Round Valley Lawsuit Update
...by Bonnie Blackberry
The lawsuit, LUCILLE LINCOLN, et al., as a class vs. Sheriff JIM TUSO, et al., and the COUNTY OF MENDOCINO as Defendants, is winding its way through the Federal Courts (other named defendants include the CHP and the U.S. Forest Service). On February 13, 1997, San Francisco civil rights attorney Dennis Cunningham filed the SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT for VIOLATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS and OTHER WRONGS in San Francisco U.S. District Court. The complaint cites violations of the 1st, 4th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as other wrongs, including intimidation, harassment, false arrest, assault and battery, assaults against children, wrongful imprisonment, invasion of privacy and negligence.
This lawsuit is a result of law enforcement actions and incidents which occurred mainly on the Round Valley Indian Reservation in Mendocino County, during and after the April 14, 1995 shooting deaths of three men, two Native Americans and one police officer. A multi-agency manhunt swept the valley, creating many violations in their quest to apprehend Bear Lincoln, the man accused of shooting the police officer. Bear Lincoln turned himself in after four months in hiding, saying he had feared for his life and that he now wanted to tell what really happened the night his friend Leonard Acorn Peters was shot and killed by police officer Bob Davis, who a few minutes later also died from a gun shot. Bear Lincoln is presently in the Mendocino County Jail at 951 Low Gap Road, Ukiah, CA 95482, awaiting trial which is scheduled to begin on April 15, 1997.
The problems with law enforcement and the Round Valley community have not been resolved. The most common complaints are lack of timely response, and unequal protection and enforcement of laws.
UPCOMING EVENTS: The Second Annual Candlelight Vigil Memorial for Leonard Acorn Peters will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Henderson and Little Valley Roads in Round Valley, on Saturday, April 12. On Sunday, April 13, there will be a community gathering sponsored by the Round Valley Indians for Justice and others, at the Buffalo Room in Round Valley. It's a potluck, starting at 2:00 p.m. Bring something if you can. Craft booths are welcome. Speakers, drumming and singing are planned. An update on the Bear Lincoln trial, scheduled to begin on April 15 in Ukiah, will be included.
|
|
