Join ANTI-WAR GAMES "OPERATION SNAFU"

12 Noon Monday 8 May

Office of U.S. Sen. Kit Bond 

10^th St. & Cherry in Columbia

in preparation & public resistance to a possible U.S. attack on Iran. 

Taking a page from war planners, mid-Missouri peace activists will initiate Anti-War Games at Sen. Kit Bond's Columbia office, at 10^th St. and Cherry, beginning at 12 noon, Monday, 8 May. The nonviolent exercise is planned by citizens in preparation for a possible U.S. attack on Iran. 

            "History is repeating itself with  President Bush's repeated demonization of Iran in the press and threats of military action against the Iranian people, including the use of nuclear weapons. Bush refuses to take nuclear weapons 'off the table,'” says Steve Jacobs (also known as "Generalissimo Jacobs"). Journalist Sy Hersh reports clandestine U.S. forces have already been inserted into Iran as they were in Iraq prior to our invasion there." Says Peace Generalissimo Jacobs, "All the signs for an attack are there."    

"So we're going to escalate our nonviolent opposition to Oil War II and institute some training exercises for activists to use if and when the attack on Iran comes. We intend to make our Anti-War games as realistic as possible by using an actual congressional office to practice sit-ins, blocking doors and even a mock draft card burning since expanding the war to a third Muslim country could well necessitate a return of the draft because our military is already stretched thin", says Jacobs.

Organizers do not anticipate any arrests because the Anti-War Games will conduct exercises just to the line of legality so that future office blockaders can get a sense of what an actual sit-in and blockade at a congressional office is like in "real world/war conditions." Sen. Bond has been a unflinching supporter of the Bush-Cheney war in Iraq, which has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 Iraqis and more than 2300 U.S. military personnel. He was one of the few senators to vote against the bill to ban torture by the U.S and consistently has been a proponent of U.S. military intervention. It's likely he would again be walking lockstep with the White House in advocating a war upon Iran.

Anti-War Games are sorely needed in the peace movement. The Bush-Cheney administration and congresspeople like Sen. Bond are quite willing to authorize the wholesale slaughter of people in other lands for the sake of the U.S. economic-political empire. They're willing to put the lives of U.S. soldiers in harm's way. Most of these men and women are all too wiling to follow orders to kill, orders also putting their lives on the line. It's time for peacemakers to step forth and demonstrate our willingness to take nonviolent risks to our freedom, affirming our commitment to peace and our revulsion to a U.S.-fought “Perpetual War.”

Anti-War Games are sponsored by the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation and the St. Francis House Catholic Worker community. For more information contact Generalissimo Jacobs (573-875-4913) or the Grand Pooba of Peace Jeff Stack (573-449-4585).

You are invited to

“An Evening for Justice”  

Thursday, 11 May

7:00-11:30 pm

The Blue Note, 17 N. 9^th St, downtown Columbia.

It promises to be a moving and entertaining occasion, benefiting the legal defense of Danny Wolfe, an individual most likely wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in Missouri.  Later this month, a jury will be selected in his Court-ordered new trial, set to begin in Camdenton MO on June 5.

The evening will begin at 7:00 pm with the Columbia premiere of

-- “After Innocence,” a Showtime Independent Films documentary, poignantly chronicling the lives of seven men wrongly convicted, sentenced to death then exonerated-- and their struggles in adjusting to life after prison.

Following the film, live music will start at 8:30 pm, with:

-- Bartholomew Bean who will present “The Patriot Act,” a folk-rock blend of original tunes infused with social commentary;

-- Lee Ruth, local folk legendary songwriter and guitarist;

-- The Mere Mortals, a five-piece band offering blue-grass, folk, rock and humor in music to ponder and delight.

-- Therm-O-Kool, a jazz, fusion band with a tight, polished sound and a bopping beat that’ll get your feet tapping, perhaps all the way to the dance floor.

Admission is a $5 suggested donation—more would be welcome if affordable. Doors will open at 6:30pm.

