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Leavenworth: Lopez Charges Dropped

By VVAW

The trial of two Chicano Leavenworth Brothers began in Wichita, KS on October 21st. Jesse Lopez and Armando Miramon were brought to trail on charges of 4 counts of kidnapping (carrying a maximum sentence of 100 years each) and Miramon is charged with assault on a prison guard. These charges stem from the July 31, 1973 uprising which occurred inside Leavenworth Federal Prison as prisoners united and stood up against the inhuman and repressive conditions within the prison. Four black Leavenworth Brothers (Odell Bennett, Jessie Evans, Alf Hill and Alfred Jasper) were recently convicted of assault and inciting to riot charges by an all-white jury in Wichita.

Following the presentation of the prosecution's case, Judge Theis ordered that all charges against Jesse Lopez be dropped because the government had produced no evidence to warrant the continuation of the trial against Lopez. These charges were not dropped out of the goodness of anybody's heart, or as a show of fairness and impartiality of the court. These charges were dropped for the simple reason that there was no evidence against this brother and the government can only go so far in its frame-up attempts of people who resist the oppression of their daily lives. The "justice" system knew that any conviction of Lopez would be overturned by an appeal court, so after 1-1/2 years of harassment, many months in solitary confinement, and subjection to the pressures of facing many life sentences in prison, Jessie Lopez is no longer on trial. This may be seen as one small victory for the people in the struggle against the racism and repression of the prisoners of the country.

The charges that these brothers were indicted on include the allegation that during the Leavenworth rebellion, 4 guards were held hostage by William Hurst and Miramon. (Hurst -- the only white Leavenworth Brother to be indicted -- would have been tried with Miramon and Lopez, but in Amy of this year, he was found hanged in his cell in the Wyandotte County Jail. Officials at the jail called Hurst's death suicide, but a more apt term for his death is murder). The four hostages were released unharmed after the Warden agreed to meet wit ha prisoner grievance committee. During the presentation of the prosecution's case, the 4 hostages testified that they were treated well by Hurst and Miramon. One guard stated that "I treated the prisoners as humans and they treated me as such." White being held, the guards were made comfortable and were given chairs, cigarettes and coffee. Obviously, this treatment does no indicate that Hurst and Miramon were maniacal kidnappers.

During the defense presentation, a psychiatrist testified that Miramon could not have been responsible for his activates on July 31st, because he was suffering from "sensory deprivation psychosis." Miramon had spent many months in the Leavenworth "hole" and was released shortly before the rebellion erupted. The psychiatrist stated that people subjected to sensory deprivation cannot concentrate and do not always know what they are doing. Miramon also testified that he knew he was in the laundry (the room where the guards were held), but that he did not know why he was there or how he had gotten there. Because of the psychological problems which developed as a result of his time spent in the "hole," Miramon has pleaded "not guilty for lack of criminal responsibility" to the kidnapping charges.

Miramon's case is being heard by an all-white, middle-class jury composed of 7 women and 5 men. These men and women have sat through 3 weeks of testimony concerning the conditions within Leavenworth Prison -- conditions that led to the taking of hostages as the only means left by which to struggle for a bearable life within a prison filled with brutality, severe repression and premature death. Often, the testimony given in this trial has brought several of the jurors to tears of disbelief and shock as these people have been forced to come face-to-face with the true nature of the prison system of this country -- a system used to prop up imperialism and a system which exhibits imperialism in all of its ugliness. This jury will decide whether or not Armando Miramon will be sentenced to four lifetimes in prison, or whether the right to rebel belonged to this man as the only course of action left to him. (For more information on this, and the previous, trial, contact: Leavenworth Brothers Offense/Defense Committee, 1715 N. St. Francis, Wichita, Ks).