THE COURT: C77-3003, United States of America versus Leonard Peltier.
Defendant and counsel, please come forward.
Mr. Peltier, do you know of any reason why sentence should not be
passed
in your case at this time?
DEFENDANT PELTIER: No legal reason, no.
THE COURT: Mr. Taikeff, do you know of any reason why sentence should
not be passed in this case at this time?
MR. TAIKEFF: No, your Honor, I do not.
THE COURT: Mr. Peltier, do you desire to make a statement in your own
behalf or present any information to the Court which the Court might
consider
in mitigation of punishment in your case?
DEFENDANT PELTIER: Yes I do.
Judge Benson, there is no doubt in my mind or my people's you are going
to sentence me to two consecutive life terms. You are and have always
been
prejudiced against me and any native Americans who have stood before
you.
You have openly favored the Government all through this trial, and you
are happy to do whatever the FBI would want you to do in this case.
I did not always believe this to be so. When I first {3} saw you in
the courtroom in Sioux Falls, your dignified appearance misled me into
thinking that you were a fair minded person who knew something of the
law
and who would act in accordance with the law which meant that you would
be impartial and not favor one side or the other in this lawsuit.
That has not been the case, and I now firmly believe you will impose
consecutive life terms solely because that's what you think will waive
the displeasures of the FBI. Yet my people nor myself do not know why
you
would be so concerned about an organization that has brought so much
shame
to the American people, but you are. Your conduct during this trial
leaves
no doubt, that you will do the bidding of the FBI without any
hesitation.
You are about to perform an act which will close one more chapter in
the history of the failure of the United States Courts and the failure
of the people of the United States to do justice in the case of a
native
American. After centuries of murder, of murder of millions of my
people,
brothers and sisters, by the white race of America could I have been
wise
in thinking that you would break that tradition and, commit an act of
Justice?
Obviously not, because I should have realized that what I
detected
was only a very thin layer of dignity and surely of not fine character.
{4}
If you think my accusations have been harsh and, unfounded, I will
explain why I have reached this conclusion and why I think my criticism
has not been harsh enough.
First, each time my defense team tried to expose FBI misconduct in
their investigation of this lawsuit and tried to prevent evidence of
this,
you claimed it was irrelevant to this trial, but the prosecution was
allowed
to present their case with evidence that was in no way relevant to this
lawsuit.
For an example, an automobile blown up on a freeway in Wichita, Kansas;
an attempted murder in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which I have not been
found
guilty or innocent of; a van loaded with legally sold firearms; and a
policeman
who claimed someone fired at him in Oregon state.
The Supreme Court of the United States tried to prevent convictions
of this sort by passing into law that only past convictions may be
presented
as evidence if it is not prejudicial to the lawsuit and only evidence
of
the said case may be used.
This Court was very wrong. I have no prior convictions nor am I even
charged with some of these alleged, crimes. Therefore, they cannot be
used
as evidence in order to receive a conviction in this farce called a
trial.
This is why I strongly believe you will impose two {5} life terms
running
consecutive on me.
Second, you could not make a reasonable decision about my sentence
because you suffer from at least one of three defects that prevent a
rational
conclusion. You plainly demonstrated this in your decision about the
Jimmy
Eagle, and Myrtle Poorbear aspects of this case.
In Jimmy's case, for some unfounded reason that only a Judge who
constantly
and openly ignores the law, would call it irrelevant to my trial.
In the mental torture of Myrtle Poorbear you said the testimony would
shock the conscience of the jury and the American people if believed,
but
you decided what was to be believed and what was not to be believed,
not
the jury.
Your conduct shocks the conscience of what the American legal system
stands for -- the search for the truth by a jury of citizens. What was
it that made you afraid to let that testimony in -- your own guilt of
being
part of a corrupted pre-planned trial to get a conviction, no matter
how
your reputation would be tarnished?
For these reasons I strongly believe you will do the the bidding of
the FBI and give me two consecutive life terms.
Third, in my opinion anyone who failed to see the relationship between
the undisputed facts of these events surrounding the investigation used
by the FBI in their {6} interrogation of the Navajo youths -- Wilfred
Draper
who was tied to a chair for three hours and denied access to his
attorney
or the outright threats to Norman Brown's life, the bodily harm
threatened
to Mike Anderson, and finally the murder of Anna Mae Aquash -- must be
blind, stupid or without human feeling, so there is no doubt or little
chance that you have the ability to avoid doing today what the FBI
wants
you to do which is to sentence me to two life terms running
consecutively.
