On Tuesday, July 29th, the evidentiary phase of the Eugene "Bear" Lincoln trial began. Of the 135 witnesses on the prosecution's list, only 20 were called before the case was rested on August 25th. Over that time, expert witnesses, Sonoma County Sheriff's Department detectives, an FBI special agent, and a dispatcher have been among the people taking the witness stand.
Deputy Dennis Miller, the only other eyewitness besides Bear to the events on the ridge in Covelo on April 14th, also testified for the prosecution. He told of remembering a few days after the shootings that he saw two shadows walking up the road. In his interview taken hours after the incident, he'd reported seeing only one person initially, seeing him clearly in the beam of Davis' flashlight, seeing him clearly raise his gun and shoot before the deputies opened fire and killed Leonard "Acorn" Peters. Miller claimed no one told him about the forensic test showing Acorn hadn't fired a gun that night when the memory of the second person on the road came back. He also testified he did not talk to anyone about his recall nor was he informed about the forensic test until a day or so later when a Sonoma County detective called to re-interview him in light of the new evidence. On the stand, he recounted that night - the tension, the strategies, the fear, the torment of listening to his fellow officer take his last breaths, the ongoing trauma of reliving it all.
Bear's mother, Lucille Lincoln, was also called by the prosecution. She told about that night, coming back from Ukiah with other family, seeing the commotion at the high school and stopping, being approached by Neil Britton who threatened to kill them all in retaliation for the murder of his father that evening. After going home and going to bed, she was awakened by her daughter-in-law who told her there was much gunfire on the ridge. Fearing for their lives, they left in a pick-up filled with family, but just before they did, Bear appeared, out of breath and shaken, saying they'd shot Acorn right in front of him. There was no mention of police. She assumed it was the Brittons, and that they had left. She proceeded to drive out of the valley, where she encountered Acorn's body in the road. The pick-up was quickly surrounded by police and all were ordered out among shouts, cursing and drawn guns. One of the children, a two year old, asked a deputy if he was going to kill them. Mrs. Lincoln, who suffers from arthritis, was ordered to the ground by a CHP officer, and when she said she couldn't, he knocked her down and tightly handcuffed her.
Mrs. Lincoln admitted to lying during one interview with Sonoma County Detective Gourley during the investigation when she told him she hadn't seen her son that night. She said she'd heard of the "shoot to kill" order on Bear, and was not cooperating with the investigation. In a second interview a week or so later, she told Gourley she'd seen Bear twice that night; at her home and at her sister's later that night. When Detective Gourley took the stand, he testified that Mrs. Lincoln had never told him she'd seen Bear that night. He testified under questioning by Deputy DA Williams and defense attorney Tony Serra to this fact. However, Serra produced Gourley's written report of the second interview in which it clearly states she did indeed tell him. Gourley said he forgot.
Perhaps Bear put it best after the fourth day of the trial. He said that every day had been a victory - and it was the prosecution putting on its case. It is not disputed that Bear was at the scene, and that he fired a gun. However, inconsistent and disputed testimony, questionable investigation procedures, and the mysterious trail of blood drips leading down the road from the scene of the shootings - thought to be Bear's but proven not to be - leave no clear picture of the actual events that night.
The defense expects its presentation to last two to four weeks, probably finishing sometime in late September. If so, the evidentiary phase of the trial will have lasted less time than it took to select a jury. The decision on Bear's guilt or innocence, his life or death, will then be up to that jury.
I have been close to this case from the beginning, attending the first public meeting held by the Indians in Covelo. I've come to know and care about many members of the families and other Covelo residents, and have been fortunate to be part of an active, committed county-wide and beyond support group for Bear, his family, and for Peters family members. I feel confident Bear will be found not guilty.
My most heartfelt wish, though, is for more. Two men died on the ridge that night. Their deaths tore apart many lives. I believe it was a terrible accident, precipitated by apprehension and the cold terror only those who have experienced combat can fully understand. The deputies did not intend to kill an innocent man. Bear, if it was indeed his bullet which killed Deputy Davis, did not intend to take a life. But in a burst of fire it was done and they were dead. I wish we didn't need to find fault or blame. The widowed partners sit in the courtroom each day, across the aisle, listening to the stories again and again, sometimes weeping. I wish they could console each other in their mutual loss. I wish Deputy Miller could find comfort rather than scrutiny and judgment. I wish there were no sides, only forgiveness and a strengthened resolve to learn how to live together in peace.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1997
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited