Most lawyers toil in obscurity, to the chagrin of our mothers, no doubt. Some lawyers shamelessly seek attention. And some lawyers deserve attention because they practice the kind of law that should make those of us who practice law proud to be lawyers. These lawyers have the good fortune to undertake clients and cases whose stories transcend the simple facts. They have the innate skill and drive to bring the power of the law to advance justice, and to speak truth to power, all the while treating opposing counsel as a respected equal. Seattle attorney Michael Withey is such a lawyer and his new book Summary Execution (Wildblue Press, 2017), is a must read for all those who aspire to lofty goals.
Summary Execution begins with the murder of two Philippine cannery workers, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, while working at their desks at the Cannery Workers Local 37 Union Hall in Seattle on June 1, 1981. It is a true story well told by the lawyer at the center of a several year maelstrom in pursuit of justice. What was thought at first by some to be a fight over which men from the union local would be dispatched to Alaska canneries when the season began and then forced to pay out a portion of the gambling proceeds to the union boss unraveled to reveal crimes committed at the urging of Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and cover ups at the highest levels of the U.S. government.
Withey, who got his start as an activist defending union members and minorities, including a year in Puerto Rico working for the independence movement with the National Lawyer’s Guild, had been working for Seattle’s Local 37 when he was informed his friends had been gunned down. He left a meeting at El Centro de la Raza where he was about to speak and arrived at the Local offices almost before the blood was dry. One man, Gene Viernes, was dead; the other, Silme Domingo, bleeding out from four .45 caliber bullets, crawled out onto the street and lived long enough to identify the shooters to a Seattle Fireman who rushed to the scene.
In hindsight it seems inevitable that the families would retain Withey to bring a wrongful death suit, but the surviving families and Union leadership initially were more concerned with finding the killers and assisting King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng and his office in the prosecutions.
Summary Execution reads like a Tom Clancy novel, with fast paced, day by day descriptions of meetings, stake outs, and searches for witnesses and records that might help establish the hunch that these killings were the result of more than a local dispute over gambling revenue. Marcos was then a brutal dictator of the Philippines and a staunch U.S. ally. His efforts to suppress dissent in the Philippines knew no bounds, including the U.S borders. Withey reports that Marcos’ agents worked in the U.S. to infiltrate and disrupt the anti-Marcos movement with our government’s knowledge. The money to pay the hitmen came from a doctor in San Francisco who ultimately was found liable in the conspiracy to murder Domingo and Viernes.
Two hitmen were convicted in King County Superior Court even after a surprise defense witness claimed he was on the street outside the union offices, saw the perpetrators of the crime flee, and testified the defendants were not the killers. A third member of the assassination team, Boy Pilay, slipped away, and hid out in Maryland. When he was spotted in Seattle’s International District, Withey and his team, like gumshoe cops, took a room at the Bush Hotel across the street from where Pilay was seen, to watch for his return.
The criminal investigation was jointly conducted by the Seattle Police and the FBI. But when the FBI learned Pilay was in the area, they seemed more intent on letting him know they knew he was in town, as if they wanted him to disappear again. Seeing Pilay again and foiled once by the FBI, Withey called a Seattle Detective who made the arrest. When Mr. Maleng’s office said they would have to release Pilay pending investigation, Withey warned them that Pilay was a “dead man” and, sure enough, three days after he was released, Pilay’s body was found, murdered execution style. As the saying goes, dead men tell no tales.
Eventually, the getaway car driver also was convicted, and the mastermind of the plot was convicted and died in prison.
The stakes could not have been higher. Twice, for good measure, Withey wore a bullet proof vest and carried a weapon. But at one key moment, the process went smoothly. Undeterred, and convinced the Marcos regime was behind the killings, the Estates of the two union leaders planned to file suit in Seattle Federal Court against Marcos, his wife Imelda, the Philippines Government, National Security Adviser Alexander Haig, Secretary of State George Shultz, and the San Francisco doctor who financed the hit. But first, they had to serve Mr. Marcos with a summons and complaint.
Marcos was visiting Washington, DC as a guest of President Reagan, and was scheduled to speak at the National Press Club. One of Withey’s team, Father Bill Davis, gained entry to the building wearing his priest’s collar, and he stood in the hallway right outside the door to the press room when Marcos and his attendants came down the hallway. Father Bill greeted Marcos who replied, “Good morning, Father.” He handed Marcos the papers, telling him this was something he would like to read. The summons and complaint were served.
A significant legal issue was whether Marcos was entitled to head of state immunity under international law. Judge Donald Vorhees dismissed Marcos on that basis, with prejudice. But nobody thought to seek a final appealable order, and several years later after he was removed from office and the Philippines’ government declared he was no longer immune, Withey’s crack legal team persuaded Judge Barbara Rothstein to bring Mr. and Mrs. Marcos back into the case.
Withey’s story of the trial reads like a movie script. The mastermind of the murder plot was called to testify and his attorney, Tony Savage, stood behind him and tapped his client on the shoulder each time he was supposed to assert his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer a question. In a civil case, the jury is informed the assertion of a right to remain silent can be used against the witness, and Withey’s partner, Jeffery Robinson, asked the questions in a way that made the non-answers even more damning than if the witness had simply answered the questions. Withey recounts his final argument, reciting the Old Testament plea, “May justice flow like water and righteousness come down like a might stream.” I’ve been on the receiving end of his summations, and this was one of his best. The icing on the cake came during deliberations when the jury asked if they could award more in damages than Withey had asked for.
Withey rightly takes credit for obtaining a verdict that is the only time a head of state of a foreign government has been held liable for the murders of American citizens on US soil. His concluding advice to young lawyers is, never give up. Summary Execution is a terrific read about the value of persistence.
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