They also had a lot of info on the Bear Lincoln case. To all of you who
have written me privately and told me you have written Bear Thanks! I will
also ask that these posts concerning him get forwarded to everyone!!
Please repost. I really liked that "4 times" deal, so let's do it!! Repost
this 4 times, and don't forget to write to Bear at the address at the end
of this message.
Thanks, and more soon,
Christina Meckel
Lonewolf
lonewolf@pacific.net
BEAR THE TRUTH
What the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department is Trying to Cover-up about
the Night of April 14th, 1995
By Cyndi Pickett (Acorn Peters' widow) and Sara Jacobelli
What happened at 9:51 PM on the night of April 14, 1995 on Little Valley
Rd. on the Round Valley Indian Reservation in remote Northern California
never should have happened. Leonard Acorn Peters, father of six children,
never should have been shot and killed by Mendocino County Sheriff's
deputies Davis and Miller. He was simply walking home after visiting Eugene
Bear Lincoln. He was leaving Little Valley when he was shot and killed.
He walked into an ambush which Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputy Dennis
Miller and Deputy George Robert Davis had set up in an attempt to apprehend
the remaining suspect from a shooting earlier that day in Covelo. Instead,
Leonard Acorn Peters walked into that ambush unknowingly and was shot and
killed by Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies.
The Sheriff's Dept. did a paraffin test on the body of Acorn Peters at
8:30 the morning of April 15, 1995. The results of that test were
negative. It proved that Acorn Peters never fired a gun that night. He
never shot at the sheriff's deputies as they originally said in their
attempt to justify having shot him.
In Deputy Miller's very first statement which he gave between 2 and 5 AM
that morning, after the shooting, he stated unequivocally that they (the
deputies) fired upon and shot Acorn Peters, because he raised a gun and
fired at them. Deputy Miller was adamant that this was exactly what
happened because Deputy Miller said in his own words(the tape of this
statement was played in court) that Deputy Davis shined a spot light on
Acorn Peters and that is why Deputy Miller could be so sure that Acorn
Peters fired on them and Deputies Miller and Davis returned fire.
Of course Deputy Miller made this statement before the paraffin test proved
that Acorn Peters did not fire a gun. The reason that Deputy Miller would
say this is very clear that when Deputies Davis and Miller shot Acorn
Peters they thought they were shooting at the suspect, Arylis Peters, who
they were hoping to apprehend. According to witnesses that were on the
scene with in 15 minutes of the shooting, law enforcement officers asked
them several times "This is Arylis, isn't it?"
It was at that moment that Deputy Miller realized that he and Deputy Davis
had not shot Arylis Peters, the suspect they were waiting for. Deputy
Miller had to justify having shot an innocent man. That is when Deputy
Miller came up with the story that Acorn Peters had fired on them. That is
when the cover up of what happened that night began. Deputy Miller gave
his statement in a moment of panic because he realized they shot the
wrong man. This is the beginning of the cover up by the Mendocino County
Sheriff's Dept.
This issue needs to be made clear to the people of Mendocino County [and
everyone else concerned]. It's imperative. Bear Lincoln's life depends
on people becoming aware of what really happened that night and that
Mendocino County Sheriff's are covering up what they did.
Later when Deputy Miller became aware that his statement did not
corroborate with the physical evidence, he changed his statement. The
statement he gave to the Grand Jury, was that there were two men. He
doesn't know which one fired because it was dark and all he could see were
a couple of silhouettes and a muzzle flash. So he was unable to determine
who, in fact, had shot the gun.
In Deputy Miller's original statement he stated three times, that Deputy
Davis had shined a light on Acorn Peters, and that's the reason he was so
sure Leonard Acorn Peters had fired at them. In Deputy Miller's statement
to the Grand Jury, there is no light mentioned. It's dark. All he could
see were two silhouettes. Now this is not a slightly different version of
the same story. This is a vastly different story. Deputy Miller's altered
statement contradicts two very clear points on his first statement. His
changed statement conflicts with having seen just one person with Deputy
Davis's spot light shinning ion this person, (Acorn Peters). Another thing
he said in his first statement, was that after Acorn Peters was dead, it
got quite, the firing had stopped; he said that he and Deputy Davis had
emptied their service revolvers shooting at Acorn Peters and then when it
got quite Deputy Davis said he thought he heard somebody running off in the
brush. Deputy Miller also, very clearly, said that it was at that
moment, (after Acorn Peters was dead), that he "...became aware of the
possibility of a second suspect." Yet his statement he gave the Grand Jury
contradicts that, in saying that he saw two silhouettes right from the
beginning.