Fourth, you do not have the ability to see that the conviction of an
AIM activist helps to cover up what the Government's own evidence
showed,
that large numbers of Indian people engaged in that fire fight on June
26th, 1975. You do not have the ability to see that the Government must
suppress the fact that there is a growing anger amongst Indian people
and
that native Americans will resist any further encroachment by the
military
forces of the capitalist Americans which is evidenced by the large
number
of Pine Ridge residents who took up arms on June 26th, 1975, to defend
themselves.
Therefore, you do not have the ability to carry out your
responsibilities
towards me in an impartial way and will run my two life terms
consecutively.
Fifth, I stand before you as a proud man. I feel no guilt. I have done
nothing to feel guilty about. I have {7} no regrets of being a native
American
activist. Thousands of people in the United states, Canada and around
the
world, have and will continue to support me to expose the injustice
that
occurred in this courtroom.
I do feel pity for your people that they must live under such a ugly
system. Under your system you are taught greed, racism and corruption,
and the most serious of all, the destruction of our mother earth. Under
the native American system we are taught all people are brothers and
sisters,
to share the wealth with the poor and needy; but the most important of
all is to respect and preserve the earth, to me considered to be our
mother.
We feed from her breast. Our mother gives us life at birth; and when it
is time to leave this world, she again takes us back into her womb; but
the main thing we are taught is to preserve her for our children and
grandchildren
because they are next who will live upon her.
No, I am not the guilty one here and should be called a criminal. The
white race of America is the criminal for the destruction of our lands
and my people. To hide your guilt from the decent human beings in
America
and around the world, you will sentence me to two consecutive life
terms
without any hesitation.
Sixth, there are less than four hundred Federal Judge for a population
of over two hundred million Americans. {8} Therefore, you have a very
powerful
and important responsibility which should be carried out impartially,
but
you never have been impartial where I was concerned. You have the
responsibility
of protecting constitutional rights and laws; but where I was concerned
you neglected to even consider my or native American's constitutional
rights;
but the most important of all you have neglected our human rights. If
you
were impartial, you would have had an open mind on all the factual
disputes
in this case; but you were unwilling to allow for even the slightest
possibility
that a law enforcement officer could lie on the stand. Then how could
you
possibly be impartial enough to let my lawyers prove how important it
is
to the FBI to convict a native American activist in this case? You do
not
have the ability to see that such a conviction is an important part of
the efforts to discredit those who are trying to alert their brothers
and
sisters to a new trick from the white man, an attempt to destroy what
little
Indian land remains in the process of extracting our uranium, oil and
other
minerals.
Again, to cover up your part in this, you will call me a heartless,
cold-blooded murderer who deserves two life sentences consecutively.
Seven, I cannot expect a Judge who has openly tolerated the conditions
I have been jailed under to make an {9} impartial decision on whether I
should be sentenced to concurrent or consecutive life terms. You have
been
made aware of the following conditions which I had to endure at the
Grand
Forks county jail since the time of the verdict.
One, I was denied access to a phone to call my attorneys concerning
my appeal.
Two, I was locked in solitary confinement without shower facilities,
soap, towels, sheets or pillow.
Three, the food was uneatable, what little there was.
Four, my family, brothers, sisters, mother and father who traveled
long distance from the reservation were denied visitations.
No human being should be subject to such treatment while you parade
around and pretend to be a decent, impartial and law-abiding.
You knowingly allowed your fascist Chief Deputy Marshal to play storm
trooper.
Again, the only conclusion that comes to my mind is you have, and
always
knew, you would sentence me to two consecutive life terms.
Finally, I honestly believe that you made up your mind long ago that
I was guilty and that you were going to sentence me to the maximum
sentence
permitted under the law, but this does not surprise me because you are
a high-ranking member of the white racist American {10} establishment
which
has consistently said "In God we trust" while they went about the
business
of murdering my people and attempting to destroy our culture. The only
thing I am guilty of and which I was convicted for was of being
Chippewa
and sioux blood and for believing our sacred religion.
THE COURT: Mr. Taikeff, do you have any statement to make in the
Defendant's
behalf or any information to present to the Court?
MR. TAIKEFF: I have nothing to add, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Peltier, you have seen the pre-sentence report in this
case?
DEFENDANT PELTIER: I have just glanced through it.
THE COURT: Do you have any comments or questions regarding it?
DEFENDANT PELTIER: I haven't read it.
