The Vermont trial of an alleged terrorist revealed the danger of guilt by association and how disinformation creates a false narrative.
In the 1970s Kristina Berster was part of the anti-war movement in West Germany and joined an alternative therapy project, the Socialist Patients Collective. But when a political crackdown on dissent swept the country, she became a fugitive. She and members of her group were accused of criminal association.
Years later, tired of life underground and fearful about her future, she tried to cross the US border into Vermont to seek asylum. And got caught. Labelled a terrorist by the media and charged with conspiracy, she was technically innocent until proven guilty. But after an extensive FBI disinformation campaign she was widely considered a terrorist until proven otherwise.
By September 1978 former Chicago Seven lawyer William Kunstler had taken the case. Along with other defense attorneys and the Berster Defense Committee, he dug in at the Burlington home I shared with Doreen Kraft, Robin Lloyd and our infant son Jesse. Bill eventually moved into a spare bedroom. Evenings were often filled with fascinating group dinners and wide-ranging chats.
Over the next weeks we also underwent an immersive course in courtroom dynamics and Bill’s blend of legal jujitsu and theatrics. So compelling were the issues, so high the stakes, that I began to devote most of my time to the case. — Greg Guma
DOCUMENTARY PREVIEW
Kunstler’s Defense, excerpt from a film in development,
based on an intimate interview with legendary lawyer
William Kunstler during his defense of Kristina Berster
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| Bill Kunstler with Jesse Lloyd Guma |
False Narrative: Eight Chapters
(Click to read)
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