By The Seattle Times
Fund raising and preparation for the trial of Yvonne Wanrow are taking the Colville Indian woman away from the family she killed a man to defend.
"There is a lot of work to prepare for the retrial starting October 11 in Spokane," Ms. Wanrow, 33, said in an interview with the Times.
"And I hate to always be asking for money, but the trial is going to cost about $50,000 — and that's cutting corners."
The retrial was ordered by the Spokane County prosecutor, despite the fact the State Supreme Court upheld an intermediate court decision to overturn the original murder conviction of Ms. Wanrow. She was convicted of shooting William Wessler, 62, in April, 1972, in the home of her babysitter because events, she maintains, had led her to believe Wessler would molest her children.
Ms. Wanrow's lawyers, Liz Schneider of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, Susan Jordan of San Francisco and Mary Alice Theiler of Seattle, will argue the case on grounds of a woman's right to protect herself and her family, and racism against Indians.
"One defense tactic is to make the trial last as long as possible," said Ellen Earth, member of the Yvonne Wanrow defense committee, "in order to get a chance to re-educate the jury about Indians."
"They all have untrue impressions of Indians anyone gets from textbooks in the education system in this country."
Kris Melroe, defense committee coordinator, believes the defendant also is a victim of a growing conservative backlash against Indians asserting their rights.
"There's a national organization with considerable financial resources which is lobbying Congress to abrogate Indian fishing and treaty rights and they are at work in this state trying to turn public sentiment against the Indians," Ms Melroe said.
Ms. Wanrow is worried she may not be tried by "a jury of peers" because the jurors are picked from the list of registered voters and not many Indians are registered to vote in the Spokane area.
"WE HAVE considered asking for a change of venue," Ms. Melroe said, but this could cost up to $200,000 as it did for Joanne Little's trial in North Carolina, because you have to pay to take surveys of voters in each consecutive adjacent county until you find a county which is impartial.
"Ideally, we'd like to have it in Seattle or Tacoma, but it would be impossible to pay to go county by county across the state."
Ms. Wanrow constantly is traveling to speak in order to raise funds for the trial. Friday she will speak at a women's rights rally in Spokane and Sept. 10 she will be in Oakland to speak at a benefit at which Hlly Near, singer, will perform.
Ms. Wanrow's three children, aged 14, 7 and 3 stay with her family in Inchelium, on the Colville Reservation near Spokane. Sometimes one or two of them accompany her on trips.
IN HER spare time and when the "pressure gets to her," the defendant returns to her art in efforts to prepare a show and sell her works, with Indian themes, that are done in oils, charcoal, pastel and inks.
"We want to develop public support, get people from all over the state to fill the courtroom," Ms. Melroe said.
"The statewide defense committee is composed of many different types of groups and individuals including church groups of all denominations," said Ms. Melroe.
A benefit will be held 7 p.m. tonight at the Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center. The program will include Native American music and women's poetry. Donation of $2 will be asked and childcare will be provided.
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