Eugene "Bear" Lincoln is a Wailaki Indian on trial for capital murder of a
Mendocino County Sheriff's deputy on the Round Valley Indian Reservation on
April 14, 1995. Lincoln says he and his friend Leonard "Acorn" Peters were
ambushed by deputies. The slain deputy had just killed Acorn Peters,
mistaking him for his brother who was a suspect in another killing on the
reservation earlier that evening. Lincoln turned himself in to authorities
at his lawyer's office in San Francisco after avoiding capture for four
months despite a $100,000 reward offered by Gov. Pete Wilson and being
featured on America's Most Wanted. Lincoln claims he fired only in
self-defense.
Bear Lincoln Case Update
by Nicholas Wilson <nwilson@mcn.org>
July 3, 1997
* Attorney General to investigate jury tampering charges
* Judge orders some court proceedings closed to press and public
* Change of venue motion revived by defense
* Prosecution ordered to return mysterious cassette tape to defense
* Lincoln fired in self-defense, defense document says
* Gathering for Justice July 19-21 to feature AIM leader Dennis Banks
UKIAH -- In a July 2 court hearing in the Bear Lincoln murder case,
prosecutor Aaron Williams told Judge John Golden that the California
Attorney General's office will investigate the allegations of jury
tampering by Correctional Officer Brandon Van Camp, which stunned everyone
in the courtroom June 23. Defense attorney Tony Serra demanded to know the
name of the responsible person in the AG's office and when the
investigation will begin. Serra said the investigation needs to happen
immediately while events are still fresh in the minds of participants, and
said that without pressure, the AG would delay and "sweep it under the rug."
The judge ordered that next Monday at 8:30 someone from the AG's office or
the DA's office appear who can authoritatively identify the person in
charge of the investigation and when it will begin. He also said that the
scope of the investigation will include all the allegations by potential
juror Harry Rothman and all the issues raised in a paper filed by the
Lincoln defense. It was Rothman who told the stunned court last week that
Deputy Van Camp told him in the hallway that Lincoln had confessed to the
crime (which is untrue). Rothman also said that a friend of his told him
about conversations with a defense jury consultant about defense theories
of the case, including the "friendly fire theory" that Deputy Davis was
killed by a bullet fired by Deputy Miller.
Deputy Van Camp, dressed in civilian clothes, appeared in court June 26
under subpoena to answer questions about his alleged statements to Rothman.
The Lincoln defense team had filed papers demanding to find out whether Van
Camp said things to other potential jurors, whether he was acting under the
direction of any higher up or in collusion with other deputies, and
demanding that he be prosecuted for felony jury tampering if investigation
warranted. The defense also filed an affidavit by defense attorney Diana
Samuelson accusing Van Camp of taking advantage of the crowded conditions
in the courtroom June 23 to sit very close to the defense counsel table,
and to attempt to overhear and observe defense attorney consultations with
each other and with Lincoln.
Because Van Camp may be subject to criminal prosecution, Judge Golden would
not allow him to be questioned immediately by the Lincoln defense team.
Santa Rosa attorney John Shields was present to represent Van Camp, and he
said he knew what the deputy would testify, and felt "confident there is no
cause for criminal charges." He said Van Camp was prepared to testify and
wanted to clear the air.
Williams said the DA's office was prepared to look into the question of who
would investigate the charges and possibly prosecute Van Camp, but the
Lincoln defense charged there was an obvious conflict of interest. The
judge ordered Williams to report back July 2 on the issue of who should
investigate, and suggested the AG might be called in. Williams reported
that the AG would indeed take over the investigation. Van Camp was ordered
to return for possible questioning July 11.
*JUDGE ORDERS SOME HEARINGS CLOSED TO PUBLIC AND PRESS
When court convened the morning of Tuesday, July 1, Judge Golden told
counsel that, over previous objections of both defense and prosecution, he
has ordered that future hearings on whether certain evidence is admissible
in the trial will be closed to press and public, and documents and
transcripts related to those proceedings will be sealed from public
inspection. Serra renewed his objection on the basis of the First and Sixth
Amendments.
In his order, the judge explained that due to the high profile of the case
in the local media, evidence which he ruled inadmissible reached some
members of the jury panel through headlines, resulting in several being
excused after they said they could not put the information out of their
minds and reach a verdict based only on the evidence presented in court
during the trial.
In giving the justification for the order, Judge Golden wrote that the
interests of the prosecution and defense in a completely open and public
trial are outweighed by the court's interest in providing a fair trial
before an unbiased jury. He ruled out such extreme alternative measures as
sequestering the 12 jurors and 6 alternates for the duration of the
four-month trial as being too much of a burden on the jurors and on the
court. He also wrote that the defense had ruled out another alternative by
withdrawing its motion for a venue change. It appears the defense took that
statement as a cue to revive its effort to move the trial to another county.