Three years ago the Missouri Supreme Court overturned Danny Wolfe’s murder convictions and death sentences, ruling “But for the ineffective assistance provided by the (state's) Public Defender, a reasonable probability exists that Mr. Wolfe would have been acquitted.” A county court assigned him an attorney of his choice, Cyndy Short (He was opposed to having a lawyer with the public defender's commission, due to a conflict of interest). The judge, however, provided the indigent defendant no funding, so she's been representing him pro bono. All proceeds from the event will go to Ms. Short, as some compensation for her committed labors. We hope you will join us for the 11 May event.

Danny Wolfe was convicted of the murders of Leonard and Lena Walters. These were/are horrible crimes. We with the FOR condemn the violence which took their lives and extend condolences to their loved ones. We also recognize that in a rush to “close the book” on the crimes, officials appeared to have wrongly snared Danny Wolfe.  Even for the individuals who did kill the Walters though, we would oppose murder by the state, also known as the death penalty. 

For some more information about this case, see below, two pieces-- the first a 2000 editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board, the second an AP article reporting the Missouri Supreme Court’s 2003 decision ordering a new trial for Danny Wolfe. Thanks to Richard King for making available his nightclub, to his employees for their work and to the wonderful musicians who have agreed to donate their talents and time to this cause. Sponsored by the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, local coordinating group for the Missouri moratorium campaign. For more info on the event and/or Danny Wolfe's case call Jeff at 573-449-4585.

 

 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“COFFEE WITH A DEAD MAN”

May 3, 2000

Section: EDITORIAL

Page: B6

 

 

  ROBERT MORGAN had coffee with his friend Leonard Walters on Thursday morning, Feb. 20, 1997. Later that day Mr. Morgan saw Mr. Walters standing next to his car.

 

   What happened that winter day wouldn't matter except that Leonard Walters and his wife, Lena, were supposed to be dead. Missouri plans to execute Dannie Wolfe for murdering the Camden County couple shortly before Mr. Walters and Mr. Morgan were having coffee. Despite the discrepancy, the Missouri Supreme Court recently affirmed Wolfe's death sentence. Judges Michael A. Wolff and Ronnie White dissented, saying there was "substantial doubt" about Wolfe's guilt.

 

   The case has many telltale signs of the 13 wrongful convictions discovered in Illinois -- no physical evidence, police and prosecutorial irregularities, a self-interested witness and a jailhouse snitch. Not a drop of blood was found on Wolfe's clothes though he allegedly shot Mr. and Mrs.

Walters at point-blank range.

 

   The story actually began the night before Mr. Morgan and Mr. Walters met for coffee. That evening, at a pool hall, Jessica Cox met Wolfe, a house painter with a 20-year criminal record. Ms. Cox ended up at Wolfe's motel.

 

   Ms. Cox's fiancé testified she called him at 7 a.m. He checked the time on his Caller ID. She said she had been kidnapped, was at the hospital for tests and that the kidnapper had been arrested. The fiancé and most of town quickly figured out the story was false. Ms. Cox admitted involvement in the Walters murders. She made a deal to testify against Wolfe in return for immunity. Police did not record her first statement and erased another, which is irregular police conduct.

 

   At the trial, Ms. Cox testified she and Wolfe had left the motel around 4:30 a.m., going to buy the Walters’s' Cadillac. On a test drive, Wolfe shot Mr. Walters in the head from behind. Then Wolfe went into the house, murdered Mrs. Walters and emerged carrying a large safe.

 

   But Mr. Morgan was having coffee with Mr. Walters at about the same time and saw him again, later that day. This suggests the murder occurred a day later, which is more consistent with autopsy results. Ms. Cox also testified she called her fiancé from the hospital around 9:30 a.m., two and one-half hours after he got the call. Moreover, she had said in a pre trial statement that "they" -- not he -- carried the safe out of the house. That pronoun is significant because a roommate filed an affidavit saying Ms. Cox had told her that two men, Brian and Eric, had committed the murder. The roommate did not show up at trial and the judge denied a recess to find her.

