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(updated 6/14/02)

  JUDI BARI & DARRYL CHERNEY VS. FBI & OAKLAND POLICE

WHO'S WHO

For more information: (510) 663-6330

JUDGE: U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken

PLAINTIFFS:

Estate of Judi Bari, Earth First! and labor organizer in Mendocino County, died March 1997. Represented by Estate Executor Darlene Comingore.
Darryl Cherney, Earth First! organizer in Humboldt County.

DEFENDANTS:

FBI: Special Agent Frank Doyle, S.A. Walter Hemje, S.A. John Reikes, S.A. John Conway, S.A. Phil Sena, S.A. Stockton Buck
OPD: Sgt. Michael Sitterud, Sgt. Robert Chenault, Lt. Mike Sims

PLAINTIFFS' LEGAL TEAM:

Dennis Cunningham, lead counsel. San Francisco civil rights/criminal defense attorney, on case since January 1992.
William Simpich, counsel. Oakland civil rights attorney. Filed original case in May 1991.
Robert Bloom, counsel. Berkeley criminal defense attorney. Joined case in 1993.
J. Tony Serra, counsel. San Francisco criminal defense attorney. Joined case in 1999.
Ben Rosenfeld, of counsel. San Francisco attorney. Joined case in 1997.
Michael Deutch, William Goodman, of counsel. Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, NY.
Alicia Littletree, paralegal, long-time friend of Judi Bari, and EF! organizer.
John Tanghe, law student intern.
Tanya Brannan, Director, Redwood Justice Fund, fundraising and administration.

DEFENDANTS' LEGAL TEAM:

Joseph Sher, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Department of Justice lead counsel
Dennis Barghaan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, DOJ counsel
Maria Bee, City of Oakland counsel
William Simmons, City of Oakland counsel

PLAINTIFFS' WITNESSES

(tentative order; all appearances subject to change without notice)
abbreviations: OPD: Oakland Police Department; SA: Special Agent

WEEK ONE (APRIL 8-11):
Tom Veirs, fireman who helped remove Judi from the car. Completed.
T. J. Roumph, Alameda County Bomb Squad. Was called to bomb scene and made observations of the condition of the car. Completed.
Shannon Marr, a Seeds of Peace member. Was driving in front of Judi's car when bomb exploded. Accused of participating in bomb plot by defendant Sitterud, she had her statements twisted in the warrant affidavit. Completed.
Karen Pickett, Earth First! organizer. Tried to visit Judi in the hospital, and was taken into custody. Completed.
Walter Ludwig (deposition), deceased, OPD, arrested Judi and Darryl. Completed.
Paul Slivinski, OPD officer. Assigned to guard Darryl at the hospital on May 24. Completed
Betty Ball, then-Director, Mendocino Environmental Center. FBI would not question her with her lawyer present. Completed.
Gary Ball, co-founder of the Mendocino Environmental Center. Will be questioned about events leading up to the bombing. Completed.
Michelle Gribi, OPD, civilian Evidence Technician. One of first on bomb scene, reported bomb damage underneath driver's seat. Completed.
Sgt. Michael Sitterud, OPD, Homicide Division, defendant. Chief investigator for Oakland at bomb scene, drafted phony second search warrant claiming that nails in Judi's home and nails in bomb were within same batch of 800-1000 nails. Completed.

WEEK TWO (APRIL 15-18):
Sgt. Michael Sitterud, OPD, Homicide Division, defendant. (continued) Completed. 
Sgt. Robert Chenault, OPD, Homicide Division, defendant. Second assigned investigator at bomb scene, drafted initial warrant with dictation by FBI agent Doyle; claims Doyle told him that bomb nails matched nails in bag in Judi's car and that the blast hole was behind the seat, not under the seat, among other falsehoods. Completed.
Sgt. Myron Hanson, OPD. Member of bomb and arson squad. Trained by Doyle, took notes of Doyle's association of plaintiff's with FBI terrorism investigation. Completed.
S.A. Frank Doyle, FBI, bomb technician, defendant. Taught FBI bomb school at Louisiana-Pacific clearcut 30 days prior to bombing, blowing up insides of cars with pipe bombs. Came to bomb scene with some of his students, took charge, told lie that bomb was in plain view on back seat floorboard. Completed.
S.A. David Williams, FBI, forensic bomb specialist from FBI Crime Lab in Washington. Refuted Doyle's analysis of bomb location, said bomb was hidden under seat. Completed.
Sgt. Larry Sheets, Sonoma County Sheriff's Department. Bomb technician, friend and former student of defendant Doyle, called to Cloverdale scene, later involved in delivering evidence to FBI. Completed

