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More than 200 Rosebud cases dropped
Police officers were not properly certified
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FarkMore than 200 criminal cases have been dismissed in Rosebud Sioux Tribe courts because tribal police officers were not properly certified, according to a tribal judiciary official.
The Rosebud police certification problem is being used to challenge three criminal cases in federal court.
James Henry, a Rosebud Sioux Tribe Council member and chairman of the tribal judiciary committee, said many of the tribal police officers were operating without tribal police certification, beginning about 1999.
In tribal court, at least 217 cases already have been dismissed because arresting officers were not certified as tribal officers, Henry said.
“That’s probably going to triple,” he said.
Henry said a 1991 tribal ordinance requires tribal law enforcement officers to be certified. He said many of the tribe’s more than 30 officers let their certification lapse. He said some officers apparently had the misconception they didn’t have to renew their certificates. But the tribal ordinance requires recertification every two years.
The tribal court cases likely didn’t involve serious crimes, which usually wind up in federal court.
Generally, tribal courts handle Native American defendants charged with misdemeanor-type crimes punishable by up to one year in jail, according to U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley.
“Federal courts generally exercise felony jurisdiction over offenses on reservations that involve an Indian offender or Indian victim, as well as certain misdemeanor type offenses involving non-Indian offenders,” Jackley said.
Tribal Chairman Rodney Bordeaux confirmed that cases have been dismissed in tribal court because of the issue.
Bordeaux said all but two tribal officers are now properly certified. Certification is pending for those two officers, he said.
Bordeaux said he could not comment further because the certification issue is still the subject of ongoing federal court cases.
Tribal Police Chief Charles Red Crow did not immediately return a phone call from the Rapid City Journal.
Henry said the problem was discovered in January of this year, beginning with a case that went to federal court. Henry said he is serving his first term as judiciary chairman.
He was among tribal officials who testified in U.S. District Court in Pierre last Thursday in a felony case against Robert L. Erickson of Mission.
Erickson, 28, is charged with stabbing three people in two incidents. He is accused of stabbing a woman in Mission sometime between Oct. 31, 2007, and Jan. 2, 2008, and then stabbing a man and a juvenile on Jan. 2 in Mission.
He faces three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily harm.
Because one of the stabbing victims is a juvenile, Erickson could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison, if convicted, according to federal prosecutors.
However, Erickson has asked a federal judge to suppress evidence and observations presented by tribal police officers on the grounds that they were not properly certified as tribal police officers, according to federal court documents. Without certification, Erickson argued, the officers were not commissioned tribal officers and therefore had no authority to arrest, search, detain or seize evidence in the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Randolph Seiler argued that the tribal law enforcement officers were acting in good faith and with apparent authority vested in them by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and by contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, according to court documents.
In addition to tribal certification required by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe ordinance, tribal officers may receive Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Law Enforcement commissions, which allow them to act as federal officers.
Seiler also argued that, if the officers were in violation of the tribal certification ordinance, it does not violate constitutional rights or federal law, according to court documents.
Seiler also said, even if the officers were acting as private citizens, the constitution does not require dismissal of evidence they obtained through search or seizure, according to court filings.
U.S. District Magistrate Judge Mark Moreno heard testimony on the case Thursday. Testimony is set to resume Tuesday, April 8, in Pierre.
The Rosebud tribal police certification issue is being cited by at least two other federal court defendants, Dominic C. Barrera and Clayton High Wolf.
Barrera was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and aiding and abetting, in connection with an incident on Dec. 6, 2007, in Todd County, according to court records. High Wolf was charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Henry, the tribal judiciary committee chairman, said there probably are inmates throughout the federal system who are hoping to use the Rosebud certification issue to overturn their convictions.
“I don’t support the rapists, child molesters and aggravated assault people,” Henry said. “I just feel Rosebud Sioux Tribe law has been broken.”
Meanwhile, Jackley said the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to prosecute criminal defendants based upon investigations and evidence gathered by federal authorities and Rosebud Sioux Tribe police officers.
Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
Certification
To receive certification as Rosebud Sioux Tribal police, applicants must complete training at the Indian Police Academy in New Mexico, pass a course in justice in Indian Country, and pass a background check, according to RST Chairman Rodney Bordeaux.
The applications are reviewed by the tribal chief judge and the judiciary committee chairman. Final approval comes from the tribal chairman and the chief judge, Bordeaux said.
The chairman said the tribe is considering sending officer candidates to the state police academy, as well as the Indian Police Academy, for training.
The tribal law enforcement program pays for the training, he said.
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