Keywords: Native American, racism, police abuse, death penalty,
courts, Round Valley
In a surprising move, lawyers for Eugene "Bear" Lincoln said they will
file a new motion to bar the death penalty in the case, or to stop the
prosecutor from what they called "hand picking the jury" by selectively
challenging certain jury candidates based on their answers to questions
about the death penalty.
Lincoln attorneys J. Tony Serra and Philip DeJong last Thursday told the
judge they would file the new motion Monday, June 2. "The death penalty
has become a canard by which the prosecutor can choose the jury," DeJong
told Superior Court Judge John Golden.
Lincoln, a Wailaki Indian from the Round Valley Indian Reservation, is
accused of first degree murder of Mendocino County Deputy Sheriff George
"Bob" Davis in a shooting on the reservation the night of April 14, 1995.
Lincoln is also charged with second degree murder in the death of his
close friend Leonard "Acorn" Peters, who was shot by Davis in what Lincoln
says was an ambush by deputies. The deputies thought they were shooting at
Peters' brother, who was wanted for killing another Indian man some four
hours earlier. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty, citing
special circumstances of murder of a peace officer in the performance of
his duties.
In a letter to the editor written in late 1995 from jail, Lincoln wrote:
"April 14th was a dark, dark night, it was very hard to see anything. On
top of Little Valley Ridge the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department laid
in wait, and ambushed and murdered our brother Acorn. He broke no laws, he
had no warrants for his arrest, there was no roadblock, no lights, no
warning, only darkness, and then a blaze of gunfire. Acorn died quickly, I
believe he was dead before he hit the ground." In a recent letter, Lincoln
wrote: "I would like to make the public aware of the gross racism against
Native Americans in the so-called justice system in Mendocino County....
It is a matter of record that the majority of death penalty cases in this
county have been against Native Americans."
Last year another judge threw out the grand jury indictment of Lincoln
after the defense argued successfully that the prosecution withheld from
the grand jury evidence which favored Lincoln. The evidence was the fact
that the prosecution's primary witness, Deputy Dennis Miller, the only
surviving witness to the shootings besides Lincoln, had changed his
version of the events after learning that forensic tests showed his
initial story could not be true. The murder charges were refiled, and
Lincoln was held for trial after a preliminary hearing in December 1995.
The murder trial formally began April 15 in Mendocino County Superior
Court. Individual questioning of jury candidates began May 5. By that date
the original pool of over 3800 jury candidates had been reduced 90% to
383, based on their answers to written questionnaires or requests to be
excused due to hardship. The current stage will end when there are 90
qualified jury candidates. The trial is expected to get under way at the
beginning of July and last until October.
Individual questioning of juror candidates in death penalty cases is no
longer a regular part of California procedure. It was agreed to at the
request of the defense as an alternative to moving the trial out of
Mendocino County due to excessive bias against Lincoln. Polls by a defense
jury consultant showed that 80% of county whites thought Lincoln was
guilty, based on extensive media reports of law enforcement allegations,
while 80% of Native Americans thought he was not guilty. Native Americans
make up about 4% of the county's population.
Individual questioning is limited to six issues: 1) prior knowledge of the
case and willingness to disregard it, 2) racial bias regarding Native
Americans, 3) bias regarding alcohol use, 4) bias regarding gun ownership
and use, 5) bias regarding law enforcement officers, and 6) willingness
and ability to follow the law regarding the death penalty.
Under California law, in death penalty cases a potential juror may be kept
off the jury if he or she states that the death penalty should never be
applied. The reasoning behind this is that although the death penalty is
legal and is supported by a majority of voters, a single juror could block
a guilty verdict or the death penalty.
During jury questioning in the Lincoln case, prosecutor Aaron Williams has
routinely challenged practically all candidates who say they are strongly
against the death penalty except in the worst cases. But, to the surprise
of courtroom observers last Thursday, he failed to challenge a potential
juror who said she would have "a very hard time voting for the death
penalty. The way I feel now, I couldn't." When Williams didn't challenge
her, Serra moved to disqualify her based on her position on the death
penalty, and called attention to the irony that he, as defense attorney,
was making that challenge. Williams opposed Serra's challenge and accused
Serra of hiding the real reason he wanted her off the jury. Serra replied
that Williams as the prosecutor had the duty to challenge her on the death
penalty, and said Williams was the one with ulterior motives. Serra said
his position was that the candidate "can't follow the law, and I don't
want her on the jury."
In a letter to the Anderson Valley Advertiser published April 30, 1997,
Lincoln wrote: "I urge the public to follow this case and be concerned,
because corrupt law enforcement affects everyone sooner or later. We will
prove in the trial that the Sheriff's deputy has covered up their actions
against the Indian community, and that they are the ones who are guilty of
lying in wait and ambushing and murdering Leonard Peters."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For in-depth background on the case on the World Wide Web,
visit the Albion Monitor electronic newspaper at:
http://www.monitor.net/monitor
be sure to use the archives search feature to search for
Bear Lincoln and Round Valley.
Another good compilation of past articles and updates about
the case is on Planet Peace at:
http://www.planet-peace.org/round_valley/index.html
For more information or to be added to a mailing list,
contact the Lincoln/Peters Defense Alliance at 707-468-1660,
or write c/o MEC, 106 W. Standley St., Ukiah CA 95482.
For e-mail updates, send a request to nwilson@mcn.org
You can write to Bear Lincoln at the following address:
Eugene A. "Bear" Lincoln
Mendocino County Jail
951 Low Gap Road
Ukiah, CA 95482