Attorneys for several of those charged by the State of Michigan with conspiracy to place explosives in several instances in the Fall of 1968 are planning to plead their clients guilty to lesser charges. They are accused of plotting the bombings of police stations, draft boards and the Ann Arbor CIA office. No one has been charged with he actual bombings.
Dave Valler, the ringleader and the sole person to actually place the explosives, will plead guilty to attempted conspiracy, which carries a minimum sentence of two years in prison. This won’t bother him greatly since he is currently imprisoned for 7 to 10 years on two marijuana convictions and the sentences will run concurrently.
The other defendants in the case have been offered a series of pleas down to misdemeanor counts of disorderly persons in connection with the bombings. The only person not offered a plea was Jack Forrest, Detroit Captain of the White Panther Party. This will leave him as the sole defendant with several of the ex-defendants, led by Valler, as prosecution witnesses. Nice game by the pigs. The Federal prosecution of Forest, John Sinclair and Pun Plamondon, for allegedly plotting the bombing of the CIA office, will be held off until the completion of the State case, so evidence submitted there may be brought into evidence in the Federal case.
There is one bright note: one of the chief prosecution witnesses in the State case has fled town leaving behind him a sworn affidavit stating how he was paid by the police to inform on his friends. More on this next issue.
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Search this site for VALLER.
https://www.fifthestate.org/?s=valler&id=15723