Marc Wisecarver Case Summary
Two years ago, on April 29, 2008, Marc Wisecarver was
working on his vehicle at his place in the country on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation when a pickup truck roared past his
house, ignoring 'No Trespass" signs, went into the lower
pasture, and began chasing his horses. Wisecarver ran after
the pickup shouting for it to stop. When he couldn't get the
driver's attention, he retreived his rifle and fired it into
the air. The driver of the truck finally quit chasing the
horses, and turned his vehicle on Wisecarver. After a
shouting match, the driver appeared ready to run over
Wisecarver who fired a shot toward the ground through the
radiator. Finally, the driver stopped the vehicle.
The driver, Duke Bourne, works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
and stated that as a government employee, he can go anywhere he wants.
This was in clear violation of BIA regulations that the landowner, or
even a resident, must be informed when a BIA employee will be entering
the property.
On Jan. 29, 2009, an all white jury in U. S. Federal court in Rapid
City acquitted Wisecarver of Assaulting a Federal Official by reason of
self-defense. However, because of faulty jury instructions, the jury
asked for clarification three times from Judge Richard H. Battey. The
Judge told them his instructions were clear and he would find them in
Contempt of Court if they did not rule on shooting the pickup truck.
Without being able to use the self-defense portion, the jury had to find
Wisecarver guilty of Depredation of Government Property. Marc admitted
to shooting the truck. Judge Richard Battey then sentenced Marc
Wisecarver to three years in prison and three years probation.
Wisecarver has no prior record, and doesn’t use drugs or alcohol.
In February, 2010, the judges of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in
St. Paul, MN, said that Wisecarver would have been acquitted of all
charges had the jury received proper instructions. (To hear the oral
arguments go to 8th Circuit Court of Appeals online.) In their written
opinion, dated March 22, 2010, they stated: “Accordingly, the judgment
of the district court is reversed. The case is remanded to the district
court with directions to vacate it’s judgment of conviction on the
depredation count and its sentence.”
Rather than releasing Wisecarver immediately from the Texas prison he
has been in since June, 2009, Judge Battey ordered the Federal Marshals
to hold him in custody and return him to the Pennington County Jail.
The US Attorney, Carolyn Olsen, has recharged Wisecarver, again, with
Depredation of Government Property and a Hearing will be held on May
18th at 9:00 AM in the Federal Building.
This is the third hearing on this charge. As it is not a major crime,
the charge was dismissed in Oglala Sioux Tribal Court who had original
jurisdiction. The attending Tribal Police Officer, Paul Forney, were
ordered by the BIA Superintendent, Robert Ecoffey, to arrest Marc
Wisecarver or lose his job. He was never questioned in court about
the incident to this day. Wisecarver is currently being held in the
Pennington County Jail and has been imprisoned for more than 15 months.
For more information contact Mitchell Wisecarver or Charmaine White Face at
bhdefenders@msn.com , or call 605-343-5387.
Statement from Marc Wisecarver’s Family
We are proud of Marc for standing up for his Constitutional and human
right to defend himself. He is being held illegally after being
acquitted by a jury by reason of self defense against an assault by a
federal government official. To this day, that government official has
never been charged with assault. Why?
We also wonder why a federal judge would continue to persecute Marc
Wisecarver. Is it because he is a brown Native American?
We will continue to remind people that the violation of one
individual’s Constitutional and human rights is a violation of
every person’s rights. We ask the question of each individual:
when will it be you who is sitting in prison for defending yourself?
Thank you.
Charmaine White Face formerly Wisecarver)
Mitchell Wisecarver
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