STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA ) IN THE DISTRICT COURT FOR COUNTY OF MORTON ) THE SOUTH CENTRAL JUDICIAL ) DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA State of North Dakota ) Plaintiff ) ) CASE NO. 30-2017-CR-00223 v. ) Defendant Chase Iron Eyes’ August 20th ) OPPOSITION TO THE STATE’S ) MOTION IN LIMINE and Executive Summary ) of His Prima Facie Showing of His “Good Faith ) Beliefs and The Reasonably Well-Grounded ) Basis of Each Chase Alone Iron Eyes ) Defendant ) ____________________________________ )___________________________________ I Introductory Statement [1] Chase Iron Eyes, the life-long officially-enrolled member of The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and member of The Oceti Sakowin Oyate (The People of The Seven Council Fires, known to Non-Native Americans as “The Sioux Tribe of Indians”) – and the 2018 National Democratic Party Nominee for the single seat in the United States House of Representatives from the State of North Dakota - was arrested, on the afternoon of February 1st of 2017, by Morton County Deputy Sheriff Dion Bitz for the Class B Misdemeanor offense of “Trespassing” on a half-acre hilltop of high prairie grassland located some ½ mile from the site of the planned imminent finalization of the construction and putting into operation of the 910,000 gallon-an-hour Dakota Access Pipeline directly beneath the sole source of fresh drinking water of Chase Iron Eyes, his six- member Lakota family, and the 8,217 members of his Lakota Band of Sioux Indians, who resided on The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Chase Iron Eyes was also arrested, at that same time, by Deputy Bitz, for the Class A Misdemeanor of “Participating in a Riot” - because, when instructed by Deputy Bitz to leave the site where he and his fellow Tribal Members were in the midst of erecting seven tee-pees and beginning a small Sacred Ceremonial Fire to perform a traditional Lakota religious ceremony, Chase Iron Eyes and his fellow tribal Members chose to gather in a circle around their Sacred Camp Fire and “lock arms” in a traditional non-violent demonstration of their will to remain on the site and “not be moved” from performing their mission of holding this Sacred Traditional Lakota Religious Ceremony. [2] On the day following his arrest with some 33 other officially-enrolled members of his Sioux Tribe on this half-acre of grassland1, Chase Iron Eyes was, however, officially charged, instead of with the simple Class 1 Arrested with Chase Iron Eyes and the fellow members of his Sioux Tribe of Indians were also a number of Non-Native Americans who had been invited by these Sioux Tribal members to participate with them in this traditional Lakota Religious Ceremony intended to invoke the “intervention” of these Lakota People’s Tribal 1 A Misdemeanor of “Participating in a Riot”, with the Class C FELONY Crime of “Inciting a “Riot” (allegedly for purportedly “requesting, directing or advising five of more people to engage in tumultuous and violent conduct with 100 or more people, which conduct either: (a) presented a danger or threat of grave bodily injury or damage to property OR (b) “substantially obstructed …law enforcement.”2 [3] To these two State criminal charges, the first a Class B Misdemeanor “Trespassing” charge and the second a Class C Felony charge of “Inciting a Riot” (for the latter of which Chase Iron Eyes could be sentenced to up to five years in the North Dakota State Prison…and lose his North Dakota State Attorney’s License) Chase Iron Eyes pled NOT guilty, and asserted against these charges his Defense-In-Chief (asserting that he was simply “not guilty” of either charge, as a simple matter of fact… and law.) However, in order to place before The Bar of Justice in the United States…and The American People and The World at Large the extremely important issues that were posed by the arrest of his people, Chase Iron Eyes filed with the North Dakota State Criminal Court a series of five “Necessity Defenses.” In these Five Necessity Defenses, Chase Iron Eyes asserted that, if, for any reason, Chase’s Trial Court Judge found that The State had proffered to Chase’s November 5th, 2018-scheduled Jury adequate evidence to legally support a jury verdict of “guilty” against him on either charge, Chase was asserting that, whatever those actions were that a jury might have thought he had committed that, in their mind, were “unlawful”, those actions on his part had been “necessary” in order to have prevented or stopped from occurring a “Much Greater Harm” than any actual harm that may have been caused by his actions. (A) Defendant Iron Eyes’ Defense-In-Chief against the “Trespassing” Charge In his Defense-In-Chief against the “Trespassing” Charge, Chase Iron Eyes asserted: (1) That the half-acre of high prairie grassland on which he and his fellow Tribal