Gang members acquittal is state’s O.J. case

Charley Najacht

Published: Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Don’t you love it when the judicial system actually works once in a while. Don’t you hate it when it fails so miserably to bring perpetrators to justice? As a nation we suffered through this with the infamous O.J. Simpson dual murder trial in 1995 in Los Angeles. Simpson hired the best attorneys money could buy to defend him in the murders of his former wife, Nicole, and her friend Ron Goldman. Both had their throats viciously slashed in what defense attorneys said was a random act of violence. Simpson’s attorneys Johnny Cochran and F. Lee Bailey did a brilliant job of casting doubt on the guilt of their client. Prosecutors laid out a much different scenario in placing Simpson at the murder scene. He was jealous of his former wife and was the obvious suspect in the case. A comedy of errors by prosecuting attorneys led to a not guilty verdict by a jury. We now know some of the jurors actually were Simpson admirers. There was no way he was going to be convicted of anything, especially when the blood-stained glove didn’t fit. Remember those famous lines uttered by Cochran, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” Never mind a leather glove soaked in any liquid would tend to shrink up a bit. And it was Simpson’s glove! Most of us shook our heads at that surprise verdict. Obviously, the jurors believed there was a reasonable doubt in the guilt of Simpson and voted to acquit him of the charges. We didn’t see that as we watched the drama unfold on television. The evidence pointed to a much different conclusion in the case. This is exactly the way I felt over two years ago when I wrote the story about a motorcycle gang shooting at Legion Lake Resort in Custer State Park. I remember saying to myself, “These guys will never get away with this in South Dakota.” The two, Chad Wilson and John Midmore, both affiliated with the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, pulled their pickup into the parking lot of Legion Lake Resort and opened fire on a group of Outlaw motorcycle gang members walking toward the lake. It was August 2006 during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Wilson emptied a high capacity magazine from a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun, jumped back in the pickup, and roared away toward Custer with Midmore at the wheel. One of the Outlaws ran to his motorcycle to dig out a handgun and returned fire at the pickup. The Outlaws injured were shot in the back of their bodies as they tried to flee from the gunfire. Various witness accounts from the 100 or so bystanders to this melee verified this scenario. An open and shut case, right? Wrong! Headlines screamed not guilty verdicts in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and Rapid City Journal last Friday morning. You knew something was wrong when the jury was out for three days. At one point, the judge had to send them back into the jury room when they said they couldn’t reach a verdict. That’s when prosecutors knew they were in trouble. Fourteen witnesses collaborated the story told by the Outlaws, that Wilson and Midmore were the aggressors and instigated the entire confrontation. The Outlaws were unarmed when they were fired upon. Five in the Outlaw group were shot and another injured as she scrambled to get out of the way of flying bullets. The story told by the defense team was totally different, but it was all they would need to get an acquital. Defense attorney David Kenner spun a yarn so unbelievable, it was almost hilarious. Kenner said the Outlaws surrounded the pickup as the two Hell’s Angels attempted to leave the parking lot.   The Outlaws never went near the pickup, according to prosecution witnesses. Kenner said Wilson got out of the pickup and told the Outlaws to move away.  Another lie. When Wilson got out of the pickup two Outlaws pulled out their guns, Kenner said, and Wilson was forced to fire in self defense. What fantasy. You have to remember that these two, Wilson and Midmore, had almost two and a half years sitting in jail to dream up something remotely believable to a jury. It gets better. Kenner told the jury it was the Outlaws, not his defendants, who took the opportunity to take out members of “the other team.” The defense attorney said the only reason prosecutors charged his clients was because members of the Outlaws told their story to law enforcement officials first. I wonder why that was? Couldn’t be because his clients were fleeing from the scene after doing their dirty deed. Why didn’t they stop to explain things to nearby law enforcement officials and finger the Outlaws as the shooters? Maybe it was because they were too busy trying to find an escape route out of the park after performing their dastardly deed. Maybe they should have done some map reading before shooting at their targets of opportunity. The two ended up getting stuck on a dead end trail and tried to hitch a ride out of the area. They couldn’t even do that right as the first person to come along was an off-duty park law enforcement official who radioed for a taxi for the two. They probably thought this was a nice gesture by retired FBI agent Jim Laverick who was calling for backup the only way he knew how. Deputy Glen Talley arrived and the two arrested Wilson and Midmore. It’s funny how we know the story, but 12 other people in a Sioux Falls courtroom could not be convinced “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Wilson and Midmore were guilty. I hope no more motorcycle gang members think they can settle their differences in broad daylight, in front of at least 100 people, and get away scott free in South Dakota during the annual motorcycle rally. Wilson and Midmore proved that if you tell a big enough lie, you can get away with it just as well in a Sioux Falls courtroom as you can in one in Los Angeles.