[Pnews] Nebraska Board of Pardons lies - claims Omaha Two have not asked for release from prison

[Prisoner News]

*http://www.examiner.com/article/nebraska-claims-omaha-two-have-not-asked-for-release-from-prison*
January 7, 2016


  Nebraska claims Omaha Two have not asked for release from prison

The Nebraska Board of Pardons claims neither Edward Poindexter 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/prison-interview-with-ed-poindexter-on-cointelpro-and-the-omaha-police> 
nor Mondo we Langa 
<http://www.examiner.com/article/prison-interview-with-mondo-we-langa-on-cointelpro-and-omaha-two-case>, 
former David Rice, have asked for reconsideration of their sentence. The 
two men, now known as the Omaha Two 
<http://crimemagazine.com/j-edgar-hoover-and-framing-omaha-two>, have 
been imprisoned forty-five years for the 1970 bombing murder of Omaha 
Patrolman Larry Minard, Sr. Both men deny any role in Minard's death and 
were targets of the illegal, clandestineCOINTELPRO 
<http://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro>counterintelligence operation of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The two former Black Panther leaders have been seeking their release 
since arrest and have exhausted their appeal rights trying to get out of 
prison, which makes the state's position sound a bit like doubletalk. 
Spokeswoman Sonya Fauver with the Governor's office responded to justice 
advocate Sandy Shevack on Jan. 6 that the inmates have to ask for action 
on their cases.

Fauver wrote in an email message, “As of to date, Mr. Rice and Mr. 
Poindexter have not submitted an application to the Nebraska Board of 
Pardons requesting a commutation of their sentences.”

Both Ed Poindexter <http://www.examiner.com/topic/ed-poindexter> and 
Mondo we Langa <http://www.examiner.com/topic/mondo-we-langa> have been 
repeatedly recommended for parole by the Nebraska Parole Board only to 
be stopped by the Board of Pardons which must first commute their life 
sentences to a fixed number of years in order for them to be eligible 
for parole. The Board of Pardons is made up of the Governor, Attorney 
General, and Secretary of State.

Poindexter sought a federal court determination several years ago that 
the composition of the Board of Pardons is unconstitutional and that he 
is serving a defacto life without parole sentence. Poindexter withdrew 
his lawsuit over lack of representation and health problems before 
resolution of the issue. Mondo appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court 
that the composition of the Board of Pardons was unconstitutional 
because the Attorney General's office appears in court against him. The 
Nebraska Supreme Court denied Mondo's appeal without even issuing a 
written decision addressing Mondo's constitutional claim.

The news that he needs to file an application for commutation may come 
as a surprise to Ed Poindexter, but likely not to Mondo we Langa. Mondo 
has already travelled this road when the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld 
District Judge James Gleason's assertion that Mondo had not properly 
pleaded innocent in his appeal. Mondo's attorney, Timothy Ashford, had 
written:

“Defendant Rice [Mondo] is entitled to a new trial because he did not 
commit the crime charged and he is not guilty of the crime leading to 
the death of Officer Minard in 1970, and further, the defendant’s 
presumption of innocence was lost as a result of the errors alleged herein.”

Neither Judge Gleason, who rejected Mondo's post-trial appeal, nor the 
Nebraska Supreme Court, which upheld Gleason, would explain what was 
wrong with Mondo's innocence plea, despite denying him his day in court 
over the alleged defective plea.

Sandy Shevack, a New Jersey university professor, made his query in 
behalf of the Omaha Two <http://www.examiner.com/topic/omaha-two-1> as 
part of a new citizen effort to obtain medical release for the two 
ailing and aged prisoners. Shevack wrote to Governor Pete Ricketts: 
“They have spent over 45 years in prison. The German Group of Amnesty 
International has extensively reviewed this case and has called for 
their immediate release or retrial. Neither men would be a threat to 
society. It is time to free both men on compassionate release.”

The citizen effort began recently in Omaha. Another justice advocate, 
Cleo Silvers, expressed his motivation to help the Omaha Two: “Everyone 
is now aware of the secret conspiracy on the part of J.Edgar Hoover to 
frame and prosecute these brothers in Omaha. They are not now nor have 
they ever been anything but positive contributors to the community and 
the nation. The work they did in their community was phenomenal and some 
of it still lingers today. They should be freed, pardoned and apologized 
to by the highest office in the country. It is our responsibility to 
spread the news of the need for them to have their freedom.”

The Omaha Two were targets of J.Edgar Hoover who ordered a FBI 
Laboratory test withheld on the identify of the anonymous 911 caller who 
lured the policeman to his death. Hoover was willing to let a 
policeman's killer get away with murder to make a case against the two 
Black Panther leaders. Further, the death penalty was sought against 
Poindexter and Mondo. Although the jury, unaware of withheld evidence 
under COINTELPRO <http://www.examiner.com/topic/cointelpro> directives, 
spared their lives, the two men were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Poindexter suffers from diabetes, hypertension, and complications from 
neuropathy. Mondo ails with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 
has been in the prison imfirmary for the past several months.

-- 
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