*DEFENSE RENEWS CHANGE OF VENUE MOTION
Hours after Golden's order was made known, attorney Samuelson filed papers
to renew the motion for change of venue. Because of the total gag order,
the attorneys are unable to comment on what's happening in the case or why,
but it appears that the order closing some of the hearings was the last
straw for the defense, coming after the jury tampering shocker of last
week, the gag order, and also reflecting how difficult and slow it has been
trying to choose a jury.
Individual jury candidate questioning resumed Monday (June 30) and will
continue for two to three more weeks, or until about 35 additional members
of the jury panel are qualified. Nearly 40 out of the previously qualified
panel of 89 were excused last week based on new information they had
learned about the case through the media or overhearing conversations of
others, or second thoughts about whether they could consider imposing the
death penalty.
*MYSTERIOUS RECORDING ORDERED RETURNED TO DEJONG
In yet another bizarre development, the prosecution a few weeks ago
obtained a cassette recording of defense attorney Philip DeJong, apparently
either giving dictation or speaking to someone in his office about the
Lincoln case. Prosecutor Williams filed a motion asking the judge to listen
to the tape and determine if it contained information which should be
turned over to the prosecution. The prosecution said it got the tape when a
Round Valley resident named Doug Hutt approached a prosecution investigator
and said he got the tape from an unnamed person who offered to sell it to
him for $15. The investigator wrote in a sworn affidavit that when he began
to listen to the tape and recognized DeJong's voice, he immediately stopped
the tape.
In a hearing on the motion June 26, DeJong stated that he had never
released any recording of his voice to anyone, and the only way it could
have been obtained was by burglarizing or bugging his office. He vehemently
objected to the prosecution claiming any right to the fruits of a felony
crime, and argued the prosecution had received stolen property. Williams
responded that the prosecution had done nothing illegal, and had done the
honorable thing in asking the court whether the prosecution could hear the
rest of the tape. Judge Golden agreed with the defense and ordered the
prosecution to turn the tape over to DeJong "forthwith."
*DEFENSE CASE SUMMARY FILED
On June 18 the defense filed with the court a required brief summary of the
case. It states: that the deputies began shooting without warning or
identifying themselves the night of April 14, 1995, killing Bear Lincoln's
lifelong friend Acorn Peters, who never fired the rifle he was carrying.
After a brief interval the deputies fired at Bear Lincoln who was some
distance down the road. Lincoln "fired back in self-defense and fled the
scene."
"The defense asserts that (1) Mr. Lincoln did not provoke this incident in
any manner, (2) the prosecution will not be able to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that any shot fired by Mr. Lincoln was responsible for
killing deputy Davis, (3) every action taken by Mr. Lincoln was done in
self-defense. (4) that a cover-up ensued, which included the making of
false statements and reports by deputy Miller regarding the incident, and
the negligent and/or intentional failure of investigating officers to
preserve evidence at the scene, and (5) law enforcement personnel failed to
follow proper police procedures beginning with the Britton homicide
investigation and continuing throughout the Davis/Peters homicide
investigation, which included acts of misconduct, unlawful searches, and
excessive force, fueled by a bias and prejudice against Indian people." The
statement was signed by Serra.
*LINCOLN SUPPORT EVENT TO FEATURE DENNIS BANKS
The Lincoln/Peters Defense Alliance announced a special event to be held
over the next full moon weekend near Covelo. The "Gathering for Justice"
will begin at dusk Saturday July 19 at the Hidden Oaks Campground in Round
Valley, and continue until the morning of July 21, when there will be a
caravan to the courthouse, followed by a press conference and support
rally. The event will feature speakers, music, camping and barbecue.
Speakers will include American Indian Movement leader Dennis Banks,
recently freed longtime prisoner Norma Jean Croy, former Congressman Dan
Hamburg, attorneys Serra and De Jong, and civil rights attorney Dennis
Cunningham, who is handling Round Valley residents' class action civil
rights suit against police agencies and government bodies stemming from the
alleged widespread abuses by law enforcement in the aftermath of the death
of Deputy Davis. Other speakers invited but not confirmed include recently
freed former Black Panther Geronimo Pratt, Native American activist Nilak
Butler and nationally syndicated columnist Alexander Cockburn. This will be
a non-alcohol event, and will also feature traditional drumming and a
performance by the Seven Nations Dance Group. For information call Lynda
McClure at the Mendocino Environmental Center at 707-468-1660.
For further background check the Albion Monitor at:
http://www.monitor.net/monitor/
Use the search feature to look for Bear Lincoln and/or Round Valley
Other Bear Lincoln/Round Valley web sites:
http://www.cyborganic.com/people/bear/
http://www.planet-peace.org/round_valley/
http://www.dickshovel.com/beara.html
http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/emerg/may08bea.html
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* U.S. Mail to: *
* Nicholas Wilson *
* P.O. Box 943 *
* Mendocino CA 95460 *
* *
* Albion Monitor online newspaper covers Bari and Lincoln *
* http://www.monitor.net/monitor/ *
* *
* See the official Judi Bari Home Page *
* http://www.monitor.net/~bari/ *
* Justice for Judi Bari! *
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