THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408120028
SECTION: MISCELLANEOUS PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Since editorial page editor John Barnes has decided to include the Leonard Peltier case in the vast realm of issues of which he selectively ignores known facts, I'd like to offer the truth as a counterpoint.
Leonard Peltier, a North American indigenous leader, was unlawfully extradited from Canada in 1976 and wrongfully imprisoned in the United States for allegedly killing two FBI agents ``in cold blood, at point-blank range'' - a crime he did not commit.
The FBI later admitted to fabricating evidence against him in order to extradite him. It also admitted coercing a statement from a woman claiming to be Leonard Peltier's girlfriend.
This woman's ``eyewitness account'' was called into question by several witnesses who claimed that she was never near the crime scene. Her credibility is also questionable given her long history of mental and emotional instability, as documented by several institutions that saw her on a ``revolving-door basis'' - that last phrase was in the FBI's words, not mine.
The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals found that his trial and subsequent appeals had been riddled with FBI misconduct, including coercion of witnesses, warrantless searches, perjury, fabrication of evidence, known anti-Indian biases in the jury panel and suppression of vital information. The prosecution during 1985 and 1992 appeals admitted, ``We simply do not know who shot the agents.''
Despite these admissions and the fabricated evidence, Leonard Peltier remains in jail. Mr. Barnes suggests that the idea of a government conspiracy against Mr. Peltier is another wacko liberal left conspiracy theory - although Barnes seems to have little problem hinting at the Clinton White House conspiring in the Waterwater affair and Vince Foster's death. The problem with Mr. Barnes' viewpoint on this issue, as with so many others, is that he simply doesn't know what he's talking about.
Most certainly the deaths of the two FBI agents cry out for justice, and their families have every right to see that those responsible for their deaths are punished. But not at the expense of an innocent man such as Leonard Peltier.
JOHN P. McALISTER
Norfolk, Aug. 3, 1994 by CNB