[Pnews] Mondo we Langa seeks post-conviction appeal for new trial in COINTELPRO case

[Prisoner News]

  Mondo we Langa seeks post-conviction appeal for new trial in
  COINTELPRO case


Michael Richardson
*http://www.examiner.com/article/mondo-we-langa-seeks-post-conviction-appeal-for-new-trial-cointelpro-case*

March 12, 2014

Mondo we Langa 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/prison-interview-with-mondo-we-langa-on-cointelpro-and-omaha-two-case> 
(formerly David Rice) filed an appeal with the Nebraska Appellate Court 
over his petition for post-conviction relief under a ruling by the U. S. 
Supreme Court, /Martinez v. Ryan/, permitting the procedure over four 
decades after trial. Mondo has been imprisoned since August 1970 when he 
was charged with the bombing murder of Patrolman Larry Minard, Sr 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/omaha-patrolman-larry-minard-killed-ambush-bombing-after-911-call>. 
Officer Minard died August 17, 1970, responding to a 911 call about a 
woman screaming in a vacant house.

Mondo we Langa and Edward Poindexter 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/prison-interview-with-ed-poindexter-on-cointelpro-and-the-omaha-police> 
were the leaders of Omaha's Black Panther affiliate chapter and the 
targets of J. Edgar Hoover 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/j-edgar-hoover-signed-off-on-secret-cointelpro-plan-to-guide-omaha-police> 
and the agents of the Omaha FBI office lead by Special Agent-in-Charge 
Paul Young. Young, under orders from Hoover, long-time director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, manipulated the prosecution of the two 
Panther leaders and withheld a laboratory report from the FBI Crime 
Laboratory on the identity of the 911 caller. Mondo states that the 
recording of the 911 call should not have been withheld from him and the 
jury should have listened to the voice of the anonymous caller luring 
the police into a deadly trap. Mondo's petition for a new trial is 
filled with a litany of errors and problems with the prosecution of the 
two men known as the Omaha Two <http://www.examiner.com/topic/omaha-two-1>.

Mondo's petition, which the appeal concerns, cites a long-standing 
problem of ineffective counsel during the cross-examination of Duane 
Peak, the confessed teenaged bomber over inconsistent statements. Peak 
gave two conflicting accounts, both under oath, over the triggering of 
the bomb and the involvement of Mondo in the crime. Peak gave two 
different versions of removing fingerprint evidence, gloves or cleaning. 
Peak had two stories about the 911 call, one of which conflicts with the 
recording itself.

The petition states that trial counsel, David Herzog, failed to examine 
conflicting trial testimony 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/retired-detective-contradicts-his-own-trial-testimony-omaha-two-case>, 
between detective Jack Swanson 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/detective-jack-swanson-claimed-to-find-dynamite-black-panther-house> 
and detective Robert Pfeffer, over the location of the dynamite 
allegedly seized from Mondo's basement. Swanson said the dynamite was in 
plain sight in a coal bin while Pfeffer claimed the explosive was hidden 
under a wooden door. Further, Swanson testified that he found the 
dynamite and that Robert Pfeffer was there with him. Pfeffer, however 
testified he was never in the basement.

Duane Peak's contradictory testimony about the involvement of Mondo in 
the crime during the preliminary hearing is cited along with Peak's 
inconsistent statements to police.

The failure of trial counsel to effectively challenge Alcohol, Tobacco 
and Firearms Division chemists Kenneth Snow and Roland Wilder despite 
their speculative testimony not supported by reliable scientific basis. 
Concurrently, Snow was not rebutted over his findings about copper wire 
found on Mondo's pliers which had a wide variety of sources. Nor was the 
ATF neutron activation testing method of the dynamite challenged despite 
the test being a poor testing method to compare samples.

Mondo cited five individuals named in police reports that the trial 
lawyer failed to call to testify at trial; George McCline, Patrick 
Jones, Anthony Sanders, and Richard Gibson. All five men are listed in 
police reports as having information about the dynamite used in the bombing.

A sleeping juror that defense attorney Herzog did not object to was 
raised by Mondo in the petition. Ed Poindexter says the sleeping juror 
is actually illustrated in a relaxed posture in an /Omaha World-Herald/ 
sketch of the jury that was published in the newspaper.

Mondo complained that trial counsel did not identify Johnnie L. Bussby 
or raise the issue of Bussby's social security card found at the crime 
scene.

