Tribal Judge Wants Differences Resolved Banished Youths Could Be Returned To Snohomish County Court

A tribal judge who was the prime mover in the tribal banishment of two Tlingit Alaska Native teenagers says differences of opinion in the case among tribal judges must be resolved by today.

Tribal Judge Rudy James is asking the judges to reach a consensus on allowing a full medical and psychological evaluation for Simon Roberts, Adrian Guthrie’s immediate relocation and Roberts’ relocation if found medically fit to continue serving his banishment.

James said he will recommend Roberts and Guthrie be returned to a Snohomish County Superior Court if tribal court judges can’t work out an arrangement.

James set the deadline in an Aug. 4 letter to 10 of the original 13 judges who sentenced the two youths to banishment last September. The letter also states that the cost of bringing those judges face-to-face is the responsibility of the teens’ tribe.

“The Kuye ‘di tribe does not have the financial means to bring this (meeting) about,” James wrote in the eight-page letter. James asked the judges to respond in person or by fax.

In the letter, James described the hearing last Friday by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer. At that hearing Allendoerfer asked James to heal the relationship between the Klawock Tribal Elders Council and the combined tribal court of Tlingit Law.

Allendoerfer was expecting the teens to be relocated by Tuesday or today, according to the letter.

In the letter, James praises Roberts’ grandfather and tribal judge Theodore Roberts for initially seeking the tribal court’s help in the teens’ case. James also credits Theodore Roberts and his wife, Alicia, for “bearing the brunt of the financial expenses thus far.” The financial responsibility for banishment and restitution is in the teens’ tribes’ hands, according to the letter.

“Now the boys’ tribes must continue to dedicate the financial resources necessary to fulfill the commitment. … The Tribes have made the commitment,” wrote James.

Roberts and Guthrie admitted to beating and robbing an Everett, Wash., man in 1993. Allendoerfer released the teens to the tribal court, which sentenced them to 12-18 months of banishment. The teens would report to Allendoerfer in March if the banishment continues.

More than 100 of the 249 voting members of the federally recognized Klawock Cooperative Association voted Sept. 30, 1994, against allowing the Kuye’di Kuiu Kwaan tribal court to convene in Klawock again. Only seven supported the court.