|
Return to Writings
AIM on trial again in Rancid City -
Frontier Justice in action
A column
By Hazel Bonner
February 9 2004
The government and the defense rested their cases on February 5 in the trial of the American Indian Movement in Rancid City. AIM went on trial here on February 3.
The case involves a botched first autopsy on the body of Anna Mae Aquash which did not even locate a bullet lodged in the head and said the death was from exposure, and failure to charge a suspect for 28 years. The case involves rumors that Aquash was an FBI informant and the testimony of a real FBI informant.
The case also involves the severing of the victims’ hands to be sent to the FBI for identification. The body was placed in December, found in February but not identified until March. I wonder if it was necessary to sever both hands? That is an acceptable but infrequently used medical practice.
The case is titled United States v. Arlo Looking Cloud. When the government rested we had heard little about Looking Cloud’s involvement in the murder of Aquash in December 1975. When the defense rested we had heard only the testimony of David Price, special FBI agent here during that period.
A great deal was heard about the activities of AIM activists Leonard Peltier, Dennis Banks, Russell Means, John Trudell, Thelma Rios, Theda Clark, and others.
The star witness was Darlene (Kmook) Nichols who lived with Banks during the height of AIM activities in South Dakota. She was a spurned lover who discovered that Banks had slept with Aquash.
She told the jury that Leonard Peltier had bragged about shooting an FBI agent at Oglala in 1975. She claims he said, “He was begging for his life, but I shot him anyway.” She further testified that Aquash had told her that Peltier had taken her alone in a car while at a national convention in New Mexico and held a gun to her head. He allegedly asked if she was an informant. She allegedly replied that if he believed that he should shoot her and if he didn’t he should defend her.
According to the star witness, Peltier had met with AIM members to teach them to make bombs. Of course the only thing Nichols had done was hold a piece of dynamite while being instructed by Peltier. She never participated in the building or placing of bombs. Yeah, right! Further she claims to have received a call from Dennis Banks the day the body was found informing her that Aquash’s body had been found.
Nichols also stated that she had been wired when she had a conversation with Dennis Banks, and again when she had a conversation with Troy Lynn Yellow Woods and Arlo Looking Cloud in the Yellow Woods home in Denver. She said that Leonard Peltier and Dennis Banks were dangerous. According to her, both had stated, along with Leonard Crow Dog, that Aquash was an informant.
Under cross she admitted to being paid $42,000 for her cooperation, plus expenses. The government then pointed out that the payments were to move her twice when Dennis Banks found out where she was. Come on now, did she believe Banks would kill her, the mother of his four children? Several government witnesses said they believed that Aquash would not be killed, because other informants had been exposed and nothing had happened to them.
At the close of the government case, not one second of the taped conversations had been heard. Witnesses had their memories refreshed by reading from the transcripts of those tapes however. These tapes, I believe, were destroyed “inadvertently” in Denver. Transcripts are no proof that such a conversation occurred, and should not have been admissible without the tapes. Defense counsel said he had heard the tapes. He did not object to the use of the transcripts during the trial. Perhaps he had pre-trial and been denied.
The testimony of Madeline White Bear was almost as incredible. She testified about Aquash coming to her in California with her fear of both the FBI and AIM. She told a story about a secret code involving a ring and a call to AIM Spokesman John Trudell. The call was made when the ring was returned to her in a box after the Aquash death, but before anyone knew about it. She claims to have only talked to the FBI because she believed they were Canadian Mounties. Aquash was from Canada.
Troy Lynn Yellow Woods did not remember things the way the government wanted her to. She had to continuously be refreshed with the 1985 grand jury transcript and the alleged transcript of the conversation taped by a wired Nichols. She ended her testimony by adamantly stating that if Looking Cloud knew what was going on he would have had nothing to do with it. She must not have been so handsomely rewarded for her testimony!
Tim Rensch was the defense attorney. Strangely Rensch appeared to also be indicting AIM while distancing Looking Cloud from them. He asked several witnesses what happened to AIM members who challenged the leadership. He did object each time to the admission of the statements of people not present to testify. Virtually every time his objections were overruled. Rensch’s father Bill Rensch is married to an aunt of Thelma Rios.
Other than the above hearsay statements by government witnesses much of the testimony continued to be more damaging to AIM than to the defendant. Looking Cloud called the victims daughters to express his feelings. Denise Maloney Pickman testified about the conversation. She said that Looking Cloud did not incriminate himself during the conversation.
The government claimed that Aquash was never alone between leaving the Yellow Woods home in Denver and her death. She was always being guarded by the defendant, Graham or Clark. Legal defense workers Candy Hamilton and Jeanette Eagle Hawk testified for the government. Both said little about the involvement of Looking Cloud. Candy Hamilton found Aquash alone in the kitchen at the Wounded Knee Legal Defense Offense Committee (WKLDOC) office. Said her hair was cut short and she seemed very unhappy. She did not ask Hamilton for assistance or try to escape out the back door. Looking Cloud was not present during those meetings.
Hamilton testified under cross that she first heard the rumors that Aquash was an informant from John Stewart. Stewart lived in Oglala and was an FBI informant. Perhaps the FBI started the rumors because she had refused to help them?
