Summary:
·
Trial began after six years
·
Unredacted video will be shown in
court although the men may not have seen it despite court orders
·
The judge has not ruled on
"justification" - whether the men will be allowed to say why they
took the action they did.
·
Jury selected and, with alternates,
includes nine women and five men, including three women of color
·
Duane Peters retained attorney
Michael Wiseman (Carrington Keys' stand-by attorney) to represent him
After
nearly six years – the incident took place on April 29, 2010 – the long-delayed
trial of the three remaining "Dallas 6" began on Monday, April 4. The day began with a press
conference on the steps of the courthouse where mother of Dallas 6
member Carrington Keys spoke about the trial starting on the anniversary of the
assassination of MLK. Supporters raised
that the court had already dismissed these ridiculous riot charges once, but
were only brought again by then attorney Lisa Gelb who was running for
judge. Now Judge Gelb is presiding over
the case.
About
15 supporters attended the start of the trial, a multi-racial group drawn
mainly from the families, a women's group (Global Women's Strike), the
religious community (members of Mishkan Shalom and Germantown Friends Meeting
in Philadelphia), and Payday men's network. Most of the day was spent on jury
selection, behind closed doors – no one was allowed in the courtroom presumably
because of lack of space. But the day began with the men – Carrington Keys,
Duane Peters, and Andre Jacobs – raising questions about why none of them got
the same version of the cell extraction videos, and Judge Gelb laying out what
would be allowed to raise to the jury and responding to the defendants' witness
lists.
The
men raised with the judge again that they have never received the original,
unredacted videos of their cell extractions -- the beatings by guards for which
they are accused of "rioting". They were only able to see the video
once, and each of them saw different versions. This is a violation of their
right to evidence and amounts to tampering with and hiding evidence. How can
they adequately prepare their defense without having the original videos? The
judge said that she had ordered the DA to send them the original videos and
they told her they had. The DA and the judge said, outrageously, that
"they have no control over the DOC (Department of Corrections)" – a
bad precedent, which the men challenged. However, the judge said that all the
original videos would be shown during the trial. Andre Jacobs also asked for a
paper trail of who, when, and how the videos were redacted. The DA revealed the
name of the attorney who ordered the redaction (Hogan) and the detective who
did it – Charles Ballow (sp?). They may
be called as witnesses.
On
the witnesses, those who were present at Dallas prison during the incident were
accepted. Several character witnesses that Duane Peters requested were struck
down because they were not at Dallas at the time, even though
they could speak to the reasons Duane was sent to solitary at Dallas in the
first place. The judge would not serve any subpoenas on behalf of the men –
particularly those related to Carrington's criminal complaint, such as
Superintendent Mooney – but said they can subpoena them now.
Tuesday
began with opening statements. Carrington and Andre are
representing themselves, while Attorney Michael Wiseman is now representing
Duane. The trial is expected to last a week. Stay tuned for a report from Tuesday's hearing, which went very well! TV coverage can be found here.
ANYONE WHO CAN ATTEND THE TRIAL ANY DAY THIS WEEK, PLEASE
CONTACT US!
WE URGENTLY NEED AS MANY SUPPORTERS AS POSSIBLE TO BE PRESENT IN THE COURTROOM.
Now is the time to help these brave prisoner whistleblowers
win a major victory for prisoners across Pennsylvania and across the US!
Please do the check-in if you want to come
or contact by email or phone. Rooms are available in the area.
