SF 8 - First of several Conditional Exams

"SF-8 case" <cdhrsupport@freedomarchives.org>
Date:    Fri, July 18, 2008

The first of several prosecution witnesses appeared in closed
sessions this week in the San Francisco 8 case. These "conditional
exams" of five witnesses who are old and in poor health are taking
place as they may not be available at trial. They are testifying in
advance of the preliminary hearing scheduled for September 8th.

Jack Girot, a former SF Police Officer was in court for two days and
was questioned about a "stolen bicycle" report filed at the Ingleside
Police Station in 1971. The notes he took are lost or destroyed. The
report originally prepared by Girot was "enhanced" by unknown person
or persons with additional information not provided by Girot. He
could not identify the people who made the report. A co-authored
Erdalatz and McCoy intra-departmental memo puts an additional Black
male in the police station at the time of the stolen bicycle report
with no reference to the source of the information. Girot could not
identify any of the defendants in the case from either their current
photographs or photos from 1971.

The next exams are scheduled for August 22 & August 25-28.

Judge Moscone had Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim appear unshackled in
court for the first time, when neither the SF County Sheriff (who
runs the jail and security in the courthouse) nor the prosecutors objected.

The California State Prosecutors office has not allowed the defense
to see the text of a proposed agreement to return Herman and Jalil to
New York state for their parole hearings. The delays make it unlikely
that they can have their legally-guaranteed hearings before the
September preliminary hearing. Prosecutors are saying that until the
extradition papers are signed, they remain confidential and will not
be presented to Judge Moscone to sign.

Judge Philip Moscone had earlier (on May 22) signed an order allowing
Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim to return to New York state for their
parole hearings. All parties agreed that the move would be temporary;
Herman and Jalil waived their rights to fight extradition back to California.

This is a vindictive and mean-spirited procedural delay. Strong
arguments were made to guarantee Herman and Jalil's right to "pursue
their liberty interests" and have parole hearings. Both have served
over 30 years in prison as model prisoners. Both were targeted
originally by COINTELPRO as members of the Black Panther Party.

_______________________________________________
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Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR)
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Pasadena, CA 91109
(415) 226-1120
FreetheSF8@riseup.net

www.freethesf8.org