Native Sun News: 8th Circuit to consider Oglala Sioux man's case

Thursday, March 10, 2011  

The following story was written and reported by Evelyn Red Lodge. All content © Native Sun News.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — In what could become a precedent setting decision, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will answer an appeal brought by Oglala member Wesley Chuck Jacobs. The Major Crimes Act within the context of Articles I and V of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty will be examined.

Jacobs was originally charged in Oglala Sioux Tribe Court in late 2009. He subsequently pled guilty to committing a Major Crimes Act felony against his wife who is also an Oglala member. He was then sentenced by Oglala tribal court to six months in jail, domestic violence classes, anger management treatment, and two years supervised probation.

However, under the Major Crimes Act, these types of cases are automatically transferred to federal district court jurisdiction. The defendant is then tried again in Federal District Court due to overlapping jurisdictions.

The original case charged Jacobs with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Indian country, according to an appeal’s document. Jacobs was alleged to have beaten his wife with a belt intermittently for several hours at their Pine Ridge Reservation home. Court documents say the assault resulted in serious bodily injury.

The bodily injury charge was dropped in South Dakota Western District Federal Court as Jacobs pled guilty to the dangerous weapons charge in mid 2010. He was then sentenced by U.S. District of South Dakota Judge Jeffrey L. Viken to 36 months in prison and three years supervised release.

Jacobs’ attorney, Gary G. Colbath, Jr. then filed an appeal in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Minnesota.

This appeal challenges that the Western District Federal Court should not have accepted Jacobs’ plea, because the court did not comply with Articles I and V of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Enmeshed in this appeal is the Major Crimes Act. The appeal argues the court of appeals has not addressed the complex issue in this particular context.

The appeal’s document states the Treaty was established to protect tribal members from “arbitrary prosecution by white men.”

Article V of the treaty sets out a step-by-step process the U.S. government must use to obtain federal criminal jurisdiction. In this case, over tribal members alleged to have committed a Major Crimes Act crime against another tribal member on tribal land. Jacobs’ appeal said that since the step-by-step process was not followed, federal jurisdiction cannot be supported. “Therefore, Mr. Jacobs respectfully requests that this [Appeals] Court vacate the conviction and prison sentence.”

Contact Evelyn Red Lodge at welakota@yahoo.com