Report on bail hearings for Hank Jones & Cisco Torres, 8/20/07

Report on Bail Hearings Aug 20

Bail hearings continued today, Monday, August 20 in the SF 8 case.
Arguments were made on behalf of Henry W. (Hank) Jones and Francisco
(Cisco) Torres. Tomorrow, Tuesday August 21, arguments will be made
for Harold Taylor's bail reduction. Judge Moscone reiterated that he
will make rulings on bail for all the men on Wednesday, August 22
once the individual arguments have all been completed.

Hank Jones

Speaking on behalf of Hank Jones, attorney John Philipsborn
introduced Hank's family - his wife, daughters, and sister. He
described Hank's history: a San Francisco native, raised under
difficult circumstances in a Chinatown Hotel, joined the Marines,
fought in Vietnam. In 1968, he became a community activist
struggling for fair housing, better schools, and other human rights
issues in the Black community. Along with Ray Boudreaux, he was a
founder of the Black Student Union at San Francisco State.

The Context of the 60's

Addressing the bail issue of "Danger To Society," Philipsborn
referred to the extraordinary community support, the volume of
letters for Jones and others, but stated that in order to address the
legal issues relating to bail, you had to understand the context of
the period of 1968-77. 1968 marked the assassination of Martin
Luther King, Jr., urban "riots", the height of the Vietnam war, and
the end to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. Black citizens
were harassed, beaten and many were killed by police. It's true,
Philipsborn stated, the perception that the police attacked rather
than protected the Black Community led to calling them "pigs".

FBI Surveillance

Along with other activists, Jones was put under police and FBI
surveillance, but was not ever a member of the Black Panther Party.
Nevertheless, because of the repression, Jones feared for the safety
of his family and broke ties with them for several years.

Philipsborn noted that the BPP can be compared to the African
National Congress in South Africa, i.e., illegal organizations at war
with a "legitimate" government, with the ANC banned in South Africa
and the BPP made de facto illegal by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. "What do
bail issues mean" Philipsborn asked, "when actions are a result of
community perception of being oppressed and marginalized?"

Francisco Torres

Speaking on behalf of Francisco Torres, Chuck Bourdon presented
Cisco's family and described his personal history: VISTA volunteer,
Vietnam Vet, long time community organizer, and devoted family
member. Cisco is loved by his community, and is known as someone who
helps everyone. He has been showered with letters of support. Cisco
is the primary caretaker of a son with sickle cell anemia, who was
too ill to join his family at the hearing today.

Summarizing the bail issue of "Flight Risk," Bourdon emphasized that
the men are not flight risks because the case is totally weak.
Previous attempts at prosecution have been thrown out, and there is
no new evidence. The men expect to win. One concrete new example of
this is that the defense learned today that in contrast to the
results of fingerprint tests with "new" techniques that would
implicate Cisco, current DNA testing contradicts those results. All
of the DNA evidence obtained at the scene does not match any of the
eight defendants. Result: No new evidence.

Unreasonable Delay

A critical legal argument remains: a 36 year old case with no new
evidence constitutes an "unreasonable delay." Arguments towards
dropping the charges will take place once the discovery motions have
been completed.

Come to Court

Come to court Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. for the last bail hearing (Harold
Taylor) and at 9:00 on Wednesday August 22 for motions on discovery
and the judge's ruling on bail.

The next scheduled court appearance after that will be Tuesday,
August 28 on further motions (demurs), but check back on the
FreeTheSF8.org web site to confirm (all court dates are subject to
change).

_______________________________________________
Please support these brothers by sending a donation. Make checks payable to
CDHR/Agape and mail to the address below or donate on line:

http://www.freethesf8.org/donate.html

Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR)
PO Box 90221
Pasadena, CA 91109
(415) 226-1120
FreetheSF8 [at] riseup.net