BACKGROUND: (From a previous post of this Blog): "The request to President Joe Biden by Members of Congress to allow an ailing Peltier "to go home, " is framed in terms of his health - not his 'innocence.' Yet over the decades, a dark cloud has hovered over his conviction for many reasons, including the ballistics used to convict him. As the 'Who is Leonard Peltier' site points out at the link below: "Critical ballistics evidence that reflected Leonard Peltier’s innocence was withheld during his trial. Specifically, the ballistics expert for the FBI, Evan Hodge, testified that he had been unable to perform the best test, a firing pin test, on certain casings found near Agent Coler’s car because the rifle in question had been damaged in a fire. Instead, he stated that he had conducted an extractor mark test and found the casing and weapon to match. Years later, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) showed that, in October 1975, a firing pin ballistics test had indeed been performed on the rifle and that the results were clearly negative. In short, the fatal bullets did not come from the weapon alleged to have been fired by Leonard Peltier. It should also be made very clear that the AR-15 and FBI-issued M-16 deliver the same .223 caliber round. However, the jury never heard about any of these crucial issues. On a related matter, SA Fred Coward testified that he was able to see Peltier at the site of the shoot-out, some 700 feet away, using the telescopic lens on his rifle. The defense attorneys duplicated this sighting and found it to be impossible. However, Judge Benson would not allow a test of the claim in court. Coward’s testimony was allowed into evidence and used as a basis to support Peltier’s conviction."
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/3022076012390067458
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "While they were there, the agents radioed that they had come under fire in a shootout that lasted 10 minutes, the FBI said. Both men were fatally shot at close range. According to the officials, Peltier — a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and then an activist with the American Indian Movement, a grassroots Indigenous rights group — was identified as the only person on the reservation in possession of the type of weapon that could fire the type of bullet that killed the agents. But dozens of people had participated in the gunfight; at trial, two co-defendants were acquitted after they claimed self-defense. When Peltier was tried separately in 1977, no witnesses who could identify him as the shooter were presented, and unknown to his defense lawyers at the time, the federal government had withheld a ballistics report indicating the fatal bullets didn't come from his weapon, according to court documents Peltier filed on appeal"
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.STORY: "Biden commutes life sentence of Leonard Peltier, Native American activist imprisoned for almost 50 years," byeReporters Erik Ortiz and Daniel Arkin, published by NBC News, on January 20, 2025. ( Erik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality. Daniel Arkin is a national reporter at NBC News.)
SUB-HEADING: "The commutation will allow {ell tier, who has long maintained his innocence in the killing of two FBI agents, to spend his remaining days in home confinement.
GIST: "Joe Biden, in one of his final acts as president Monday, commuted the life sentence of Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and of escaping from federal prison.
Peltier, who is 80 years old, has been imprisoned for almost five decades. He has been in declining health in recent years from diabetes, hypertension, partial blindness from a stroke and bouts of Covid.
In a statement, the White House said the commutation will enable Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement, “but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes.”
Peltier's daughter, Kathy Peltier, said she was in shock after learning what Biden had done after past presidential requests for clemency were unsuccessful.
"I'm just thankful that he had the balls and the guts to do it," she said of Biden's decision.
In a statement provided by the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy organization, Peltier said he was ready to leave prison.
"It's finally over — I'm going home," Peltier said. "I want to show the world I'm a good person with a good heart."
The U.S. Parole Commission in July denied Peltier's latest bid for release, which left his fate in the hands of Biden. Peltier has long maintained his innocence, and his commutation has drawn fierce opposition from members of law enforcement who contend that his two consecutive life sentences are just in the fatal shootings of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams in 1975 in South Dakota.
Christopher Wray, who became FBI director in 2017 before retiring Monday as President Donald Trump took office for his second term, had tried to convince Biden not to commute Peltier's sentence, arguing in a letter earlier this month that it would be "wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law."
"Mr. President, I urge you in the strongest terms possible: Do not pardon Leonard Peltier or cut his sentence short," Wray wrote.
Biden's commutation announcement came just minutes before Trump's inauguration. Trump did not act on Peltier's clemency request during his first term, and other presidents, Democrats and Republicans alike, also declined to intervene.
In a statement, the attorney who advocated for Peltier's parole praised the outgoing president.
“President Biden took an enormous step toward healing and reconciliation with the Native American people in this country," said the attorney, Kevin Sharp. "It took nearly 50 years to acknowledge the injustice of Leonard Peltier’s conviction and continued incarceration, but with the President’s act of mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation and live out his remaining days.”
Peltier told NBC News in 2022 that he wasn't interested in a presidential pardon because it would be granted for a crime he insists he is innocent of. Instead, he said, he wanted the opportunity to get out of prison and get a new trial.
"I would love to go home," Peltier said by phone from the Federal Correctional Complex Coleman in Florida. "My family wants to take care of me. My tribe wants to take care of me."
Over the decades, human rights and faith leaders, including Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama, and Nobel Peace Prize recipients such as Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, have backed Peltier’s release.
Nick Tilsen, CEO of the NDN Collective, said Peltier's conviction was emblematic of the struggle between Native Americans and the federal government, particularly on Indigenous lands.
"Leonard Peltier's liberation is our liberation — we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture," Tilsen said in a statement.
But law enforcement organizations have accused Peltier's supporters of trying to mislead the events that led to his arrest and conviction.
Natalie Bara, the president of the FBI Agents Association, which advocates for active and retired agents, said it is "outraged" by Biden's reprieve for Peltier.
"This last-second, disgraceful act by then-President Biden, which does not change Peltier's guilt but does release him from prison, is cowardly and lacks accountability," Bara said in a statement. "It is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement."
On June 26, 1975, Coler and Williams were on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to arrest a man on a federal warrant in connection with the theft of cowboy boots, according to the agency's investigative files.
While they were there, the agents radioed that they had come under fire in a shootout that lasted 10 minutes, the FBI said. Both men were fatally shot at close range. According to the officials, Peltier — a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and then an activist with the American Indian Movement, a grassroots Indigenous rights group — was identified as the only person on the reservation in possession of the type of weapon that could fire the type of bullet that killed the agents.
But dozens of people had participated in the gunfight; at trial, two co-defendants were acquitted after they claimed self-defense. When Peltier was tried separately in 1977, no witnesses who could identify him as the shooter were presented, and unknown to his defense lawyers at the time, the federal government had withheld a ballistics report indicating the fatal bullets didn't come from his weapon, according to court documents Peltier filed on appeal.
The FBI, however, maintained that his conviction was "rightly and fairly obtained" and "has withstood numerous appeals to multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court."
Kathy Peltier said she last saw her father in prison before the start of the Covid pandemic. She said the family is now "crying tears of joy" to know that he will be able to return to them and see his dozen great-grandchildren and all the people who supported him for decades.
"It's a relief," Kathy Peltier said. "We'll actually be able to hug him, really hug him, and sit around for hours and not have a time limit and talk. There's so much he's missed out on.""
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
