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El Laberinto, 1971-1987

9
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The judge blurted, "Baloney!"
Mark, glancing at the court reporter to make sure he was taking it all down, said, "Did I hear you correctly?"
"Baloney!" End of conference.
In the corridor while we were discussing this latest development, the U.S. Attorney came out and told us that the judge had asked his opinion on whether he would be reversed if he refused to permit us to substitute attorneys, and he said no. Further, he told us he had prepared the defense of Pedro's lawyer. At that point, we all decided that the total lack of judicial ethics, restraint, and propriety had to be documented, so we left Pedro and started back to prepare more affidavits for our appeal.
That night, as we sat typing up our additional affidavits describing the horror stories of the day, Allen Moves Camp, an AIM activist from Pine Ridge, came in crying. Pedro had told her that the judge and attorney had threatened to send him to jail for 90 years if he didn't become an informer against AIM in the Wounded Knee trials.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in Minneapolis had been so incensed at our story that they gave us an immediate hearing date the next day, a most unusual move.
So while Ken Tilsen from Minneapolis and I flew to Minneapolis for the hearing Beverly Axelrod (another attorney) went to Pierre. There she demanded to speak to Pedro, and to remain within the bar to give counsel to Pedro during his trial. The judge refused, but when she insisted that it go on the record, he finally gave in and permitted her to sit inside the rail. Pedro immediately got up from the counsel table where he had been sitting with his back to his appointed lawyer and went to sit with Beverly. The judge was furious, and the jury bewildered. But Pedro stayed with "his attorney."
(The Circuit Court ruled that since thetrial was already almost completed, it would not order it halted, but it indicated that there were already enough judicial errors that could make an appeal successful.. News of the appeal court decision came while the trial was in progress. Shortly afterwards, the prosecution rested its case, the defense attorney moved for acquittal, and the motion was granted by the judge.
(Marge Buckley, an attorney from Venice California, Aztlan, spent five weeks aidding the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee.) Taken from AKWESASNE NOTES. RZ.

Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Pedro Bissonette, an Oglala leader in the occupation of Wounded Knee, was shot and killed by Bureau of Indian Affairs Policemen October 17, 1973.
Bissonette, vice-president of the Oglala Civil Rights Organization, was one of the top seven facing the most serious charges arising from the occupation.
Mark Lane, a defense attorney from the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee, charged that Bissonette's death was part of a conspiracy by federal officials to harass, terrorize, and destroy the American Indian Movement. "It appears that the BIA was looking for Bissonette and had orders to shoot to kill," Lane said.
Stanley Lyman, the superintendent at Pine Ridge for the BIA, said Bissonette had been found in a car in the course of a routine check.
Pedro was 33 the when was murder on a highway just east of Pine Ridge. One officer said he attempted to fire at Bissonette, but his gun jammed. The other officer said he fired a

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9 [emblem] The judge blurted, "Baloney!" Mark, glancing at the court reporter to make sure he was taking it all down, said, "Did I hear you correctly?" "Baloney!" End of conference. In the corridor while we were discussing this latest development, the U.S. Attorney came out and told us that the judge had asked his opinion on whether he would be reversed if he refused to permit us to substitute attorneys, and he said no. Further, he told us he had prepared the defense of Pedro's lawyer. At that point, we all decided that the total lack of judicial ethics, restraint, and propriety had to be documented, so we left Pedro and started back to prepare more affidavits for our appeal. That night, as we sat typing up our additional affidavits describing the horror stories of the day, Allen Moves Camp, an AIM activist from Pine Ridge, came in crying. Pedro had told her that the judge and attorney had threatened to send him to jail for 90 years if he didn't become an informer against AIM in the Wounded Knee trials. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in Minneapolis had been so incensed at our story that they gave us an immediate hearing date the next day, a most unusual move. So while Ken Tilsen from Minneapolis and I flew to Minneapolis for the hearing Beverly Axelrod (another attorney) went to Pierre. There she demanded to speak to Pedro, and to remain within the bar to give counsel to Pedro during his trial. The judge refused, but when she insisted that it go on the record, he finally gave in and permitted her to sit inside the rail. Pedro immediately got up from the counsel table where he had been sitting with his back to his appointed lawyer and went to sit with Beverly. The judge was furious, and the jury bewildered. But Pedro stayed with "his attorney." (The Circuit Court ruled that since thetrial was already almost completed, it would not order it halted, but it indicated that there were already enough judicial errors that could make an appeal successful.. News of the appeal court decision came while the trial was in progress. Shortly afterwards, the prosecution rested its case, the defense attorney moved for acquittal, and the motion was granted by the judge. (Marge Buckley, an attorney from Venice California, Aztlan, spent five weeks aidding the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee.) Taken from AKWESASNE NOTES. RZ. Pine Ridge, South Dakota Pedro Bissonette, an Oglala leader in the occupation of Wounded Knee, was shot and killed by Bureau of Indian Affairs Policemen October 17, 1973. Bissonette, vice-president of the Oglala Civil Rights Organization, was one of the top seven facing the most serious charges arising from the occupation. Mark Lane, a defense attorney from the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee, charged that Bissonette's death was part of a conspiracy by federal officials to harass, terrorize, and destroy the American Indian Movement. "It appears that the BIA was looking for Bissonette and had orders to shoot to kill," Lane said. Stanley Lyman, the superintendent at Pine Ridge for the BIA, said Bissonette had been found in a car in the course of a routine check. Pedro was 33 the when was murder on a highway just east of Pine Ridge. One officer said he attempted to fire at Bissonette, but his gun jammed. The other officer said he fired a