MR. TAIKEFF: Counsel did read it in advance, your Honor --
THE COURT: (Interrupting) I beg your pardon?
MR. TAIKEFF: Counsel did read it in advance of showing it to the
Defendant.
Counsel did not find anything seriously inaccurate about it.
THE COURT: Mr. Hultman, does the United states have any recommendations
or comments to offer?
MR. HULTMAN: May it please the Court, the Statute {11} has provided,
for the taking of a life, the penalty, that that life likewise be
taken.
In this instance, that statute and that law has been under
consideration
and its status -- has been in a questionable status for quite some
time.
At the outset of this case, as the record indicates, I personally
indicated
that -- in the extradition proceedings that the Government would be
bound,
that that particular penalty could not and would not apply; and that is
a part of the record today, of which I know the Court, I am certain, is
aware.
That then means that the penalty which is left in effect is the minimum
penalty under the law; and that is a life sentence which, of course, is
a very, very serious sentence.
In this instance there was not one life which was taken, but two; and
because of the prosecution that has taken place in the course of this
trial,
because that penalty does indicate that a life term is the minimum
sentence
in the case of a life being taken, it seems to me, your Honor, that is
appropriate --
DEFENDANT PELTIER: (Interrupting) Who is going to pay for Anna Mae's
death? It sure stinks. What do you want? Give me your best name. Who is
going to pay for their deaths? You help me --
{12}
MR. CROOKS: (Interrupting) A lot of people would argue with that.
MR. HULTMAN: In the course of the taking of this particular life, your
Honor, not one life was taken as far as this particular trial is
concerned,
but the taking of two; and it seems to me that in light of that, that
consecutive
terms would be appropriate.
THE COURT: Mr. Peltier, you were convicted as charged --
DEFENDANT PELTIER: (Interrupting) I was railroaded.
THE COURT: (Continuing) -- as charged in the indictments of two counts
of premeditated murder. You were convicted and found guilty on each of
those counts. The evidence is clearly sufficient to support the verdict
of the jury.
You profess an interest and a dedication to the native people of this
country, but you have performed a great disservice to those native
people.
VOICE FROM AUDIENCE: Same to you.
DEFENDANT PELTIER: What about the Gestapo tactics being used on the
Pine Ridge residents? What do you call that? The cold-blooded murder of
Anna Mae Aquash, what do you call that?
VOICE FROM AUDIENCE: What about Joe?
DEFENDANT PELTIER: Are those two just being forgotten {13} about
because
they are native people?
THE COURT: On the verdict of the jury, it is adjudged that the
Defendant,
Leonard Peltier, has been convicted of the offense of first degree
murder
as charged in Count 1 and Count 2 of the indictment in violation of
Title
18, United states Code, Section 2 -- Section 1111 and Section 1114.
It is further adjudged that the Defendant be committed to the custody
of the Attorney General of the United States for imprisonment for life
on Count 1.
It is further adjudged that the Defendant, Leonard Peltier, be
committed
to the custody of the Attorney General of the United states for
imprisonment
for life on Count 2, the sentence on Count 2 to run consecutively to
the
sentence on Count 1.
Mr. Hultman, is there anything more to be presented to the Court?
MR. HULTMAN: The Government has nothing further, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Taikeff?
MR. TAIKEFF: Just one technical matter, your Honor.
The Clerk of the Court has provided me with a form, apparently supplied
originally by the Court of Appeals for the Eighth circuit, which is
basically
a notice of appeal form.
{14}
I have completed that form and signed it on the assumption that my
Court appointment will continue on into the Eighth circuit, and I lodge
that with the Clerk's office.
It will be served -- I understand the Clerk makes a copy of it and
serves it upon the Government, and then it will be filed pursuant to my
written request ¡ and I trust that I have, therefore, complied
with
all of the formalities to preserve Mr. Peltier's right of appeal.
THE COURT: You are advised, Mr. Peltier, that you do have the right
of appeal; and if you were financially unable to pay the cost of the
appeal,
you can make application for appeal in forma pauperis.
MR. TAIKEFF: We make that application at this time, your Honor, to
continue the finding of the Court of his status as a person without any
financial means.
THE COURT: The application will be granted.
MR. TAIKEFF: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: Is there anything more?
MR. TAIKEFF: Nothing at this time, your Honor.
THE COURT: Court is adjourned.
(Whereupon, at 4:23 o'clock, p.m., the hearing in the above-entitled
matter was closed.)
Peltier
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