WEEK THREE (APRIL 22-25):
Dr. Peter Slabaugh, Judi's attending physician. Completed.
Sgt. Del Kraft, OPD. Partner of M. Hanson on OPD bomb squad. Inspected car at scene and took notes. Completed.
S.A. Frank Doyle, FBI, bomb technician, defendant. (Continued) Completed
Sidney H. Woodcock, plaintiff's bomb expert. Will testify about opinions he formed from his examination of evidence photographs and physical evidence. Completed.
Ronald P. O'Connor, president of company that distributes nails, questioned by FBI, but not about how large are batches of nails. Completed.
Donald Sachtleben, FBI terrorist squad member who wrote in report to FBI HQ that Judi and Darryl were suspects in the Santa Cruz case. Completed.
Lisa Bari, oldest daughter of Judi Bari. Nine years old at time of bombing, recalls the impact of false charges and searches on her mother. Completed.
Utah Phillips, friend of Judi's, rode in car with her and others in the drive from Ukiah to Oakland May 23. The "Lord's Avenger" claimed that the bomb was in the car during that time. Completed.
S.A. Phil Sena, FBI, defendant, teamed with Santa Cruz Sheriff's Dept. to investigate/spy on EF!, reported fake "tip" about "heavy hitters" from "up north" coming down to Santa Cruz to plant a bomb. Completed.
Anthony Bouza, retired police chief, will testify regarding the reasonableness of defendants' actions. Completed.
Joseph Heartsner, Santa Cruz Sheriff's Dept. Sergeant, lead investigator in power poles case. Said that the "tip" came from a third-hand source that was not reliable. Completed.

WEEK FOUR (APRIL 29 - MAY 2):
Kevin Griswold, OPD, kept files on political groups, gave info to FBI. Completed
S.A. Stockton Buck, FBI, defendant. Assisted Doyle at crime scene. Traveled to Mendocino and Humboldt counties to investigate environmentalists' letters to the editor. Completed.
S.A. John Conway, FBI, defendant. Supervisor of bomb investigation of bomb at Cloverdale lumber mill that detonated two weeks before Oakland bomb. FBI began no investigation of Cloverdale bomb until after Oakland bombing occurred, and whole focus of investigation was to attempt to implicate Judi and Darryl, despite all evidence pointing elsewhere. Completed
S.A. Stewart Daley, FBI. Assigned to help investigate the bombing, conducted interviews the first day, including Darryl. Completed.
Gary Philp, Humboldt County Deputy Sheriff interviewed by Stockton Buck of the FBI, whose words were misrepresented by Buck to falsely state that the local activists had a "core group capable of violence." Completed.
Bill Simpich, attorney who filed this case originally, withdrew as counsel in order to be a witness. Completed.
S.A. John Reikes, FBI, head of terrorist squad, defendant. At inter-agency meeting on May 24, claimed that Judi and Darryl's goal was to bomb the Moss Landing power plant in Santa Cruz county and that they were known terrorists. Completed.
Cecelia Lanman, Worked on "Forests Forever" Prop. 130 ballot initiative in 1990. She will testify about the effect of the bombing charges on the campaign. Completed
Lt. Mike Sims, OPD, defendant, head of homicide squad. At televised press conference shortly after the bombing, claimed Judi and Darryl were the only suspects. As time passed with no action by the DA, Sims maintained he was "optimistic" that charges would be filed. Completed.

WEEK FIVE (MAY 6 - May 8):
Susan Jordan, lawyer who first defended Judi after the bombing. Testimony about how she was kept from seeing Judi until she got a court order; how she turned over originals of death threats to FBI. Completed 5/6.
S.A. Walt Hemje, FBI, defendant. Supervisor of Oakland bomb investigation after the initial week. Testified by video due to medical excuse, but still active FBI agent. Completed 5/6.
Darryl Cherney, plaintiff, Earth First! activist injured in bomb blast and framed for it. Began 5/6, completed 5/7.
George Shook, activist and banjo player who was with Darryl for several days before the bombing, arrested when he returned to Seeds of Peace house in Darryl's van during police raid. Completed.
Judi Bari in deathbed deposition video, plaintiff, Earth First! organizer injured in bomb blast and framed for it. Begun 5/7, to be completed 5/8. Completed.
Plaintiffs' case completed
Defendants' case begins

WEEK SIX (MAY 13 - MAY 17):
Defendants' case continues
Judge Wilken dismisses case against defendants Hemje and Conway on grounds of qualified immunity 
Plaintiffs' closing arguments - May 16
Defendants' closing arguments - May 17
Plaintiffs' final argument - May 17
Jury Deliberation begins - May 17

WEEK SEVEN - TEN  (MAY 20 - JUNE 11):
Jury Deliberation continues for 17 days

JUNE 11, 2002
Verdict accepted, 6 of 7 defendants held liable for $4.4 million in compensatory and punitive damages 

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