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Judge: Top Obama Officials Should Review Laos Case
Posted on February 28, 2009
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"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke:
Judge: Top Obama officials should review Laos case
By DON THOMPSON - Associated Press | Monday, February 23, 2009 9:08 PM PST ∞
SACRAMENTO ---- A federal judge on Monday urged top officials in the Obama administration to decide whether to continue to pursue the nearly 2-year-old case against 11 Vietnam War veterans accused of trying to overthrow the communist government of Laos.
U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr.. scolded federal prosecutors in Sacramento for considering new charges against the defendants nearly two years after they first were arrested.
He told prosecutors that they should take the case "to the top" of the new administration before deciding whether to keep prosecuting former Laotian Gen. Vang Pao, former U.S. Army officer Harrison Jack and nine other members of California's Hmong community.
Jack and the Hmong community leaders were accused in June 2007 of plotting to overthrow the Laotian government, and currently face charges that include violating the federal Neutrality Act by plotting the violent overthrow of Laos' communist government.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Tice-Raskin told Damrell on Monday that it could be another four months before prosecutors decide what charges they could face at trial.
"What's been going on the last couple of years?" Damrell responded. "You don't even know what the charges are going to be, that's what you're telling me."
Tice-Raskin said prosecutors plan to seek a new indictment after reviewing more than 30,000 pages of evidence and transcripts of wiretaps, many in foreign languages. He said the case is not in doubt, but Sacramento prosecutors are consulting with national security officials in the U.S. Department of Justice.
"I would recommend, given the extraordinary nature of the case, that you take it to the top," Damrell said.
The judge's comments came after lead defense attorney John W. Keker said he will soon file a motion alleging government misconduct and asking for a review by new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
"We're hoping that an independent review by people who have the power to say 'Enough is enough' will prompt the government to drop the case," Keker said.
Keker said an undercover agent lied when he said the defendants agreed to buy $9.8 million worth of automatic weapons, grenades, rockets and shoulder-fired missiles to equip a mercenary force. The agent's statements are not backed up by wiretap recordings, he said.
Keker said prosecutors also mishandled testimony from a former CIA agent who could help clear the defendants.
"I have never seen a case this bad. I have never seen so many lies by an agent in an affidavit," Keker told Damrell. He said the government's delays seem calculated to "have some defendants die with this cloud hanging over them," a reference to Vang Pao and many of his co-defendants, most of whom are in their 70s and were not at Monday's hearing.
Damrell set an April 6 hearing on the government misconduct motion.
Vang Pao and many members of the Hmong ethnic minority fought as U.S.-backed guerillas in Laos, but were all but abandoned when the country fell to communist forces in 1975. More than 300,000 refugees, mostly Hmong, fled into Thailand.
About 145,000 members of Laotian ethnic groups have resettled in California's Central Valley, Minneapolis, and cities throughout Wisconsin. They consider Vang Pao their leader.
The accused face up to life in prison if convicted.
Tice-Raskin said the government's review of the case has been slow because he took over in December after the former lead prosecutor was appointed a county judge. He said the case is likely to be delayed for months while Damrell decides whether to allow evidence that prosecutors say could affect national security.
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