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THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2003

Special trustee Ross Swimmer will testify at the end of the ongoing Indian trust fund trial, a Department of Justice attorney said on Wednesday.

Swimmer was expected to be called the federal government's second witness. But due to a family emergency, he has been in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he makes his home, to attend to his wife.

The trial, to address an historical accounting and reform of the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust, is being held in federal court in Washington, D.C. The government has called two witnesses so far: Yale University law professor John H. Langbein and Associate Interior Deputy Secretary Jim Cason.

Cason spent all of Wednesday on the stand. A Department of Justice attorney questioned him for about an hour and one-half. Dennis Gingold, an attorney for the plaintiffs, questioned him for the remainder of the day about general trust reform issues and the historical accounting.

Cason is to resume his testimony today. The government plans to call two KPMG accountants next.

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust

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