Dear Supporters:
Sometimes Peltier just makes it too easy.
Peltier’s attorneys, Martin Garbus, Cynthia Dunne and
Carl Nadler may arguably be decent attorneys but would make terrible poker
players.[i]
In this high stakes gamble for Peltier’s continued incarceration vs. freedom
they gave up their hole cards before the game is over. Not a smart move at all.
Perhaps Marty felt he would gain some public support or
sympathy by doing an interview with Mother
Jones where he makes erroneous allegations based on the myth and
folklore we have heard countless times before, but then publically offers the
letter to President Obama along with the forty-four page application for
clemency.[ii]
Marty though, may just be blinded by his own misplaced passion.
The NPPA has previously offered that it would be
extremely beneficial to know exactly the approach Peltier has taken in this
last ditch effort for clemency and freedom.[iii]
This should have been a well kept secret between Peltier, his attorneys, and
the President. But thankfully the legal scream team (and maybe one other from
the Left Coast) didn’t think this one through very well. Now, publically, and
responding to the President, they have provided the opportunity to dispel the mythology
and distortions, point-by-point, with the facts.
Rest assured that many follow-up letters will also be
sent to the USDOJ Pardon Attorney, Attorney General Lynch and President Obama.
So, thank you for that.
(This will be a multi-part blog dismantling the letter to
the President and clemency application. References will be to the page numbers
of each document.)
“Mr. Peltier has
repeatedly expressed remorse, regret and sadness that the events of June 26,
1975 led to the deaths of young men engaged in their official duties. He is
particularly sad that the events of that day led to continuing pain for the
families of Agents Coler and Williams.” (Letter p.1)
Absolute nonsense. The closest Peltier ever came to barely
even a hint of remorse was in his jailhouse book, Prison Writings where
he said “To the still-grieving Coler and Williams families I send my prayers if
you will have them. I hope you will. They are prayers of an entire people…if I
could have possibly prevented what happened that day…I certainly did not pull
the trigger that did it. May the Creator strike me dead this moment if I lie…I
am guilty only of being an Indian. That’s why I’m here.”[iv]
(The lies, like one of the big
ones, Mr. X, will be addressed later and Peltier should be careful about his
wishes.)
Marty, the President will see through this when Peltier
publicly states as late as 2010, “And really, if necessary, I’d do it all over
again because it was the right thing to do,” and even more recently in
2014, “I don’t regret any of this for a
minute.” And so this is not taken out of context, in each instance Peltier
was referring to that day at Jumping Bull.
Remorse, regret, sadness? Absolutely, that he got caught and
spent the remainder of his life behind bars. Remorse? Not even close, but remaining
an unrepentant murderer Peltier will say anything at this point. It’s far too
late in the game for that. Notice too that there has never been an apology of
any sort attached to these crocodile-tear pleadings. However, even if Peltier
mouthed the words, it would not be acceptable.
“…had killed 50
members of the Lakota Tribe.” (Letter p.1)
This figure has changed many times over the years,
reaching at one point 70, now down to 50, but it’s a sure bet that Marty,
Cindy, or Carl never looked at the list.
A review of the list paints an entirely different picture
than the one offered by Peltier and now his attorneys. Readers are encouraged
to review the list and come to their own conclusions about deaths on Pine Ridge
during the 1973-75 period.[v] (Missing
from this early Editorial Essay are the convictions for the AIM directed murder
of Anna Mae Aquash. You know, the one who Peltier stuck a gun in her mouth.)
Peltier, early on, evokes the name of Eighth Circuit
Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Heaney (much will be referenced to Judge Heaney
in later blogs), and points out accurately that he “presided on two appellate panels that considered Mr. Peltier’s appeals
at different stages (and authored one of the decisions),” and quotes a
letter later written by Judge Heaney calling for “a healing process.” (Letter p.2)
Again, much will be quoted from Judge Heaney, but let the
record be clear from the beginning that Judge Heaney ruled against Peltier at
every juncture based on the facts and the law. No misunderstanding, no nuance, no
technicalities. Of critical importance here is that Judge Heaney never
said or implied that Peltier was innocent.[vi]
Quite the contrary, Judge Heaney’s letter invoked by
Peltier ignores the Judge’s critical conclusions; “No new evidence has been called
to my attention which would cause me to change the conclusion reached in that
case.” And, as a mitigating factor that others may have been involved
in the shooting of the FBI Agents that “…this fact is not a legal justification for
Peltier’s actions.”
And, during a televised “60-Minutes” segment when asked
if Peltier received a fail trial, Judge Heaney replied, “I believe he got a fair trial.
Not a perfect trial, but a fair trial.”[vii]
This
is just the beginning and barely scratching the surface of a letter and
application from Peltier and his attorneys that cannot withstand critical
scrutiny.
This
starts with Peltier’s first lie (Application p.3), “I will not re-argue my case,” which is precisely what he then
proceeds to do with more of the same that we’ve seen from the beginning, redirecting
attention away from the facts and
what really happened on June 26, 1975 while attempting to portray himself as a
martyr and in some perverse way trying to convince the President that granting
him clemency would result in some manner of reconciliation. Peltier continues
to work the system when the reality is that Native America has long recognized
that Peltier’s actions and those of AIM during the late 60s and 70s did nothing
for the betterment of Native American culture.
But, Marty, thanks for the
mistake of releasing these documents and providing the opportunity to respond
in-kind to the President. Much appreciated. We could not have gotten it any
other way.
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
P.S.
This was just too easy not to make a quick add-on. Low
hanging fruit as it were and one has to wonder what the attorneys were thinking
(or not) to end their letter with “…that after serving forty years in maximum
security prisons (and approximately five years in solitary confinement)…”
(Letter p.4)
It doesn’t take a genius, or a band of learned counselors
to understand that one convicted of a double homicide and involved in an armed
prison escape would serve his sentence(s) in a maximum security facility. But
here’s the rub that the Pardon Attorney, Attorney General and the President
already know, or if not, Peltier’s lawyers just told them, that Peltier was not
a model inmate. Having served “approximately five years” in solitary
confinement pretty much tells everyone that Peltier was a problem on either
side of prison walls. One of the many prison disciplinary incidents was likely
the reason why he ended up down south in USP Coleman.[viii]
[i] The
exception being Cynthia Dunne who has already proven she is borderline
incompetent and clueless when it comes to the Peltier matter. http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2015/10/peltier-national-lawyers-guild-really.html
[ii] http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/leonard-peltier-clemency-obama-aim-wounded-knee (Last accessed 5/20/16) Commenting
on the reporting by AJ Vicens is irrelevant and inconsequential because it
simply regurgitates erroneous claims by Garbus without any effort to balance
the article with some documentable facts. It is simply a Peltier
puff-piece. An
offer made to Mother Jones for a rebuttal
went unanswered. Apparently they are not interested in the facts or balanced
reporting. No surprise there.[iii] http://wwwnoparolepeltiercom-justice.blogspot.com/2016/04/peltier-another-felony.html
(“We would offer, challenge
actually, to be able to review that application factually, which would
doubtless reduce it to a pile of worthless paper.”)
[iv] Leonard
Peltier, Prison Writings (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999) 15
[vii] http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc9ofu_leonard-peltier-with-steve-kroft_news
(last accessed 10/14/15)