Members had been arrested for “trespassing” on February 1st of 2017 was in fact - AND as a matter of American LAW,3 “Sovereign Sioux Territory” that had never been “ceded” to the United States Government and had been expressly officially recognized by the United States Government as belonging exclusively to The Sioux Tribe of Indians in The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1851 and confirmed as such, once again, in The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868….which expressly provided that THAT land should remain forever the Sovereign Territory of The Sioux Tribe of Indians and that, indeed, this same status applied to ALL Ancestors to assist them in stopping the final construction and putting into operation of this Dakota Access Pipeline under their sole source of fresh drinking water. 2 Of the 843 people arrested and charged, by the State of North Dakota, with unlawful activity in connection with The Standing Rock Protest Against The Dakota Access Oil Pipeline, Chase Iron Eyes stands alone charged with “Inciting the Riot” at Standing Rock. 3 For Chase Iron Eyes was an attorney and a long-time member of the North Dakota Federal Bar. 2 of the land from The Cannonball River northward to The Heart River; (See: “Attachment A” for the detailed factual and legal proof of this.); (2) That the State could produce no proof that ANY Party who even purported to “own” that half-acre of grassland on February 1st of 2017 (other than The Sioux Tribe of Indians) had, in fact, “authorized” or “asked” Deputy Bitz, or any other law enforcement officer of the State of North Dakota, to ORDER Chase Iron Eyes or the fellow members of his Tribe off that half-acre of grassland (which “proof “ could be presented to support a charge of the Class B Misdemeanor “Trespassing”) 4; (3) That half-acre of grassland on which Chase Iron Eyes and his fellow Sioux Tribal Members had been arrested for “Trespassing” was plainly NOT ever “lawfully OWNED” by either The Energy Transfer Partners Corporation or The Dakota Access Pipeline Corporation because BOTH Corporations were expressly forbidden, BY A SPECIFIC NORTH DAKOTA STATE STATUTE, from either “acquiring” or “owning” such grassland in North Dakota; (4) The State itself is in possession of an Official Police Video Recording in which Chase Iron Eyes expressly informs Morton County Deputy Sheriff Bitz that the area of land on which he and his fellow Tribal members were gathered was – and still is - “TREATY LAND” on which he and they possess a express “TREATY RIGHT” to be present – as to which “Treaty” both Deputy Sheriff Bitz AND HIS COMMANDING OFFICER WHO PERSONALLY “GREEN-LIGHTED” THE ARREST OF CHASE IRON EYES AND HIS FELLOW TRIBAL MEMBERS FOR “TRESPASSING” ON THIS LAND had absolutely NO “training”, “instruction” or “knowledge” whatsoever, indeed, which “Treaty information” they expressly testified “ was totally above my pay grade.” (B) Defendant Iron Eyes’ Defense-In-Chief against the “Inciting a Riot” Charge (1) The State is in possession of a February 1st early morning Facebook Transmission by Chase Iron Eyes in which he broadcasted a “call” for people to call “journalists” to come to the half-acre area where he and his fellow Tribal Members were assembling to perform their ceremony and on which they intended “to make 4When Attorney Chase Iron Eyes “confronted” The State with a demand to be shown any such “proof”, The State, later, proffered a LETTER from one Joey Mahmoud, a Vice President of the Energy Transfer Partners Corporation of Texas, dated ON FEBRUARY 1st of 2017 – which had not been communicated to The State UNTIL AFTER CHASE IRON EYES AND HIS FELLOW TRIBAL MEMBERS HAD ALREADY BEEN ARRESTED FOR “TRESPASSING.” That letter stated, on its face, that that letter had been “emailed” to The State (thus, potentially revealing the exact time of its delivery –which would have proved that that letter had NOT, in fact, been sent and received BEFORE the arrest of Chase Iron Eyes and his fellow Tribal Members (thereby rendering the arrest of everyone on February 1st as having been “unauthorized" by any “Owner” of that land) - The State immediately “amended” its charge against Chase Iron Eyes, RAISING the “charge” against him to a “Class A” Misdemeanor “Trespassing” charge, which The State maintained did NOT require the attempted State fabricated letter of February 1st “authorizing” or “requesting” the removal or arrest of The Lakota People. 3 their entirely peaceful and NON-violent final stand” to protest the finalization of the construction of the final one mile of The Dakota Access Pipeline and the putting of that pipeline into immediate operation under the sole source of water for his people. And, in that same Facebook Transmission, Chase Iron Eyes also asked those who might be listening to come to the site themselves “to make this final stand with his Lakota people.