NAMES IN THE NEWS : Hope Seen in Indian Activist Film

FARGO, N.D. — An attorney for Indian activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in the 1975 slayings of two FBI agents, says he hopes that a film by director Oliver Stone may help get his client out of jail.

William Kunstler, who heads the legal team handling Peltier’s appeals, said Stone, whose film credits include “Platoon” and “Wall Street,” is working on a movie about Peltier. Kunstler said Wednesday that he has been paid as a consultant.

“It’s a valuable adjunct to a long cause and a very valuable cause, and I hope it has something to do with getting Leonard out of jail,” the New York attorney said.

But Lynn Crooks, an assistant U.S. attorney in Fargo who was one of the prosecutors in the Peltier trial, is not enthusiastic about the prospect of a movie--especially one in which defense lawyers are paid consultants.

“It doesn’t take any rocket scientist to figure out where the bias is going to be,” Crooks said.

Peltier, a Chippewa from North Dakota, is serving a life sentence for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.