And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Sent by Tom Schlosser via Tribal law © NLP IP Company, Thursday, July 15, 1999 Counsel Criticized in Case Involving Lincoln Manhunt http://www.callaw.com/stories/edt0715d.html By Paul Elias U.S. District Judge Fern Smith may have left the bench two weeks ago, but that didn't stop her from rebuking San Francisco plaintiffs attorney Dennis Cunningham in a Wednesday order dismissing most of a civil rights case filed by the family of Eugene "Bear" Lincoln and others. Now being handed off to other judges are most of Smith's cases, including Lincoln v. Tuso, 96-1297, which involves claims against law enforcement agencies stemming from a manhunt at a Northern California Indian reservation. But Smith, in her order, said she wanted to resolve the summary judgment motion in Lincoln before moving to Washington, D.C., to take over the Federal Judicial Center. "Although the parties' settlement efforts are commendable, the court must express its dismay at the lackadaisical manner in which plaintiffs' counsel has prosecuted this case," Smith wrote. "Moreover, having observed this dispute since its inception, the court harbors serious reservations about plaintiffs' counsel's ability to press forward with this litigation in an efficient and effective manner." Three years ago, Cunningham sued the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol and dozens of officers on behalf of Eugene "Bear" Lincoln's family and several other Mendocino County Native Americans. The plaintiffs accused the cops of roughing them up and trampling all over their constitutional rights in a frantic search for Lincoln. Lincoln, a Wailaki Indian, and his friend, Leonard "Acorn' Peters, engaged in a shoot-out with two Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies on April 14, 1995, on the Round Valley Indian Reservation. The firefight left Peters and Deputy George Davis dead and Lincoln on the lam, wanted for murder. Dozens of cops descended on the reservation and turned over nearly every stone in search of Lincoln. In doing so, the plaintiffs accused the police of conducting unconstitutional searches and making wrongful arrests. On Sept. 23, 1997, a Mendocino County Superior Court jury acquitted Lincoln, agreeing with his self-defense argument. On Wednesday, Smith tossed out the claims brought by all but one of the plaintiffs in Cunningham's civil case, ruling the officers enjoyed qualified immunity. She allowed Perry Lincoln's claims of an illegal search and arrest at the hands of the county sheriff's department to go forward. Everything else, Smith ruled, gets tossed. Smith's ruling expressed frustration with Cunningham's handling of the case. She took particular aim at his opposition to the defense motion for summary judgment. "Plaintiffs' counsel submitted his opposition but has adduced little or no new evidence bearing upon defendants' opening arguments," she wrote. "The opposition is more stream-of-consciousness narrative than a cogent legal analysis. It is cluttered with conclusory allegations and allegations with no evidentiary support, and contains little if any discussion of case law." Neither side had read Smith's order Wednesday and declined to talk about it. When read the particular passages Smith aimed at him, Cunningham responded: "What a creepy thing to say." Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&