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der=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 width=100%> Critic refuses to speak
AUGUST 10, 2000

A critic of the Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico refused to speak at a hearing before the tribal council for fear of imprisonment but a lawyer for the tribe said Carleton Palmer had nothing to worry about.

Palmer had been subpoenaed by the council. They wanted him to back up his allegations of wrongdoing against the tribe.

But Palmer invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself on Tuesday. He believed the council was abusing its powers to conduct the hearing but the tribe's lawyer denied the assertion.

The council is the tribe's Supreme Court. But the lawyer said the tribe was only conducting a fact-finding session, not a trial.

Palmer has accused the tribe, among other allegations, that they have conflicts of interest since half of the council work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Mescalero Agency under Lee Simmons, whose wife is a council member.

Get the Story:
Lawyer Contradicts Mescalero Critic (The Albuquerque Journal 8/10)
Critic Refuses to Testify at Tribal Hearing (The Albuquerque Journal 8/9)
Tribe goes after critic (Tribal Law 8/7)