And now:"S.I.S.I.S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: NOTE: Please send all inquiries/comments about this post to the original sender, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, *not* S.I.S.I.S. -------Forwarded message----- Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 16:31:19 -0500 From: "Irma L. Muniz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Ramsey Muniz Defense Committee News Please distribute widely. STATUS OF RAMSEY MUNIZ Ramsey Muniz, a political prisoner from Corpus Christi, Texas, remains in solitary confinement in Leavenworth, Kansas. He and other Mexicanos have been kept in torturous conditions since December 10, 1998. When we ask the Bureau of Prisons for a reason, they merely say that it is due to an ongoing investigation. NEW FLYER Enclosed is a new flyer regarding the case of Ramsey Muniz. The information includes the complete story of a false scenario created in 1994 by DEA agents in Dallas, Texas, in order to capture Ramsey again. Captured in 1994 Ramsey Muniz, a leader during the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, is a political prisoner serving a life sentence on false charges. In March of 1994, Muniz was on business trips in Houston and Dallas. He worked as a legal assistant and was meeting potential clients for different attorneys. Muņiz did not drive long distances alone, due to health reasons. On this trip he traveled with Juan Gonzales of Mathis, Texas. One of the clients that Muniz met with was Donacio Medina, of Durango, Mexico. Medina needed the help of an attorney to transfer two incarcerated brothers to prisons in Mexico. On March 11, 1994, Medina asked Juan Gonzales and Ramsey Muņiz for a ride to the airport. On their way there, he asked Muņiz to move his car to another motel, where he planned to retrieve it later. Muniz did not have a vehicle, so he agreed to help move Medina's car - - a vehicle which he had never been in before. As Muniz was parking Medina's car, he realized that he was being followed by the law. He parked the car then quickly walked, searching for a telephone to call an attorney. As he walked, a police car whisked past him, as in pursuit. At this point Muniz nervously attempted to disassociate himself from the car he had just been asked to move. Walking toward a telephone, he placed the car keys in his sock, to avoid giving them to the law enforcement. He never made it to the telephone. He was surrounded by police and DEA agents, even though they had no legal reason to have stopped him. They searched him, and found the car keys. Later, they searched the car and found what they already knew was there. DEA agent Kimberly Elliott of Dallas, Texas, signed an affidavit which stated the reasons why they went after Muniz. The affidavit contained false statements. Elliott stated that motel employees had contacted the DEA because of suspicious behavior on the part of Ramsey Muniz. This behavior consisted of his making phone calls from the lobby when he could have used his room instead. Elliott further stated that Muniz used a false name when he checked into the motel. The three motel employees were brought in to testify at the trial, and their testimony was consistent. None of them had contacted the DEA, none had said that Muniz had acted suspiciously, and it was proven that Muniz had used his own name when he checked into the motel. We later discovered that the government was actually in pursuit of Donacio Medina, because he (and NOT Muniz) had made an illegal drug deal with them. They kept this information from the jury, however. The government did not want for the jury to know about Donacio Medina so that they could instead blame Ramsey Muniz. The DEA's wrongdoing is further compounded by the fact that they let Donacio Medina go free, even though he was the one they had been pursuing. Muniz's fingerprints were nowhere to be found on the car that Medina had asked him to move. The government would not reveal whose fingerprints were on the contraband. We later learned that Juan Gonzales was the one who had rented the car for Donacio Medina. Gonzales, the co-defendant, did not take the witness stand. Ramsey Muniz, Juan Gonzales, and Donacio Medina had met at an Owens Restaurant, to discuss legal assistance for Medina's brothers. DEA agent Eli Chavez claims to have heard a phrase during this meeting - the only phrase that he could hear during a 30-minute conversation. He claims that Medina said, "No los conozco muy bien, pero vamos hacer un trato a las diez." This one statement, not even made by Muniz, was the only evidence that the government produced to indict Muniz. They claimed that Medina made this statement, yet Medina was allowed him to go free! The only evidence, which could have shown that Medina was staying in a different motel from Muniz, was not allowed in the trial. The custodian of records was properly subpoenaed for this information, but he refused to show. The defense asked the judge to enforce the subpoena. The judge refused, saying that it might confuse the jury. The prosecutors withheld information until the last part of the trial, making it too late for the defense to make use of it. They made no apologies for this misconduct. Persecuted from the Beginning At the heart of his political career in 1976, Ramsey Muniz was indicted on drug conspiracy charges. Knowing that the establishment was out to get him, he left for Mexico only to be caught, tortured, and returned to the U.S. for prosecution. Houston Attorney Dick DeGuerin stated, "The evidence was either non-existent or from a very unreliable source. There were a couple of people who were given immunity in order to testify, and it was just an effort to get Ramsey!" Muniz pleaded guilty to federal drug charges, and disassociated himself >from members of the Raza Unida Party, knowing that they were also government targets. Muniz was indicted in Corpus Christi and San Antonio for the same crime, making it count twice. Muniz's sentence was far greater than sentences normally given. He served his time in the harshest prisons throughout the country. He was later released to face continuing stalking and persecution by the DEA. In Houston, Muniz was followed by the DEA, and accused of drug possession for contraband found not in his possession, but in a client's apartment. The charges were dropped due to an illegal search, and a parole violation was given. Status of the Case The trial was in Sherman, Texas, which is in the Eastern District. It was lost, appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and to the Supreme Court. All courts denied the appeal. A §2255 was filed in October of 1997, and it was denied by the Eastern District. It was forwarded to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and we await their response. All appellate work has been filed Pro Se. How You Can Help * Organize a Ramsey Muniz Defense Committee in your area. Contact us for additional information. * Write or telephone senators and congressmen. Ask that they call for a congressional investigation. Solomon P. Ortiz United States Congressman 3649 Leopard Street Corpus Christi, TX 78408 (361) 883-5868 fax: 884-9201 Kay Bailey Hutchison United States Senator 10440 N. Central Expwy. Ste.1160 Dallas, TX 75231 (214) 767-0577 fax:(202)224-0776 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Edward Kennedy United States Senator 2400 J.F.K. Federal Building Boston, MA 02203 (617) 565-3170 fax:(617)565-3183 [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Send donations: Advocates of Justice 5403 Everhart Rd. #216 Corpus Christi, TX 78411-4895 (361) 992-4488 "Even though I'm caged and confined in the underground dungeons of this oppressor, my soul is free. The more I read, study and examine our ancient sacred spiritual historia, the more I'm totally convinced that we, the Mexikas, will never be defeated again." Ramsey R. Muniz - Tezcatlipoca http://home.earthlink.net/~aou ++++FREE RAMSEY MUNIZ++++ :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. 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