Mondo points out that Robert Cecil tested positive for dynamite 
particles on his clothing yet was released, a matter never raised by 
Mondo's lawyer. The ATF search July 20, 1970 search warrant for National 
Committee to Combat Fascism headquarters should have been explored by 
defense counsel for possible relevance to the crime.

Jack Swanson's bust on July 28, 1970, of Luther Payne, Lamont Mitchell, 
and Conroy Gray for dynamite possession should have been raised before 
the jury. The petition notes, "Although arrested, and originally 
charged, the case against these individuals was ultimately dismissed 
following the conviction of Mondo and Poindexter in this case."

Mondo stated that his trial lawyer should have explored Duane Peak's 
testing for dynamite: "Peak's clothes and hand swabs were never entered 
into evidence at trial; defendant's trial counsel failed to investigate 
or even ask the chemist testifying at trial whether these articles 
tested positive for dynamite."

The frequent harassment of NCCF members, including Mondo, by the Omaha 
Police Department should have been brought to the jury's attention said 
Mondo's petition.

A declaration by Marvin McClarty, an Omaha policeman who participated 
during the investigation and was guarding the outside of Mondo's house, 
cited that the search was irregular. McClarty has said an effort was 
made to keep the public and other police officers at the scene from 
observing the search activity. To McClarty it seemed as though items 
were being carried into the house rather than out.

Mondo said his attorney should have explored Jack Swanson's early focus 
on the NCCF despite no evidence linking the group to the bombing. Mondo 
also cites COINTELPRO 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/crimes-of-cointelpro-heard-at-northeastern-law-school-seminar> 
targeting of Poindexter and himself.

"Dozens of FBI counter intelligence program (COINTELPRO 
<http://www.examiner.com/topic/cointelpro>) memos and reports targeting 
various NCCF members, including defendant, and several which illustrated 
Mondo and Poindexter was targeted by reason of their political beliefs."

Mondo's trial and appellate attorneys failed to preserve an objection to 
the "unified" trial which required the jury to simultaneously determine 
guilt or innocence and also make the determination as to execution. The 
prosecutors were seeking the execution of both Ed Poindexter and Mondo 
we Langa.

"In the guilt phase of the trial, Mondo had to defend his innocence, 
while he simultaneously argued for a life sentence. He had to forgo the 
benefits of presumption of innocence by arguing for life imprisonment. 
This gave the jury the wrong impression that because Mondo argued for a 
life sentence, he was admitting some level of guilt. Mondo was forced to 
present a defense to the jury that consisted of the conflicting 
objectives of proving his innocence and requesting a life sentence, all 
contrary to the requirements of a fair trial."

Mondo appealed to the court over newly discovered technological evidence 
and the ability to scientifically analyze the 911 caller's voice against 
that of Duane Peak equating the new forensic tools the equal of DNA 
analysis. Mondo cited the findings of internationally recognized 
forensic audiologist Tom Owen who said it was "highly probable" that 
Duane Peak did not make the 911 as Peak testified.

Mondo also asked for retesting of his clothing. Police claim dynamite 
particles were found in Mondo's pants pockets yet an /Omaha 
World-Herald/ photo of Mondo 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/omaha-world-herald-photo-disproves-police-account-omaha-two-cointelpro-case>, 
hands deep in pockets, taken moments before Mondo's hands tested 
negative for dynamite calls into question what, and when, did the 
alleged dynamite particles get into the pants.

The petition for a new trial closes with a detailed analysis of the 
flaws of the Board of Pardons and the conflicted role of the Attorney 
General who serves as both member of the Board of Pardons and attorney 
for the three member board.

In 1993, the Board of Parole voted 5-0 to commute Mondo's sentence to a 
fixed number of years and thus obtain eligibility for parole. The 
unanimous Board of Parole was overruled by the Board of Pardons made up 
of the top three elected officials in the state. Attorney General Don 
Stenberg stated to the Board of Pardons that people who kill police 
officers should receive the death penalty or die in prison. Governor Ben 
Nelson acknowledged to the Board of Pardons that he was unlikely to 
grant Mondo a parole opportunity because of the nature of the crime.

"The practice of requiring a commutation by the board of pardons 
unconstitutionally usurps the power of the parole board," concludes the 
petition.

Mondo's appeal is in the briefing stage and so he must continue to wait 
for a day in court from his small cell at the Nebraska State 
Penitentiary where he continues to proclaim his innocence.

*For further information read U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/federal-judge-says-supreme-court-got-it-wrong-on-black-panther-mondo-we-langa>*

(Barbara Head contributed to this report)

/Permission granted to reprint/

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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