Richard Howard Battey (October 16, 1929 - May 6, 2017) was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.
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Education and career
Battey was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota. After attending the University of South Dakota in 1950, he received a Juris Doctor from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1953. After serving as a United States Army Lieutenant from 1953 to 1955, he went into private practice in Redfield, South Dakota from 1955 to 1985.
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Federal judicial service
Battey was nominated to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota by Ronald Reagan on September 27, 1985. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 25, 1985, and received his commission on October 28, 1985. He served as Chief Judge from 1994 to 1998. He assumed senior status on January 1, 1999, serving in that status until his death.
Controversial decisions as judge
'Sue' Dinosaur case
Battey is known for being the presiding judge in the dispute over the recovery fossil remains on Federal lands including by the Sue discoverer Peter Larson and Black Hills Institute of Geological Research paleontologists. Battey, controversially, did not recuse himself from the prosecution of Larson. Battey sentenced Larson to two years in Federal Prison, despite the maximum sentence being only six months. South Dakota lawmakers have petitioned Barack Obama for a pardon for Larson. Battey is portrayed in a negative light for his handling of Sue Dinosaur Case in the Sundance Film Festival Documentary Dinosaur 13 and in the film Holy Man for his handling of the Douglas White child molestation case.
Douglas White case
The latter film mentions Judge Battey for denying Mr. White, a Lacota Sioux American Indian Medicine Man a new trial despite strong evidence he had been falsely accused by his two grandchildren who recanted that he had molested them in 1991. Judge Battey was also the presiding judge in the original federal trial where he did not allow the jury to know that Mr. White had been found not guilty in a tribal court. Despite strong judicial and public opinion, judge Battey's unwillingness to grant a new trial remains troubling and indicative of the unfair treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. legal system. Battey is widely viewed as racist and anti-Indian among American Indian community due to his decisions against Native Americans. Douglas White served 17 years in federal prison and died on November 29, 2009.
Richard Neal case
In December 1991 Judge Richard Battey presided over the case U.S. v. (Richard) Neal. Four years earlier, after a DEA task force led by DEA agent Dewey Gregor had been expelled from Denver. CO for using "unseemly and illegal tactics" agent Gregor went "judge shopping" according to the testimony of William "Bill" Conyer, a DEA agent attached to the DEA task force in Denver, and found Federal Judge Richard Battery who agreed to allow such questionable tactics in his Court in Rapid City, SD. The new task force, made up of DEA agent Gregor, recently fired state DEA agent Kenneth Brown, aka 'Tony Morelli' (who was fired from Colorado state DEA after being diagnosed "a psychotic and a danger to himself and society" by a Colorado state court) along with several local and state undercover agents flew a private jet to San Antonio, TX where they were promised, after threatening their suspect over the period of several months "loads of cocaine" by one Peter Santcroos, an immigrant from Israel. At the San Antonio airport the undercover DEA agents, who were posing as "a Mafia family out to find new cocaine sources," were introduced to Richard Neal, a personal friend of Mr. Santcroos. The agents, Mr. Santcroos and Mr. Neal then flew to St Louis, MS where a new Drury Inn had been set aside to accommodate the suspects. Upon the return trip to San Antonio Mr. Neal advised "Mr. Morelli," the "leader of the family," and Mr. Gregory, "the family hit man," that he and Mr. Santcroos "could not produce any cocaine as they were not cocaine dealers - and had no desire to become cocaine dealers now." Two weeks later, while working through a paid snitch, Chuck De la Garza, who had previously been arrested by said task force on a one kilo cocaine deal, but agreed to set up friends and business associates (which Mr. Santcroos was a business associate as Mr. De la Garza had previously worked for Mr. Santcroos in San Antonio in the construction business) in return for having the charges dropped against him. DEA agent Dewey Gregor and CI (Confidential Informant) 'Tony Morelli" continued to harass Mr. Santcroos by having Chuck De La Garza continually call Mr. Santcroos hoping he could get Mr. Neal to agree "to arrange a deal." Mr. Santcroos then complained that he "thought they might be cops" whereby Agent Gregory then telephoned Mr. Neal threatening that Mr. Neal "would find his family [referring to Mr. Santcroos, his wife and two young sons] floating facedown in that river that runs through San Antonio [referring to the famous River Walk]" if Mr. Neal didn't get Mr. Santcroos to shut up "because that kind of talk could get me killed in my line of business" and put a deal together "to cover up our expenses and embarrassment within the family." Mr. Neal agreed to do so on the condition that Mr. Santcroos and his family be left alone, and three months later, on December 15, 1987 had two kilograms of cocaine delivered to Rapid City, SD via Federal Express. Mr. Neal was subsequently arrested in Rapid City, and released that night without being charged. It wasn't until two years later that Mr. Neal, Mr. Santcroos and Anthony "Tony" Perez [the supplier of the cocaine] were finally indicted. As Mr. Neal and Mr. Santcroos were preparing for trail, Mr. Perez agreed to cooperate with authorities. Mr, Perez was subsequently found on the side of a highway in San Antonio with