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<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5 color="#FF9966">LEGAL
UPDATE<br><br>
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<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4>Judge rejects plea to release
FBI text sought in bid for new trial in slayings <br>
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<dd>THE BUFFALO NEWS<br>
<dd>By MARK SOMMER <br>
<dd>News Staff Reporter<br>
<dd>05 Apr 2005<br>
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<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4>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. <br><br>
<dd>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. <br><br>
<dd>A version with parts blacked out had been released last year.
<br><br>
<dd>Peltier's attorneys contend the message suggests that a New York FBI
informant might have been trying to infiltrate Peltier's defense team.
<br><br>
<dd>Michael Kuzma, a Buffalo lawyer & member of Peltier's defense
team, expressed frustration at the ruling. <br><br>
<dd>"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." <br><br>
<dd>COINTELPRO had included widespread surveillance of anti-war activists
& others protesting government policies. <br><br>
<dd>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. <br><br>
<dd>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." <br><br>
<dd>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. <br><br>
<dd>Skretny deferred a final decision on releasing seven of the 15
requested pages; all had been withheld on national security grounds.
<br><br>
<dd>The attorney said he would appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York City. <br><br>
<dd>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.<br><br>
<dd>Copyright 1999 - 2004 - The Buffalo News<br><br>
<dd><a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050405/1066777.asp">
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050405/1066777.asp</a><br><br>
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<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>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.<br><br>
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. Scroll to the bottom of the home page,<br>
enter your name & e-mail address in the mailing list text box, &
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