6 days ago
Felony charge against Akwesasne activist dismissed
Aug. 15—CANTON — The felony charge against an Akwesasne land activist has been dismissed because of a violation of his constitutional right to a speedy trial.
Larry V. Thompson, 71, was charged May 22, 2024 with felony second-degree criminal mischief during a demonstration on Barnhart Island held in opposition to a proposed Mohawk land claim settlement.
He and six other activists and an Akwesasne journalist who was there covering the event were all arrested after Thompson started digging a hole with a backhoe. Each of the eight people were charged with misdemeanor conspiracy and a trespass violation. Those charges were all dismissed in November 2024.
Thompson was additionally charged with the felony mischief count for allegedly causing over $1,500 in damage to New York Power Authority land. It carried a maximum sentence of 2 1/3 to seven years in state prison. He and the six other demonstrators were holding the protest to express their views that the land rightfully belongs to the Mohawk people.
Thompson's felony case made its way to St. Lawrence County Court in front of Judge Gregory P. Storie in December 2024. He had steadfastly refused to get an attorney and insisted on representing himself.
In July of this year, St. Lawrence County Chief Public Defender James M. McGahan drafted and filed a written motion on Thompson's behalf seeking dismissal of the felony charge. He argued that Thompson's right to a speedy trial had been violated.
Specifically, McGahan wrote that Thompson was arraigned May 22, 2024, which started a six-month clock for the prosecution to declare readiness for trial, which they didn't do until a St. Lawrence County grand jury indicted Thompson Dec. 5, 2024.
St. Lawrence County Assistant District Attorney Alexander A.V. Nichols wrote a response saying that portions of that time period should have been excluded from the six-month timeframe. He argued that after Thompson's initial appearance in Massena Town Court for his arraignment on May 22, 2024, Thompson had re-appeared three subsequent times in June, July and August. His case was adjourned during the first two of those because Thompson refused to accept an attorney.
Massena Town Justice Joseph Brown conducted a hearing during the third appearance on Aug. 27, 2024 to determine Thompson's ability to represent himself, which the town justice granted. That led to the case eventually being divested to county court.
In Judge Storie's written ruling filed on Thursday, he sides with McGahan on the grounds that Massena Town Court should have conducted a "searching inquiry" as to Thompson's ability to represent himself during his initial arraignment on May 22, 2024. Storie said that's because that the record shows this was the first time Thompson refused legal counsel and asserted his desire to self-represent. Justice Brown did not do that until Thompson's fourth appearance in Massena Town Court on Aug. 27, 2024.
"The arraignment court did no further inquiry as to the defendant's intentions regarding counsel, nor did it conduct a formal searching inquiry as to the defendant's ability to represent himself. Based on the record presented, this Court determines that a searching inquiry should have been conducted by the arraignment court, on May 22, 2024," Storie wrote in his ruling. "The defendant next appeared in Massena Town Court on June 11, 2024. At that time, he informed the Massena Town Court that he did not intend to retain an attorney and that he did not want counsel assigned to him. The local court, in this Court's view, was obligated to engage in a searching inquiry to determine if the defendant was able to represent himself. But it did not do so."
"The [prosecution] further urge this Court to nullify the local court's determination approving self representation on August 27, 2024 but this Court elects not to disturb the lower court's ruling in that regard," Storie wrote.
Thompson had also challenged the validity of the prosecution's filing a certificate of compliance formally stating they have turned over all discovery and are ready for trial. Storie noted he conducted a speedy trial inquiry on Dec. 12, 2024 and found the prosecution to be ready for trial. His ruling throws out that certification.
"The defendant argues that the people's Certificate of Compliance should be invalidated because it was filed in excess of six months from commencement. As noted, the people are assessed six months and fourteen days of chargeable time from the defendant's initial arraignment to the people's announcement of readiness," the ruling says. "This period of time exceeds the statutory requirement for the people to be ready for trial within six months. Therefore, based on the people's untimely announcement of readiness, the people's certificate was not valid."
Thompson had repeatedly argued in both Massena Town Court and St. Lawrence County Court appearances that they have no jurisdiction over him.
He said he is Onkwehonweh, which in the Mohawk language means the original people of Turtle Island (North America), who was protesting on land that rightfully belongs to the Onkwehonweh. Therefore, the foreign court has no authority over him.
He sees lawyers as officers of that foreign court. Therefore, according to Onkwehonweh law, he says he was not able accept an attorney's legal services.
"I assert and maintain this honorable court does not have jurisdiction to take my plea ... accordingly, I will file a notice of removal," he said during his Dec. 18, 2024 appearance.
"How can you charge someone who ... is native to the land," Thompson told the judge. "We were here first. We are the first law of the land."
Following an appearance in Massena Town Court in July 2024, Thompson told the Times that he started digging on Barnhart Island with the intention to start building a foundation for Native housing so Akwesasne community members could move upstream from decades of industrial pollution caused by Alcoa, Reynolds Metals and General Motors plants.
Thompson and the six protesters were demanding fair compensation for Barnhart Island, integral to the Moses-Saunders power dam, which has generated billions of dollars in electricity for the U.S. and Canada. They also sought redress for generations of pollution-related illnesses among Akwesasne people that result from upstream industrial activities by Alcoa, Reynolds Metals and General Motors. For decades, those plants used large amounts of PCB — a known carcinogen — in their operations. PCB stands for polychlorinated biphenyls.
The activists cited the Two-Row Wampum, dating back to 1613, as the standing treaty governing the relationship between non-native peoples and the Onkwehonweh. It is among the earliest treaties between the Haudenosaunee people and European colonizers. Symbolized by two parallel purple rows on a white background, it signifies mutual navigation of the river in separate vessels — a Native canoe and a Dutch ship — pledging never to interfere with each other's paths.
The federal government sold large swathes of the Akwesasne reservation without congressional approval, in violation of the Indian Non-Intercourse Act of 1796. It stands as the American law today, saying Native land cannot be sold without an affirmative vote of Congress.
In 2022, a judge ruled New York state unlawfully took thousands of acres of Mohawk land in the 1800s. Negotiations for a settlement have been ongoing between Albany and U.S., Canadian, and traditional Mohawk councils.
