence after the police
officer attacked him.

"African-American males in the city of Chicago were under siege by police,"
Falconer said of the political conditions at the time.

Pannell's lawyers argue there are major inconsistencies in Knox's version of
what happened March 7, 1969. They also say much of the evidence has long
been destroyed, and Pannell could not get a fair trial in the U.S.

Canadian Press 2005



<http://www.ctv.ca/newsletter>http://www.ctv.ca/newsletter

The Web  CTV.ca
|

<http://www.ctv.ca>
CTV.ca



[]
  Sat. Nov. 26 2005 7:52 AM ET

Canadian


A Toronto judge has ordered Joseph Pannell be extradited to the


A Toronto judge has ordered Joseph Pannell be extradited to the United States.
Mace Freeman, Pannell's son, speaks with CTV News outside the c


Mace Freeman, Pannell's son, speaks with CTV News outside the 
courthouse on Friday.
Nathericia Coehlo, Pannell's wife, reveals her thoughts on the


Nathericia Coehlo, Pannell's wife, reveals her thoughts on the 
situation Friday to CTV News outside the University courthouse.


Man who allegedly shot U.S. cop to be extradited

CTV.ca News Staff

A Toronto judge ruled Friday that a man should be extradited to the 
U.S. to face attempted murder charges for a 35-year-old shooting.

Reputed former Black Panther Joseph Pannell is alleged to have shot 
and paralyzed Chicago police officer Terrance Knox.

He's been wanted in the U.S. since skipping bail on two occasions, 
the first time in 1971 and the second in 1973, when he fled to Canada.

Pannell, who went by the name Gary Freeman, had worked as a 
researcher with the Toronto Public Library for 13 years and had lived 
in Mississauga, for more than two decades.

After the ruling, his wife and four children held a protest outside 
the U.S. Consultate, directly across from the court house.

"We all have bleeding hearts right now, but this is not over," said 
Pannell's wife Natercia Coelho.

"He came here because he feared for his life. What happened to him 
was wrong in '69, and what happened today is wrong.

"One thing that you learn, we will not surrender."

Pannell's wife and four children had hoped the court would not allow 
the extradition.

They plan to file an appeal of the court decision.

When the shooting occurred in 1969, Knox was patrolling high school 
grounds in the Kensington District of Chicago. The officer stopped a 
19-year-old on the street to ask him why he wasn't in school.

Pannell allegedly pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired 13 times. Three 
shots struck Knox, severing an artery in his arm and leaving him 
partially paralyzed.

In the summer of 2004 American authorities started to catch-up with 
the suspected former Black Panther.

Investigators sent Pannell's fingerprints to Canada. After a check, 
authorities north of the border found a match. It came from a 1983 
customs violation where Pannell failed to declare a camera he bought 
during a trip to the U.S.

It has not been proven that Pannell was a member of the militant 
black rights group.



The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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