Civil Rights Violations

For example, several months ago, Cecil Bear Robe came to me with his son, Donny's problem. What I found out is that Donny is in Pennington County Jail awaiting sentincing, charged with a crime he did not commit. Initially, he was charged with 2nd degree murder for the death of Geri Plenty Arrows. Not only did he not commit this crime, there is no way he could have. Instead, the Tribal police chased Donny in an illegal chase, the police rear-ended Donny (something very illegal) causing the pickup he was driving to go out of control, hitting an embankment, which sent Geri out of the pick-up box into the path of the police car. The police car then struck Geri in the head, killing her instantly. Instead of calling for an ambulence or assisting Geri, the police went after Donny. They took him to jail, returned to the crime scene, moved the body, and were just about to do something to the pickup when Cecil and Carmel showed up. Police took off. Cecil, when he was looking around, discovered the body of Geri, and called the police and Geri's mother. Harold Brewer and Marvin Bad Wound handled the Tribal investigation. They had the help of a Bill Bielecki, who questioned all witnesses, stating that he was from the Department of Justice. He questioned them without reading them their rights. I checked with DOJ and the US Attorney's office, who do not acknowledge such a person as working for them. Shortly thereafter, Donny was arrested and suddenly found himself in Federal Court facing 2nd degree murder charges for the murder of Geri Plenty Arrows. From there, Donny was appointed an attorney from the Public Defender's office, Gary Colebath, who assumed Donny was guilty, who never once listened to Donny's story, who never investigated, who told Donny that pleading guilty was his only option. After scaring him with life in prison, Donny changed his plea to guilty. This is when the family contacted me. The Bear Robes had been told that Donny could change his plea back to not guilty, no problem, any time he wanted. This was a lie. It is extremely difficult to change a plea back to not guilty. But the Bear Robes did not know this because no one informed them of their rights. The Bear Robes tried to get a hearing for Donny to change his plea back to not guilty. Colebath and Viken would not permit them to do that. Finally, I went with them to Rapid City and met with Colebath, and insisted he allow Donny a hearing. Colebath had a tantrum and said he would quit as Donny's attorney if Donny insisted on pleading not guilty. I told him it was Donny's decision, not his. "Quit if you want, but I am here to see that Donny gets a hearing." He didn't like it, but he put in a motion to the Judge. The hearing took place on 3-8-05. Judge Battey totally humiliated, frightened, and confused Donny. He would not listen to any new evidence. He would not hear anything of how Donny was not informed of his rights, that Colebath never once prepared a defense for Donny. He turned down Donny's request for a jury trial. Because of my "interference", he gave Donny a month to get his own attorney. But most attorneys work hand in hand with the corrupt system because that's where the money is at, and the Bear Robes could not find an attorney. There will be a hearing this Friday, 8-15-05. And I fear very much that Donny will be sentenced to prison, while the real killers go scot free. Is that the way the criminal justice system is supposed to work? I've got a couple of Ace's up my sleeve though, and it's not over yet. In your misery and suffering you have turned to me and to Black Hills People's News because there is absolutely no authority who will listen to you. Most injustices begin with cops who are not doing their jobs properly, when police become themselves criminals by virtue of their behaviour. Then corrupt Tribal Judges give orders to the police, who obey without question because they can use their office (color of the law) to cover a host of crimes. A good example of this would be the phone call I got this morning from someone in Rosebud. Zack Black Bear, 42 years old, from Norris in Rosebud, stopped Tribal police officer, Frank Iron Heart, Jr., to ask what charge he had on his daughter, who was sitting in the Patrol car. Police attempted to arrest Zack for asking the question. Zack took off running. Officer Iron Heart chased him on foot, catching up with him 3/4 mile later on State owned private property. Police told him to kneel down with his hands behind his back. Police slapped the cuffs on Zach, then proceeded to give him a vicious beating which resulted in 7 broken ribs, fractured cheek bone, broken nose, and multiple sever bruises on his body. Police forced Zack to walk back to the squad car and shoved him inside. His face was so bloody that he was unrecognizable. His family had gathered but other police would not allow family close to Zack to tend to him. An ambulence was called and arrived 45 minutes later. Zack was taken to a hospital in Rosebud, treated and released. Mysteriously, all charges against Zack were dropped, and his daughter was released as well. When asked what to do, I said "Sig 'em! You are now in the driver's seat. It's happy LAW SUIT time! Shop around and good luck." For myself, I am charging. I have been getting so many calls that I cannot handle them all. Also, I am not an attorney. I am an artist and a writer. But I can see you have no one to turn to. I would like to see a grassroots organization, something like a Lakota version of ACLU. This will be a Lakota run and operated organization. To begin with, I will direct it, so it doesn't derail before it gets started. I am forming a Constitutional Rights Oglala Sioux Traditional Values Organization to help address the criminal official misconduct that exists in the SD Federal court in which 2 to 3 innocent Lakota boys are being sent off every month because they don't understand their rights and the State gets paid so much per head for every successful conviction. I am involved in a case right now where the police actually killed a girl (unintentionally, but she's dead, none the less), have framed up a Lakota boy, scared him into pleading guilty for reduced sentence, and almost had him sent off, until I intervened. I investigated the case, and am putting together the evidence. There is no AIM to call these days. There is just me and Arlo Looking Cloud's cousin, Lucy Bull Bear. But we need help. We will have a meeting at the Manderson college center, April 30th, at 10:00. We will go over your constitutional rights, and what you should do if you find yourself in jail. We will also train you to become part of the organization, if you choose to take an active role. We also want to train people to practice the Lakota virtues and values. In other words, this is not just another barking dog session. We will also listen to your complaints you may have, involving the court system. Mainly we want this organization to be a self-help group for Lakotas, a place you can turn to for answers and help. Right now, we have no funds, so a donation would be appreciated. For those of you who are outside of the Pine Ridge Reservation, but want to contribute to a worthy cause, we invite you to contact us. We encourage all Lakotas to attend. We want to hear from you. We want to train you to help yourself. This is not another barking dog session; this is the biting dog. Contact Janis Schmidt, 867-2413 or Lucy Bull Bear, 455-1138