February 8, 2008 at 12:56:09

Five Omaha policemen implicated in deception and false testimony in COINTELPRO case against Black Panthers

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By Michael Richardson (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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"At Poindexter's trial, Sgt. Swanson testified that he found dynamite in Rice's basement at 2816 Parker and that Sgt. Pheffer was also in the basement when Swanson found it. Contrary to Swanson's trial testimony, Pfeffer testified at trial that he (Pheffer) never went down into Rice's basement and that he (Pheffer) first saw the dynamite found by Swanson when Swanson carried it up from Rice's basement. At Poindexter's post-conviction hearing on May 30, 2007, Pheffer's testimony about finding the dynamite in Rice's basement was significantly different from his sworn trial testimony 36 years earlier. On May 30, 2007, Pheffer testified that he was the one who found the dynamite in Rice's basement at 2816 Parker on August 22 , 1970. Pheffer claimed that Swanson was right behind him and that when Pheffer saw the dynamite, he became scared and told Swanson that they needed to 'get the heck out of here.' When confronted with the discrepancy between Pheffer's sworn trial testimony in 1971 and his recent testimony of actually being the officer who found the dynamite, Pheffer swore that this trial testimony in 1971 was not correct, that 'the court reporter, somebody got it wrong.'"

The five Omaha policemen, Glenn Gates, Murdock Platner, James Perry, Jack Swanson, and Robert Pheffer are all retired or deceased. None were ever charged with perjury for false testimony . No date is scheduled for a decision by the Nebraska Supreme Court on Poindexter's request for a new trial.

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Michael Richardson is a freelance writer based in Boston. Richardson writes about politics, law, nutrition, ethics, and music. Richardson is also a political consultant.

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