Cleo (Marshall) Gates testified about a visit made to the home of herself and her husband Dick Marshall in Allen in early December, 1975. Clark, Graham, and Looking Cloud came late at night. They had Aquash with them. Clark said they had a note (again implied evidence that was never seen) and needed to meet with Marshall. They went in the bedroom leaving Aquash alone with Gates. She said nothing about being afraid nor did she seek assistance. Following the meeting, Marshall told her that they wanted them to keep Aquash there until some things were resolved. She refused and said under cross that had she had any indication that Aquash was in danger she would have kept her there. So a few hours before her shooting, she was alone in a room with a woman who did not sense any fear or danger. The decision from that meeting of the three men and Clark was that she should be kept in that home. No wonder Looking Cloud was surprised when she was actually shot.
The issue in this case, I thought, was whether Looking Clouds involvement rose to the level of the charges, murder and aiding and abetting a murder. The government presented a great deal of extraneous background material. The finding of the body by Rancher Roger Amiotte, the location and condition of the body and picture after picture of her. The FBI was in charge of the investigation. The botched autopsy was their responsibility. To me, the pictures and discussion of the condition of her body also seemed prejudicial to Looking Cloud. No objections were made to those admissions, unless that had been dealt with in pretrial motions.
Two government witnesses testimony was basically all over the place. Richard Two Elk and John Trudell testified about alleged conversations they had had with Looking Cloud. Two Elk appeared to be grandstanding and is known for taping conversations with people and selling them on a website. Both Two Elk and Nichols were asked by defense if they planned on making money on this case. Both denied it.
The final government witness was Robert Eccoffee. He testified about his efforts to solve this crime as a BIA law enforcement person and a United States Marshall. His efforts involved in interrogations in 1994, 1995 and 2003. He testified from memory regarding the 1995 interrogation. His memory was challenged by Wrench using reports he had filed. During none of the interviews did Looking Cloud state that while alone in the car with Aquash she had begged him to let her go. The 2003 interview was audio and video taped. It appeared less incriminating that the interview in 1995.
The 1994 interrogation was not allowed to be discussed before the jury. The question became, with those interrogations, why had Looking Cloud not been arrested then, Why wait till now? Looking Cloud was not under surveillance by Eccoffee in Denver and Wrensh challenged him about his oath to protect the public. If he believed in 1994 that Looking Cloud was guilty, shouldn’t he have been charged then, 10 years earlier?
When the government rested, Wrensch called David Price to the stand and then rested. Price was a special agent for the FBI who was stationed in Rapid City at the time. Two prior agents had testified that cultivating informants was not a part of the job of the FBI. David Price said it is.
Price met with Aquash twice, on April 10, 1975, at the Ted Lame residence south of Oglalla and on September 5, 1975 in Rosebud. He said he did not attempt to cultivate her as a witness, just asked her questions about specific crimes, as he did many other persons.
After resting the case for the defense Rensch presented a motion for acquittal before going to the jury. The basis for it was the huge amount of information regarding AIM leaders and the small amount of information about Looking Cloud’s culpability for the crime. Rensch argued that all of that information had nothing to do with Looking Cloud but was very prejudicial to him. The judge said the government had presented a prima facie case and passed it to the jury.
I do not know why the defense presented only Price. I do not care to guess about defense strategy. The government strategy was very transparent. Hit AIM with all barrels. Peltier remains in prison for the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975. Testimony about that appeared to have no place in this case, but it was presented.
Testimony about the Custer and Sioux Falls Court House cases was also irrelevant, but it was heard. Testimony about Banks feelings regarding Aquash and his alleged call to Nichols on the day the body was found saying it was Aquash, was irrelevant. All this evidence was admitted through the testimony of Nichols based on wired interviews, without any of the tape being heard, because I understand the tapes were inadvertently destroyed! Perhaps Yellow Woods memory of that conversation was accurate. Without the tape to back up the transcript, use of the transcript was not evidence of the content of those conversations. The jury would believe that they were.
Because I did not believe the jury would be able to parse through all of this and decide what was relevant from what was submitted, not for the truth of the matter, but for the fact that it was allegedly said, I feared that Looking Cloud would be convicted. And another long battle to free him will be in process. I hoped I was wrong in this case. I hoped Rensh would tell the jury the significance of Price’s testimony! He didn’t.
Many people felt after closing arguments that Looking Cloud would be acquitted. I still believed he would be convicted. I prayed I was wrong.
On Saturday morning following the conviction I visited my son in jail. He is in a cell next to Looking Cloud in the maximum-security pod of the jail. He said the whole pod was upset by the conviction. He said at first Looking Cloud was very quiet but then went in his cell and began singing in Lakota. My son, who is black, said he believes all the other inmates in the pod are Indian. No one stopped the singing. Lakota inmates joined in when they knew the songs.
My son told him he could listen to the singing all night. He praised his musical ability and his talent and stated that it is such a waste to lock that talent away in prison. He is so right! This entire trial was a farce at taxpayer expense. For 28 years after the death of Aquash, Looking Cloud remained free. He served those years in his own private torture chamber. He was forever changed by the events on that ridge overlooking the rugged Badlands that early December morning in 1975. To lock him in prison for the rest of his life seems to me cruel and unusual punishment.
Bonner is a free lance writer who writes from her home. She can be reached electronically at hbonpidge1 at hotmail.com; by phone at (605)343-4467; or by mail at PO Box 3712, Rapid City, SD 55709-3712.
home : mission statement : contact : site map : search : store : links
DLN coalition : DLN issues : DLN nation : related issues Any reprints are under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law : See http://www.dlncoalition.org/fair_use.htm.
|
