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Bail battle in Laos case
Defense asks that undercover agent be put on stand; judge does not commit to questioning.
By Denny Walsh and Stephen Magagnini - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 1:24 am PDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B2
Defense lawyers proposed Monday to question an undercover agent under oath at an upcoming hearing in the case alleging 10 prominent members of the Hmong community and a former U.S. Army officer conspired to overthrow the communist government in Laos.
U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. set a July 12 hearing on a consolidated motion by the defense lawyers to free their clients on bail pending trial. The judge, however, did not commit to the questioning of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, whose identity is not known publicly and whose undercover work posing as an arms dealer is the glue that holds the case together.
The defense lawyers are unhappy with the rulings thus far by two magistrate judges denying bail to seven defendants following a hearing. The other four defendants are in custody pending a hearing.
The 11 are charged with conspiring to violate the federal Neutrality Act by overthrowing a country at peace with the United States, conspiring to kill and injure people in a foreign nation, conspiring to obtain firearms and destructive devices and conspiring to export items with a U.S. State Department license. Nine of the 11 are charged with conspiring to obtain missile systems designed to bring down aircraft.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly J. Mueller has presided at six of the seven bail hearings. Given the nature of the charges, the federal Bail Reform Act imposes a presumption that release of the defendants would pose a danger, and Mueller found in each case that no evidence has been presented to rebut that presumption.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan made the same finding with respect to Gen. Vang Pao, the reputed leader of the alleged plan to topple the government of Laos.
The courtroom, as usual, was jammed Monday with relatives and supporters of the defendants, while more than 2,000 Southeast Asians from as far away as France staged a passionate protest outside the courthouse.
The throng demanded the United States liberate several thousand Hmong they believe have been trapped in the Lao jungles since the communist takeover in 1975.
The demonstrators also called for the liberation of Vang, who led a CIA-sponsored Hmong army against communists between 1961 and 1975.
The Hmong were joined by Vietnamese Americans waving the yellow South Vietnam flag that flew before the communist victory, along with Iu Mien and Cambodian refugees who have a shared history of fighting communism.
Prominent San Francisco criminal defense attorney John Keker made his first appearance Monday as one of Vang's lawyers and suggested that all the defendants be granted a hearing at the same time for the judge to decide if their release would pose a danger.
Keker, who said he is representing Vang without compensation, also suggested the agent testify about "his expansion of this case, from first talking about some rifles to what we believe is the fantasy it is now."
Damrell made no commitment either way regarding putting the agent on the witness stand.
The 77-year-old Vang, who has had triple heart-bypass surgery, was in court in a wheelchair. He was released Sunday from the UC Davis Medical Center, where he was taken Friday from the Sacramento County jail after suffering chest pains, shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat.
"He is stable, but still has a lot of medical issues," said John Balazs, another of Vang's attorneys, outside the courtroom.
Michael Bigelow, attorney for 68-year-old Seng Vue, said before court convened that his client suffered a stroke in the jail June 13, has been in and out of the medical center since, and has not yet fully recovered even though he was in court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellen Endrizzi told Damrell on Monday that the prosecutors would turn over to defense lawyers later in the day 2,300 pages of evidence on computer disks.
She said the material does not include transcripts of three court-authorized wiretaps on the telephones of two of the defendants. She said those will be turned over later.
Some of the most enthusiastic applause by the crowd outside the courthouse came for Touxoua LyFoung, an activist from Paris who said many of France's 15,000 Hmong have demonstrated for the release of the suspects and the rescue of the remnants of Vang's jungle army of freedom fighters.
LyFoung, who said, "All the Hmong are one and speak with one voice, and one day (Vang) will be free," is the son of a famous Hmong resistance fighter, the late Touby LyFoung.
The elder LyFoung fought the Japanese in 1940 and joined the Royal Lao government to fight the communist Pathet Lao in the late 1950s.
Also rallying the protesters was Rosemary Conway, who identified herself as a former U.S. intelligence agent captured by the Pathet Lao who knows Vang personally.
"Loyalty should be a two-way street," Conway said, referring to the role of the Hmong in battling the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War.
"Vang Pao is being set up," thundered Conway, who now lives in Chico. "He's charged with violating the Neutrality Act, but wasn't Laos neutral when we invaded?" she asked, referring to 1961, when the CIA chose Vang Pao to recruit and lead a secret army against communist forces in superior numbers.