two 22 caliber bullets in the back of his head in September 1991 - just four months before trial was set to start. Mr. Brown, aka "Tony Morelli" was subsequently found dead in a hotel room outside of Houston, TX in October 1991 from two 22 caliber bullets to the back of his head. Neither murder was ever solved. Mr. Santcroos subsequently fled to his native Holland out of "fear for his life" where, years later after three attempts to extradite him, was found to be "innocent" by a Dutch Court because "the United States Federal DEA agents had violated Mr. Santcroos' human rights because the DEA had violated a United Nations Human Rights accord by soliciting criminal activities." Mr. Neal subsequently went to trial on December 16, 1991 - four years and a day after being arrested, and with his main witnesses, Mr Santcroos, his wife Aliza Santcroos. CI (Confidential Informant) Mr. Kenneth Brown aka 'Tony Morelli' and Mr. 'Tony' Perez had either been forced to flee the United States out of "fear for their lives" or murdered. A three day trial ensued where Mr. Neal argued that he was entrapped and/or coerced by the words and actions of Mr. Brown, aka "Tony Morelli" and DEA agent Dewey Gregor. Judge Battey refused to allow Dr. Fuentiz, Mr. Santcroos' psychiatrist, to testify after hearing Dr. Fuentiz's testimony in chambers even though Dr. Fuentiz's testimony corroborated much of Mr. Neal's testimony, while refusing to allow the jury to hear said testimony. Limiting the only eye witness to Mr. Gregor's threatening phone call, Mr. Robert "Bob" Hunt [an employee of Mr. Neal's carpet cleaning company in San Antonio, TX], to testify to "only what he saw and heard - not what Mr. Neal told him was said by agent Gregor" even though Mr. Hunt witnessed the telephone call. Judge Battey also refused to allow the jury to hear how Mr. Kenneth Brown, aka 'Tony Morelli had been previously fired by Colorado state after being diagnosed "a psychotic and a danger to himself and society," and how, even though he was a 20 year veteran of Colorado state DEA - Mr. Brown had an extensive criminal record dating back 15 years for various crimes including threatening people that he was a Mafia gangster who would 'have their families killed if they didn't do what he wanted" and for holding a bar full of people hostage after threatening their lives because he "was a Mafia godfather." And after catching DEA agent Robert "Bob" Tillerson lying under oath about finding marijuana and a small packet of methamphetamine "inside Mr. Neal's garment bag" the night he was arrested, the case went to the jury - but not before Judge Battey instructed the jury that they "could not find Mr. Neal innocent because of entrapment and/or coercion," which was Mr. Neal's whole defense from the start of the trial. While deliberating the jury sent in thirteen questions to the court - one of which read "If we can not find Mr. Neal innocent of entrapment and/or coercion what the hell are we even doing here?" Thinking they had reached a compromise, the jury found Mr. Neal 'not guilty' of the one RICO charge, and guilty on the lessor charges of conspiracy and one phone count. The jury then wrote a letter to Judge Battey asking for leniency because they "believed Mr. Neal was innocent, but followed the Court's instructions anyway." The jury later testified in sworn testimony to the 8th Circuit during Mr. Neal's direct appeal that they found Mr. Neal guilty of the lessor charges thinking Mr. Neal was "innocent of all charges but followed Judge Battey's instructions." Judge Battey subsequently sentenced Mr. Neal, who had no prior convictions to 235 months in Federal Prison after enhancing Mr. Neal's Federal Sentencing Guideline range by 8 upward levels for an imaginary eight additional kilos of cocaine based on DEA agent Gregor's testimony at sentencing, 2 more levels for "Obstruction of justice" and 2 more levels for his "Leadership" role. Judge Battey fulfilled his obligation to protect the task force regardless of its techniques in the infamous 'War on Drugs' which proved itself to be such an unmitigated failure. The U.S Supreme Court, in 2004 in UNITED STATES v. Duncan Fanfan found that the fourteen years of enhancements Judge Battey enhanced Mr. Neal's sentence by were unconstitutional because he had not been indicted, tried for or found guilty of said enhancements by a jury. Because President Bill Clinton had previously restricted American's habeas corpus rights after the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVey, Mr. Neal had no habeas corpus rights left after such a long period of time (13 years at the time), and was left to serve the remaining four years of an illegal fourteen years [168 months] of enhancements Judge Battey had used to arrive at the total 235 month sentence (Mr. Neal should have only received a sentence of 60 months based on the Sentencing Guidelines). In the case of United States of America v. Richard Neal (1991) Judge Richard Battey deliberately and repeatedly abused his power as a Federal Judge to protect a corrupt multi-agency drug task force which had violated various constitutional rights of Mr. Neal and Mr. Santcroos while wrecking multiple lives in the process as many lives beside just Mr. Neal, Mr. Santcroos and Mr. Perez were affected by Judge Battey's disregard for the rule of law and decency and his agreement to overlook the questionable tactics of DEA agent Dewey Gregor and his psychotic CI Mr. Kenneth Brown. Mr. Richard Neal, who entered Federal Prison at age 31, was released in November 2008 after serving his complete 235 month sentence - then another 60 months of Federal Parole - now resides in Las Vegas, NV where he restarted his carpet cleaning company.
United States of America v. Richard Neal
United States of America v. Duncan FanFan
Death
Richard Battey died in Alexandria, Minnesota on May 6, 2017.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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