 

   The judge also kept from the jury evidence impeaching Ms. Cox. Ten years before the trial, when Ms. Cox was about 12, her false claim of having been kidnapped caused a man to be arrested.

 

   The other witness against Wolfe was a jailhouse informer who cut a deal.

The prosecution violated court rules by failing for six months to disclose the informer as a witness. When the defense found out, it discovered another prisoner who said a man named "Terry" had planned to rob Mr. and Mrs.

Walters. Terry and Ms. Cox were seen together near the time of the murders.

The judge excluded mention of Terry.

 

   The state Supreme Court said it had to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict. Judge Wolff, in dissent, said the court should look at all the evidence, not just the evidence supporting the verdict. If the court finds the evidence weak, it should reverse the death penalty. "This review is not just for the defendant, it is for ourselves," he wrote. "The honorable reputation of our legal system is tarnished by ordering the execution of those who may not be guilty."

 

Copyright 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch

High court overturns double-murder ruling

Published Wednesday, February 12, 2003

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - The Missouri Supreme Court yesterday overturned the convictions of a man sentenced to death for a double murder near the Lake of the Ozarks, ruling his attorneys failed to pursue evidence casting doubt on his guilt.

Danny Wolfe, 52, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Leonard and Lena Walters of Greenview, who were found dead on Feb. 23, 1997.

Wolfe’s convictions and death sentences had been upheld by the state’s high court during a standard appeal three years ago. But in a unanimous decision, the court ruled that Wolfe had received ineffective assistance from his attorneys.

"This court’s confidence in the fairness of the trial and the reliability of Wolfe’s conviction is seriously undermined," Judge Richard Teitelman wrote for the state’s highest court, which reversed the convictions and ordered a new trial.

The court said no physical evidence linked the killing to Wolfe, yet his attorneys had failed to adequately pursue evidence placing the prosecution’s chief witness, Jessica Cox, at the murder scene.

Cox - who was given immunity from prosecution - testified during the 1998 trial that Walters was shot during a test-drive of a red Cadillac he was offering for sale. Cox said she was driving the car and Walters was in the passenger seat when Wolfe shot him from the back seat. She said she then waited outside while Wolfe went into the couple’s home and killed Lena Walters.

Wolfe’s trial attorneys asserted that Cox was framing Wolfe. In court, however, they argued only that hair found in the car’s back seat and in a trash bin was not Wolfe’s, the Supreme Court said.

A post-trial comparison showed the hair fibers matched Cox. A defense attorney could have easily arranged a scientific comparison of the hair fibers before the trial, the court said.

"The results of the hair analysis would have likely cast doubt on Cox’s credibility," Teitelman wrote. "The evidence would have directly contradicted Cox’s testimony and supported Wolfe’s defense that Cox was framing him."

Wolfe’s two trial attorneys - public defenders Kimberly Shaw and Nancy McKerrow - did not immediately return calls to their Columbia offices yesterday. Shaw is now in private practice, and McKerrow no longer handles death penalty cases for the public defender’s office.

Attorney Melinda Pendergraph, who represented Wolfe before the Supreme Court, said the trial attorneys were led by prosecutors "to believe that the hair hadn’t really been seized, so they just dropped the ball on that and didn’t follow up."

The Supreme Court ruling "just scratches the surface in terms of the unfairness" to Wolfe, she said. "I am really happy he got a new trial," she said. "There are just a few cases in your career that you just hope and pray that they’ll get relief, and this is one of them."

Camden County prosecutor W.J. Icenogle, who handled Wolfe’s 1998 trial, declined to comment about the Supreme Court ruling.

Update: Wolfe's new trial will begin June 5, 2006 with jury questioning to start two weeks earlier.

Recognizing there was a conflict of interest, Platte County Judge Gary Witt (appointed to hear the case) honored Wolfe's request and appointed Cyndy Short as his attorney, someone outside the public-defender system, but the judge declined to order state funding for her work on behalf her indigent client. Call Jeff (573-449-4585) for more information, including details about making a contribution to help with his legal expenses.