Defense asks that undercover agent be put on stand; judge does not commit to questioning.
By Denny Walsh and Stephen Magagnini - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 1:24 am PDT Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B2
Defense lawyers proposed Monday to question an undercover agent under oath at an upcoming hearing in the case alleging 10 prominent members of the Hmong community and a former U.S. Army officer conspired to overthrow the communist government in Laos.
U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. set a July 12 hearing on a consolidated motion by the defense lawyers to free their clients on bail pending trial. The judge, however, did not commit to the questioning of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, whose identity is not known publicly and whose undercover work posing as an arms dealer is the glue that holds the case together.
The defense lawyers are unhappy with the rulings thus far by two magistrate judges denying bail to seven defendants following a hearing. The other four defendants are in custody pending a hearing.
The 11 are charged with conspiring to violate the federal Neutrality Act by overthrowing a country at peace with the United States, conspiring to kill and injure people in a foreign nation, conspiring to obtain firearms and destructive devices and conspiring to export items with a U.S. State Department license. Nine of the 11 are charged with conspiring to obtain missile systems designed to bring down aircraft.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly J. Mueller has presided at six of the seven bail hearings. Given the nature of the charges, the federal Bail Reform Act imposes a presumption that release of the defendants would pose a danger, and Mueller found in each case that no evidence has been presented to rebut that presumption.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan made the same finding with respect to Gen. Vang Pao, the reputed leader of the alleged plan to topple the government of Laos.
The courtroom, as usual, was jammed Monday with relatives and supporters of the defendants, while more than 2,000 Southeast Asians from as far away as France staged a passionate protest outside the courthouse.
The throng demanded the United States liberate several thousand Hmong they believe have been trapped in the Lao jungles since the communist takeover in 1975.
The demonstrators also called for the liberation of Vang, who led a CIA-sponsored Hmong army against communists between 1961 and 1975.
The Hmong were joined by Vietnamese Americans waving the yellow South Vietnam flag that flew before the communist victory, along with Iu Mien and Cambodian refugees who have a shared history of fighting communism.
Prominent San Francisco criminal defense attorney John Keker made his first appearance Monday as one of Vang's lawyers and suggested that all the defendants be granted a hearing at the same time for the judge to decide if their release would pose a danger.
Keker, who said he is representing Vang without compensation, also suggested the agent testify about "his expansion of this case, from first talking about some rifles to what we believe is the fantasy it is now."
Damrell made no commitment either way regarding putting the agent on the witness stand.
The 77-year-old Vang, who has had triple heart-bypass surgery, was in court in a wheelchair. He was released Sunday from the UC Davis Medical Center, where he was taken Friday from the Sacramento County jail after suffering chest pains, shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat.
"He is stable, but still has a lot of medical issues," said John Balazs, another of Vang's attorneys, outside the courtroom.
Michael Bigelow, attorney for 68-year-old Seng Vue, said before court convened that his client suffered a stroke in the jail June 13, has been in and out of the medical center since, and has not yet fully recovered even though he was in court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellen Endrizzi told Damrell on Monday that the prosecutors would turn over to defense lawyers later in the day 2,300 pages of evidence on computer disks.
She said the material does not include transcripts of three court-authorized wiretaps on the telephones of two of the defendants. She said those will be turned over later.
Some of the most enthusiastic applause by the crowd outside the courthouse came for Touxoua LyFoung, an activist from Paris who said many of France's 15,000 Hmong have demonstrated for the release of the suspects and the rescue of the remnants of Vang's jungle army of freedom fighters.
LyFoung, who said, "All the Hmong are one and speak with one voice, and one day (Vang) will be free," is the son of a famous Hmong resistance fighter, the late Touby LyFoung.
The elder LyFoung fought the Japanese in 1940 and joined the Royal Lao government to fight the communist Pathet Lao in the late 1950s.
Also rallying the protesters was Rosemary Conway, who identified herself as a former U.S. intelligence agent captured by the Pathet Lao who knows Vang personally.
"Loyalty should be a two-way street," Conway said, referring to the role of the Hmong in battling the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War.
"Vang Pao is being set up," thundered Conway, who now lives in Chico. "He's charged with violating the Neutrality Act, but wasn't Laos neutral when we invaded?" she asked, referring to 1961, when the CIA chose Vang Pao to recruit and lead a secret army against communist forces in superior numbers.
