[Ppnews] Omaha Two story: (Part 27) - Closing arguments in Omaha Two trial

[Political Prisoner News]

<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/closing-arguments-larry-minard-case-put-american-system-of-justice-on-trial>http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/closing-arguments-larry-minard-case-put-american-system-of-justice-on-trial


Closing arguments in Larry Minard case put American system of justice on trial

    * By <http://www.examiner.com/user-richardsonreports>Michael 
Richardson, COINTELPRO Examiner
    * April 14th, 2011 10:42 am ET
The Omaha Two story:  April 14, 1971

Closing arguments in the capital murder trial of 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/prison-interview-with-ed-poindexter-on-cointelpro-and-the-omaha-police>Edward 
Poindexter and 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/prison-interview-with-mondo-we-langa-on-cointelpro-and-omaha-two-case>Mondo 
we Langa, then David Rice, were heard by the Douglas County 
nine-women, three-man jury 40 years ago. The two Black Panther 
leaders were being tried for the August 17, 1970 bomb murder of Omaha 
police officer 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/omaha-patrolman-larry-minard-killed-ambush-bombing-after-911-call>Larry 
Minard, Sr.  Closing arguments followed 14 defense witnesses 
including  the two defendants.

Public Defender Frank Morrison's closing argument has been lost to 
time.  Inexplicably, the transcript of Morrison's final words to the 
jury is missing from the court record.  By several accounts it may 
have been Morrison's finest speech.  News reports on the trial in the 
Omaha World-Herald gave a sense of the argument.

The former three-time Nebraska governor was new to his job as Public 
Defender and not current on criminal law practice.  Morrison failed 
to secure expert witness testimony on the scientific evidence, did 
not pursue the missing 911 recording of the killer's voice, and did 
not adequately cross-examine 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/witnesses-put-duane-peak-at-scene-of-1970-bombing-omaha-two-case>Duane 
Peak, the confessed bomber.

However, Morrison gave it his all with an impassioned oration worthy 
of any of his many political stump speeches.  Morrison did not 
know  about 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/j-edgar-hoover-directs-cointelpro-plot-against-omaha-chapter-of-black-panthers>COINTELPRO, 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/fbi-s-director-hoover-let-killer-of-omaha-policeman-get-away-with-murder-40-years-ago>J. 
Edgar Hoover's clandestine war on the Black Panthers, or the 
withholding of a Federal Bureau of Investigation lab report on the 
identity of Minard's killer, which adds an element of irony to 
Morrison's closing argument and makes it still relevant.

Morrison told the jury this case was the most important assignment of 
his lifetime.

Presaging the political counter-intelligence measure of withheld 
evidence, Morrison seemed to sense the political undertone of the 
case.  Morrison said the articles in the newsletters of the National 
Committee to Combat Fascism, edited by Mondo we Langa, reminded him 
of "things that came from Paul Revere, Patrick Henry and John Hancock."

His voice shaking with emotion, Morrison said that for the first time 
in his life he had seen the state "try to convict basically on the 
testimony of one witness."

Morrison declared, "That witness is an admitted perjurer."  Morrison 
described Duane Peak as "this fanciful young man who can spin yarns 
with unbelievable felicity."

Morrison told the jury that Duane Peak had a mind "so paranoid and 
demented that when this tragedy happened, he spent a day laughing about it."

Morrison said the jury should consider what "motivated" 
Peak.  Morrison said it was because a "white policeman shot and 
killed 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/omaha-police-officer-kills-14-year-old-vivian-strong-triggering-race-riot-1>Vivian 
Strong" and that Peak had had his own encounters with white police 
that filled him with hate.

Vivian Strong was the same age as Duane Peak and had been killed by 
an Omaha police officer the previous summer. Vivian's death triggered 
several nights of rioting in Omaha.

Morrison mentioned his friendship with five presidents, explained his 
views on justice, alluded to the history of slavery, quoted the Bible 
and the Gettysburg Address in pleading for the jury to acquit Ed Poindexter.

"The quality of mercy is not strained, It dropped as the gentle rain 
from heaven upon the place beneath," Morrison said, quoting a passage 
from Shakespeare.

Morrison said it was this nation's "system of justice" that is on 
trial in Omaha and not just Mondo we Langa and Ed Poindexter.

Morrison placed a large scale on the rail in front of the jury 
box.  As Morrison discussed the case he dropped a small weight on one 
of the two trays.  When the argument was finished, the scale tipped 
sharply in Poindexter's favor.

Prosecutor Sam W. Cooper said the trial was not about slavery, 
presidential acquaintances or the history of the past 200 years 
trying to play down Morrison's eloquent oration.

"We're talking about three men accused of premeditated and deliberate 
murder." Cooper said, "Whatever the shortcomings of the nation's 
judicial system it is a far better system of justice than the one 
that executed Larry Minard on the 17th of August."

County Attorney Donald Knowles denied an inference Morrison made that 
a white man would not have been tried on the same evidence used to 
bring Poindexter and Mondo to trial.

Knowles said that when defense attorneys have no case they "try 
somebody else." Knowles said,  "I've been tried in this courtroom, 
more than anybody.  When you have no defense, you try the County Attorney."

Years later Morrison would write a public letter about the Omaha Two 
trial:  "As a citizen, a former prosecutor, and Governor of this 
state, I abhor, detest and condemn the cowardly, cruel and 
unjustified murder of officer Minard.  My heart aches for his family. 
The guilty parties should pay the penalty.  The self-confessed 
murderer was turned loose after a slap on the wrist."

Morrison continued his letter:  "I now believe and always have 
believed that the true role of law enforcement is truth.  Real 
justice can only be built on truth.  I hope the Congress and other 
policy makers will establish this policy.  I feel both I and the 
system failed Ed Poindexter."

The jury received the case at 3:50 p.m. Wednesday and deliberated 
until 11 p.m. taking two hours out for supper.  Deputy sheriffs 
escorted the jury to the nearby Hilton Hotel for the night.

The jury would spend the next two days deliberating the case.

To view all of the Omaha Two story articles click 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/omaha-police-officer-kills-14-year-old-vivian-strong-triggering-race-riot-1>HERE

Permission granted to reprint

Michael Richardson
COINTELPRO Examiner
Examiner.com



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