The Case of Mondo we Langa (formerly known as David Rice)
and Ed Poindexter
On August 17, 1970,
the Omaha, Nebraska Police Department received a 911 emergency phone call.
The caller reported that a woman was screaming for help from a vacant house.
The address given for the house was 2867 Ohio Street. The police arrived at
the scene and started to investigate. No screaming woman was found. Near the
doorway of the house was a suitcase. The officers stepped over the suitcase
to get into the house. As a search of the house was being conducted, an
explosion occurred. Police officer Larry Minard, who was near the suitcase,
was killed instantly. Investigation showed that the suitcase contained
dynamite and was set to explode when moved. Arrested for placing the bomb
was Duane Peak, age 15. Peak was charged with first degree murder for
planting the bomb. In an attempt to lighten his sentence, Peak implicated
Mondo we Langa and Edward Poindexter.
Mondo we Langa was a known member of the
NCCF (National Committee to Combat Fascism) This group consisted of Black
Panther Party members who were working to protect the black community from
police brutality. Mondo we Langa was Minister of Information in the NCCF
and Ed was its Deputy Director. Mondo's and Ed’s political beliefs and
actions were the principal reason that they were convicted. There are
documents confirming that the FBI helped to suppress evidence in this case
that would have completely discredited the key witness against the convicted
men. At the time of the bombing, the FBI had implemented an operation known
as COINTELPRO (counter intelligence program) to spy on U.S. citizens and to
"neutralize" individuals and groups who were working to advance the human
and constitutional rights of African Americans and Native Americans as well
as any other individuals and groups deemed by the FBI to be a "clear and
present danger to the security of the United States." The documents were
obtained from the FBI through the Freedom of Information Act.
The goal of this website is to shine some light on this
dark chapter in the history of the state of Nebraska and the United States.
A grave injustice was perpetrated on two individuals because of their
political beliefs. Under international conventions for the humane treatment
of human beings, this makes Mondo and Ed Political Prisoners. In the 32nd
verse of the 8th Chapter of John, the New Testament of the Bible
records these words of Jesus Christ, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free." This very quotation can also be found on the wall of
the headquarters building of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
It is the desire of those associated with the contents of this website that
the truth will eventually set Mondo and Ed free from their unjust and
illegal incarceration, an injustice that has been suffered by them since
1970.
Mondo we Langa sought redress through the appellate
process in the United States judicial system and Ed Poindexter is currently
(2002) seeking his "post-conviction relief". Mondo’s appeals have been
unsuccessful. At one point, the United States Supreme Court even re-wrote
the law on police searches and seizure of "evidence" retroactively to ensure
that Mondo’s illegal conviction would not be overturned. A major obstacle in
the judicial appellate process is that the Court of Appeals may not consider
any issue other than whether the appellant was given a "fair" trial, as the
legal system defines "fair." They may not consider whether the initial trial
resulted in the correct verdict. Evidence that comes out after the trial
that indicates innocence (like the fact that the FBI admitted in writing
that the tape of the 911 emergency tape should be withheld from the defense
attorneys because it would be prejudicial to the prosecution’s case) is very
difficult, if not impossible, to get into the record of the Court of
Appeals.
The role of the Nebraska Governor (who is a member of the
Board of Pardons) should be to correct mistakes that the court has made. In
recent years, it has become commonplace for a state’s governor to commute
the sentences of women who were convicted of killing their husband after
years of physical and emotional abuse and, in the case of the governor of
Illinois, to stop the killing of all death row inmates until a determination
is made regarding the fairness of the judicial processes that led to the
convictions in the first place. Norman Krivosha, Chief Justice of the
Nebraska Supreme Court during the 1980’s, commissioned a study of the
fairness of the Nebraska judicial system. He wanted to make sure that a
person in one part of the state was being treated similarly to a person in
another part of the state, all other things being equal.. So the researchers
looked at the offense, the decision of the police to make the arrest, what
crime, if any, the person was charged with, whether there was a plea
bargain, the outcome of any trial, the sentence that was imposed, and the
like. The researchers compare persons who had similar demographics (first
time or repeat offender, age, race, sex, etc.) The study resulted in the
conclusion that the Nebraska judicial system was "fair" in all regards
EXCEPT one. The researchers could explain all of the differences in judicial
outcomes based on all of the demographics EXCEPT race. Persons of
non-European ancestry were more likely to be arrested, more likely to be
charged with a crime, more likely to be tried, more likely to be found
guilty, more likely to be given a longer sentence, more likely to be
sentenced to death, than persons of European ancestry who had committed the
same acts and who were otherwise similarly situated as the persons of
non-European ancestry. That study helps to explain why African Americans,
who comprise approximately 3 percent of Nebraska’s population, comprise more
than 40 percent of Nebraska’s prison inmate population.
In our Republic, the executive branch of the federal (the
President) as well as the state government (the Governor) have a
responsibility to act as a "check and balance" on the judicial branch as
well as the legislative branch. This principle was borrowed from Montesquieu
and has served the Republic well for more than 200 years. There is a great
deal of evidence in this case that indicates that Mondo we Langa and Ed
Poindexter had nothing to do with the horrific murder of Officer Larry
Minard.
In a country where the government is "of the people, by
the people, and for the people," we are all responsible for the innocents
who go to prison. Courts make mistakes, and the law is not perfect. It is
our job as citizens to make sure that justice is done. We are all only as
free and secure as the innocents who languish in our prisons and those innocents who
are killed by the state in our name.
