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</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5><b>OpEdNews<br><br>
</b></font><font face="Verdana" size=2>Original Content at
<a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_michael__080124_nebraska_supreme_cou.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_michael__080124_nebraska_supreme_cou.htm<br>
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<b>January 24, 2008<br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=4>Nebraska Supreme Court to review 1971
COINTELPRO case against Black Panthers<br><br>
</b></font><font face="Verdana" size=2><i>By Michael Richardson<br><br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>The Nebraska
Supreme Court will hear the appeal of Ed Poindexter of his 1971
conviction for the bombing murder of Omaha Policeman Larry Minard.
Poindexter was the head of Omaha's Black Panther chapter, the National
Committee to Combat Fascism, when he was arrested shortly after the
August 1970 murder of Minard. </font><font face="Verdana" size=2>
<br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Poindexter and his
co-defendant, Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice), who both maintain
their innocence, were convicted largely on the brokered testimony of 15
year-old Duane Peak, the confessed bomber, and dynamite allegedly found
in Langa's basement. Peak implicated Poindexter and Langa in
exchange for a lenient sentence as a juvenile instead of facing the
electric chair.<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>The state high court
will examine two key points that emerged from testimony in May 2007 in
the courtroom of Douglas County District Court Judge Russell Bowie.
Contradictory police testimony about the dynamite and expert witness
testimony that Peak did not make the emergency call that lured Minard to
his death have opened a huge breach in the prosecution case against the
two Panther leaders.<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Unknown to the public
at the time was the clandestine and illegal COINTELPRO operation that
Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover had ordered into
operation against the Black Panthers. Both Poindexter and Langa had
been under surveillance since a 1968 visit to Omaha by national Panther
Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver. Langa, then Rice, had
managed to get the attention of federal authorities as well as local
police, evidenced in a letter from a Nebraska district U.S. Attorney to
Representative William Scherle on the U.S. House Committee on Internal
Security calling Langa, "this American rat."<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>"Dear Congressman
Scherle: I bless you for your activities in turning the cold light
of dawn upon those who would destroy our Country's development….Such a
man is David L. Rice, who can be most easily identified by the enclosed
clipping out of the Sun Newspapers of Omaha, Nebraska, where this bum
operates. As you notice he sneers at the Constitution and its
provisions, but saw it to take the Fifth Amendment when called before a
Federal Grand Jury inquiring into the installation of a school designed
to train young Blacks to bomb, kill and take over the Country."<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Federal COINTELPRO
agents worked the Minard case with Omaha Police and helped cover-up the
fact that Peak's voice did not sound like that on the tape of the
emergency call. The tape was not submitted to the defense attorneys
and was not part of the trial. The recording disappeared until
years later a copy, made by the dispatcher, emerged.<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Langa raised the issue
of the voice on the tape in a 1983 appeal to the Nebraska Supreme
Court. At that time, the Court noted there had been no "expert
in voice analysis" examination of the tape and thus, "there is
insufficient evidence to support the claim that Duane Peak did not make
the call." However, in May 2007 Judge Bowie did hear expert
witness testimony about the voice on the tape. Voice analyst Tom
Owen testified that in his opinion the voice was not that of Peak thus
undermining the credibility of the state's chief witness.<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Judge Bowie sidestepped
the tape issue leaving the matter for the Supreme Court to grapple with
again. "Mr. Poindexter has not shown that Mr. Owen's opinion
would most likely produce an acquittal in a new trial. This is not
a case where the guilt or innocence of the defendant hinges on whether a
jury believed that Mr. Peak made the 911 call. That is but one part
of the evidence against the defendant."<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>One other part of the
evidence that convicted Poindexter and Langa was the police testimony
about finding dynamite in Langa's basement. At the trial, Sgt. Jack
Swanson testified he found the dynamite in a box in the coal bin of the
basement. Detective Robert Pheffer backed up Swanson testifying he
first saw the explosives when Swanson carried them up from the
basement.<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>However, in May of last
year before Judge Bowie, Pheffer changed his story and forcefully claimed
he found the dynamite, not Swanson, contradicting his own sworn testimony
from 1971. He also alleged he found bomb-making supplies in the
house that were never previously introduced and are not on the police
search inventory of Langa's house.<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Judge Bowie, after
spending months deliberating ruled in September, "Other than the
conflicting reports about who found the dynamite in Rice's basement,
there is no evidence to suggest that dynamite was planted by the
police. The bottom line is that dynamite was found in Rice's
basement, who found it is immaterial."<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>An appeal "bill of
exceptions" was filed with the Nebraska Supreme Court on Dec. 12th
and Poindexter's brief is due January 28th to be followed by the state's
brief before oral arguments are scheduled. Poindexter and Langa
have been behind bars since August 1970 and are both are presently in the
maximum security Nebraska State Penitentiary serving life
sentences.<br><br>
<i>Permission granted to reprint</i> <br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2>Authors Bio: Michael Richardson is a
freelance writer based in Boston. Richardson writes about politics,
election law, human nutrition, ethics, and music. Richardson is also a
political consultant on ballot access. <br><br>
<br><br>
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