Bari v. FBI - Bringing COINTELPRO into Court

Bringing COINTELPRO into Court:
Plaintiffs to File Motion Expanding Bombing Case Beyond Individual
Defendants

CLOSING ARGUMENTS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY AND/OR THURSDAY

CONTACT: Jean Eisenhower, Kathy Glass, Steve Christianson, or Tracy
Katelman at 510/663-6330.

OAKLAND, CA—Testimony regarding official FBI history of “disrupting”
and “neutralizing” politically dissident groups under the COINTELPRO
program prior to 1976, and under the guise of “investigation” since then,
may make its way back into the civil rights trial of Earth First!
organizers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. Documented tactics of frame-up
and defamation were excluded from the current Bari vs. FBI trial in August
2001 by way of motions in limine (“on the threshold,” or just before the
trial) when Judge Claudia Wilken decreed that only actions involving the
individual FBI and Oakland Police Department defendants could be brought to
bear in court. In other words, unless one of the nine defendants in this
case was personally involved in prior COINTELPRO operations, this history
would not be allowed in the Earth First! lawsuit. Approximately 300 pages
of evidence were thrown out, which had formed the heart of the plaintiffs’
claims that a conspiracy to violate their rights was par for the course for
the FBI. But the plaintiffs will file a motion today requesting that
COINTELPRO factual history be aired before the jury. The motion will be
available electronically at http://www.judibari.org later in the week.

Defendant witnesses to take the stand today will include: Patrick Webb (in
continuation of testimony), FBI Supervisory Special Agent, who testified
about the bomb’s placement; Chris Carpenter, Alameda County Assistant
District Attorney, who made the decision not to file charges against Judi
and Darryl; Mary Ann Kenny, paralegal in the US Attorney’s office, who
looked for and couldn’t find over 50 missing FBI documents; Phyllis
Zimmerman, FBI employee in charge of redactions; and Leo West, FBI bomb
expert on accidental pipe bomb explosions. In addition, plaintiffs may
call rebuttal witnesses.

After the conclusion of witness testimony, Judge Wilken will give
instructions to the jury, then closing arguments will begin, likely
Wednesday or Thursday.
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