Free Douglas White
- by: Douglas White Defense Fund
- recipient: Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and United States Federal Court, District of South Dakota
Douglas White is the oldest living and longest practicing Lakota (Sioux) medicine man from Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota. He has spent the last fifteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Douglas has five years left on his sentence and was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. He has been given less than a few months to live.
In 1991 after a long-standing family feud, Douglas was accused of abusing his two grandsons. The tribe fully investigated the case and found Douglas not guilty of the charges. A year later Douglas was charged with the very same crime by the federal government and tried by an all white jury, 100 miles away from his home in a foreign language. At the age of 72, Douglas was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Despite his plea of not guilty (which he has maintained for 19 years), no priors and no history of any such behavior, Douglas was found guilty even though there was no physical evidence. Douglas, like most American Indians, has never been able to afford an attorney. His appeals, requests for compassionate release and a commutation of sentence have all been denied. This is his last and only chance.
In November 2007, Douglas' grandsons confessed that they had never been abused and both signed affidavits stating this. Psychological evaluations and polygraph examinations have conclusively established that they are now telling the truth. A motion requesting the federal court in Rapid City to reopen the case has been submitted and we need your help to request that the Court give Douglas a chance.
Please sign this petition to request that Douglas' case be re-opened and that Douglas be released pending the Court's deliberations on his case.
If you would like more information on Douglas White and his case please visit:
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www.FreeDouglasWhite.com
Dear Judges,
We the undersigned request that you please reopen the case of The United States of America vs. Douglas White. New evidence of Douglas White's "actual innocence" has been uncovered that would have overturned the jury's verdict had it been available 16 years ago.
The two children in this case, now young men, have both recanted their trial testimonies and have signed affidavits that the abuse never happened. The only evidence in this case consisted of these two boys' testimonies which were contradictory and based on leading questions by the prosecution. Witnesses can also testify that the boys denied the charges to medical and legal officials prior to the federal trial. These new circumstances merit the Court's attention.
Today, Mr. White is 88 years old and dying of cancer. Our Constitution allows for post-conviction relief to be requested if evidence of "actual innocence" is uncovered. In the name of justice, we respectfully ask that you please allow Douglas White to present this new evidence before the Court.
We also ask that you please release Douglas White while you deliberate further on his case. It will be a travesty of justice if this innocent man were to die in prison.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
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