PIML 96062606 / Forwarded to Patriot Information Mailing List: =================================================================== Date: 25 Jun 96 13:01:46 EDT From: Mike Johnson <102052.3716@CompuServe.COM> Subject: MJN:Waco legal suits Information about several of the suits that have been filed against the government and other entities as a result of the Waco debacle. This article then focuses mainly on the suit ex-attorney general Ramsey Clark is helping with. - Mike/North Central Florida Regional Militia It is safe to assume that any traffic going to or from this address is being recorded, stored and analyzed somewhere by government employees. Any other assumption is *not* *safe*. ----Forwarded Message(s)---- 24-Jun-96 13:07 EDT Sb: Waco Suits Fm: Patricia Neill > INTERNET:pnpj@db1.cc.rochester.edu The Washington Times, Sunday June 23, 1996 Waco's long siege begets a longer drama in court The legal battles may last five years, and Ramsey Clark will try to vindicate the survivors. - --By Hugh Aynesworth WACO, Texas -- Get ready for Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, Western style. The aftermath of the 1993 siege here, which ended with more than 80 Branch Davidians dead, is turning into a battle of a different kind, this one to be fought in court. Like the legendary legal war in Charles Dickens' "Bleak House," some predict the court fight -- not counting appeals -- will last at least five years, maybe even longer. Although the first of several trials won't begin until September at the earliest, dozens of lawyers have filed hundreds of pages of motions and everyone seems to be suing everyone else -- survivors and relatives of those who died in the inferno suing the U.S. government, federal agents suing Waco news organizations and an ambulance service, and federal agents suing superiors. "Can someone give a summary of what I need to rule on?" an exasperated Judge Walter Smith said after hearing several pleas for limiting discovery time and scope -- one plaintiff's group wants to depose 75 government agents and get access to 45,000 government documents. The U.S. District Court judge, who presided over the 1994 criminal trial of several survivors convicted of killing six federal agents in the botched government raid that precipitated a 51-day siege, is expected to take center stage again. Joining the judge in the spotlight is former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who represents a host of the survivors in their suit against two federal agencies. He wants Judge Smith removed from that case. Mr. Clark charges that the judge's sentencing of those convicted of taking part in the Feb. 28, 1993, shootout that started as Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents stormed the Branch Davidian compound "would have to be considered draconian." Most defendants were handed maximum 40-year sentences after the judge technically rearranged and reinterpreted the jury verdicts. Mr. Clark's remarks were made in an exclusive interview with The Washington Times on June 7 following a hearing in Judge Smith's court aimed at ironing out details involving several civil lawsuits that have arisen out of the raid at Waco. Some lawyers hesitate to ask a judge to step aside, even if they have a strong case for bias, for fear the judge will refuse to move the case and may lean slightly on major points of contention in the eventual trial. Mr. Clark doesn't hesitate to pinpoint what he considers his clients' problem. He said Judge Smith has overstepped his authority and has clearly proven himself biased against the Branch Davidians. "Here you've got a judge who has spoken out in harsh terms on every issue -- beyond jury findings and beyond issues in the case," said the 69-year-old Dallas native who headed the Justice Department three decades ago. He said Judge Smith had apparently disregarded citizens' rights to choose and practice their preferred religions. Free exercise of religious choice, along with free speech, Mr. Clark said, "is a part of the same idea -- that you don't mess with the heads and spirits of other people." Mr. Clark was chagrined at statements made by Judge Smith, who publicly called Davidian leader David Koresh a "false prophet" and mockingly maligned the lifestyles and motives of his followers. "What is he? Is he a deacon of the church now, and decides who is a false prophet and who is a true prophet?" said Mr. Clark. "What's the point of him deciding that? He decided it was part of the faith of these people that they had to violently confront the government. Well that's absolutely not true." He said the Waco federal judge not only didn't accept the jury's verdicts, but illegally substituted his own. As part of an attempt by Mr. Clark's clients to remove Judge Smith from participation, he has filed an affidavit by Sarah L. Bain, jury foreman of the first Waco-related trial in San Antonio. "I believe Judge Smith no only ignored our verdict of not guilty of murder, but he misused our jury and verdict to punish people he had come to scorn," Mrs. Bain said in her affidavit. Mr. Clark said he could not recall a similar instance in his many years of practicing law where the trial judge set aside a jury verdict on a count, discharged the jury and then reinstated the charge. All of those cases are now on appeal. But many of the same facts -- some disputed, some agreed upon by both sides -- will be at issue again in many of the impending trials. The events of the April 19 raid that both sides agree on are these: After negotiating, pleading, promising and debating, the FBI moved in with heavy tanks that punched holes in walls and inserted tear gas canister in an attempt to drive the Branch Davidians out and end the stalemate. Fire suddenly erupted and within minutes more that 80 Branch Davidians - - - almost two-thirds of them women and children -- burned to death. Nearly every other aspect of the raid, however, is disputed. While there is an even larger group of plaintiff survivors and relatives suing the government in a separate suit, some of their allegations are vastly different -- and milder -- than those espoused by Mr. Clarks' clients. "We have basically different perspectives on the case," said Mr. Clark, now a New York lawyer. "They don't sue [U.S. Attorney General] Janet Reno, yet she takes responsibility -- and has some responsibility. And we will prove what it is, ultimately." =================================================================== * Patriot Information Mailing List * http://constitution.org/piml/piml.htm * A service to help inform those who have an active interest in * returning our federal and state governments to limited, * constitutional government * Send messages for consideration and possible posting to * butterb@sagenet.net (Bill Utterback). * To subscribe or unsubscribe, send message with subject line * "subscribe patriot" or "unsubscribe patriot" * Forwarded messages sent on this mailing list are NOT verified. * See World's Smallest Political Quiz: www.self-gov.org/quiz.html * Libertarian is to LIBERTY as librarian is to library (DePena) * PIML grants permission to copy and repost this message * in its entirety with headers and trailers left intact.