The search for justice for a Lakota Sioux man wrongfully charged with murder told here for the first time by his trial lawyer, Gerry Spence
This is the untold story of Collins Catch the Bear, a Lakota Sioux, who was wrongfully charged as part of a conspiracy with the murder of a white man at Russell Means’s Yellow Thunder Camp in 1982, a controversial American Indian encampment in the national forest. Though Collins was innocent, he took the fall for the actual killer, a man placed in the camp with the sole intention of destroying the reputation of AIM. This story reveals the struggle of the American Indian people in their attempt to survive in a white world, on land that was stolen from them. We live with Collins and see the beauty that was his, but that was lost to the pressures of a racist, white society. Today justice is still struggling to be heard in this case, as well as many like it in the American Indian nations.
We all want to feel safe. But safe from what, and from whom?
In his 60-plus years as a trial lawyer, Gerry Spence has never represented a person accused of a crime in which the police hadn't themselves violated the law. Whether by covering up their own corrupt dealings, by the falsification or manufacture of evidence, or by the outright murder of innocent civilians, those individuals charged with upholding the law break it every day, in ways more scandalous than the courts have dared admit. The police and prosecutors won't charge or convict themselves, and so the crimes of the criminal justice system are swept under the rug. Nothing changes.
Too many police officers are killers on the loose, and every uninformed American is a potential next victim. Police culture is mired in the dead weight of precedent and ruled by trigger-happy tyrants. Power will march our nation over the police state precipice unless We the People take action.
The FBI's massacre of the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge; the killing of mortally-wounded Fouad Kaady by a group of police officers; the torture of teenaged Dennis Williams by cops seeking a murder confession"again and again, the question arises: When the very men and women we pay to protect us instead persecute us every day, how can we be safe? In Police State, Spence slaps a stinging indictment upon the American justice system and puts forth a plan to restore liberty and justice for all.
What's true for training great trial lawyers is true for all winning presentors. According to renowned trial attorney and bestselling author Gerry Spence, presenting a case before decisionmakers is not simply a technique but an occasion for summoning your deepest reserves to advocate on behalf of something crucial. Here, Spence combines a rich exploration of truth, fairness, and emotional honesty with practical advice gleaned from a lifetime of hard-earned legal triumphs to show what makes a strong, persuasive presentation. Spence's essentials include: - Preparing the powerperson to accept your case - Owning your feelings - Being in the moment. - The power of fear--ours and theirs - Making an effective closing argument
