Angola 3 attorney says summer trial possible

• By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 18, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:30 a.m.

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A federal trial could start this summer for three men who claim they are victims of cruel and unusual punishment because of the decades they spent in isolation cells at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, their attorney said Monday afternoon.

The federal lawsuit was filed in 2000 on behalf of two Angola inmates who were first placed into isolation cells in 1972 and a third inmate who spent 29 years in isolation before his conviction was overturned and he was released in 2001.

The three men, who have become known as the Angola 3, are Robert King, Herman “Hooks” Wallace and Albert Woodfox. Wallace and Woodfox remain in isolation at Angola. King, who used to go by the last name Wilkerson, has resided in Austin, Texas, since Hurricane Katrina.

King was placed in isolation for allegedly killing a fellow inmate, but that conviction was overturned in 2001 and King pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. In isolation, an inmate spends 23 hours each day in a cell and the other hour is spent taking a shower and exercising alone.

Wallace and Woodfox, who had formed a chapter of the Black Panther Party to fight sexual slavery and other problems inside the prison, were convicted of killing correctional officer Brent Miller during a riot on April 17, 1972.

King said Monday that Woodfox and Wallace were targeted because they were “activists” and because there was a need to quickly resolve Miller’s killing.

In recent days the Innocence Project has ramped up efforts to raise public awareness of the Angola 3, which included a segment on the “NBC Nightly News” program on Sunday.

Prison officials have maintained the men pose a security risk at the prison.

On Monday, Assistant Warden Angie Norwood said Warden Burl Cain would have no comment on the latest reports.

In addition to the claims of unjust treatment, attorneys said Monday there could be evidence to show Wallace and Woodfox were not involved in Miller’s death, but they’ve hit a roadblock with state Department of Corrections officials.

Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, said Monday “there are a lot of good reasons they didn’t commit this crime at all.”
New Orleans attorney Nick Trenticosta said a bloody fingerprint found at the scene where Miller was stabbed 32 times does not
match Woodfox or Wallace, who were serving sentences for armed robbery at the time of Miller’s stabbing.

Trenticosta said about 200 inmates had access to the room where Miller was killed, but the Department of Corrections has made no effort to find the person whose finger left the print.

In addition, Trenticosta said Department of Corrections officials have also been unwilling to turn over to defense attorneys the fingerprint cards for the 200 men who had access to the room.