After Deputies Davis and Miller became aware of the possible second person
Deputy Miller says he "...grabbed Davis's M-16 from the front seat (of the
patrol car), put in a fresh clip and set it on automatic mode." While
crossing to the other side of the road for better cover he fired the M-16,
and slipped on the down hill embankment. When Deputy Miller recovered he
noticed Deputy Davis slumped in the road, fatally wounded, directly across
from where Deputy Miller fell.
When presenting evidence to the Grand Jury, District Attorney Aaron
Williams did not play this first taped statement for the Grand Jury (The
Grand Jury is suppose to be given all evidence in the case).
In court when Bear Lincoln's Attorney Tony Serra asked why the Grand Jury
was not given this first statement, the D.A. Aaron Williams brushed it off
saying, Miller gave his statement personally to them, that he felt it
wasn't that different from his original statement, and so it wasn't really
necessary to provide the Grand Jury with his first taped statement.
Consequently Judge Luther threw out the Grand Jury Indictment on November
21, 1995.
Had the District Attorney played the original taped statement the Grand
Jury would have heard Deputy Miller say that all he ever saw of a second
person was a silhouette 30 or 40 yards down the road running away.
At first law enforcement personnel thought it was Arylis Peters, (the
suspect they were looking for) that was the second person with Acorn
Peters. But after questioning Arylis the next morning after he turned
himself in they realized it hadn't been Arylis. It was later that day that
they discovered that Acorn and Bear had been together on April 14, and that
a black hat that resembles Bear Lincoln's was found at the seen, there for
the Mendocino County Sheriff's Dept. surmised it must have been Bear
Lincoln that was with Acorn Peters. Deputy Miller never did identify Bear
Lincoln as having been there.
Jonathan Hill, a BIA police officer, was sent to Covelo from Jackson
Rancheria, to investigate the deaths of Leonard Acorn Peters and Deputy
George Robert Davis. After his investigation he concluded that it was very
likely that Deputy Davis was probably killed by "friendly fire". In other
words, that Deputy Miller accidentally shot and killed Deputy Davis. When
Hill submitted a report suggesting this possibility, he was fired. Hill was
not only taken off this case, but he was asked to resign from his job in
Jackson Rancheria. There are many who believe that Hill was fired because
he was to close to the truth. That he was beginning to uncover the Mendocino
County Sheriff's cover up.
Eugene Bear Lincoln is in the Ukiah jail awaiting his trial for the murder
of Deputy George Robert Davis, the vicarious liability for the murder of
Acorn Peters. His trial began April 15, 1997 [jury selection is
taking place now]. The D.A. is seeking the death penalty.
Please write to Bear at the following address:
Eugene "Bear" Lincoln
Mendocino County Jail
951 Low Gap Rd.
Ukiah, CA 95482
ACTION ALERT
Because the D.A. has subpoenaed most of Bear Lincoln's family and friends
they will not be able to continue court support for Bear! Consequently we
desperately need people who can come to court during trial.
To get on the phone tree/mailing list call 707-468-1660. This is the
Mendocino Environmental Center, temporary contact for the Lincoln/Peters
Defense Alliance. You can send snail mail to 106 W. Standley St., Ukiah
CA 95482.
To get on an e-mail list for updates about the case, send a request to
nwilson@mcn.org
For ongoing coverage on the web of the Bear Lincoln trial, read the
Albion Monitor at http://www.monitor.net/monitor
Be sure to check the back issues, especially the major feature and history
of the case in the September 1995 issue, as well as updates since then.
For another source of info about the case on the web, go to Planet Peace
Round Valley archive at: "http://www.planet-peace.org/round_valley/"