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Murder trial pits state against tribal justice

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MIAMI, Florida -- A Native American man at the center of a murder trial that pits tribal justice against Florida law testified Thursday that he did not mean to drown his two young sons.

Kirk Billie, a Miccosukee Indian, is charged with premeditated murder for allegedly pushing his sport utility vehicle into an Everglades canal in 1997, killing his sons Keith, 3, and Kurt, 5, who were sleeping in the back seat. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Prosecutors say Billie was trying to punish the boys' mother, his former girlfriend Sheila Tiger, for disobeying his instructions to stay home and care for the children.

Billie testified that he had been drinking heavily and did not know the boys were in the vehicle.

"Were you aware of anyone else was in the car?" asked his defense attorney Ed O'Donnell.

"No," said Billie.

Billie's attorney also asked him about a note that he wrote five years ago on one of Tiger's notebooks that said, "Don't ever think the kids will stop me."

Prosecutors presented the note in evidence at trial as a threat to harm the boys.

But Billie said the message was not intended as a threat against the boys, but rather it was a warning to Tiger that he was not afraid to call his tribe's Child Protection Team to report what he thought was her carelessness with his children. Billie has testified that he was in a constant battle with the mother to take better care of their three sons.

"Don't ever think the boys will stop me from telling on you. That's what I meant," Billie told jurors.

The defense has presented Billie as a caring father who spent time teaching his sons the secret traditions, songs and legends of the Miccosukees.

The Miccosukees are a small tribe of about 500 people who live on a reservation in the Everglades west of Miami. The tribe operates successful tourism and gambling businesses.

Tribal elders ruled that the boys' deaths were accidental and forgave Billie. The deaths happened just outside the reservation, however, so prosecutors brought criminal charges.

The Miccosukees accused the state of treading on their sovereignty and refused to allow Florida authorities to enter the reservation to serve subpoenas to witnesses.

In a federal lawsuit, the tribe said the historic mistreatment of Native Americans had led to a deep distrust of "white man's justice."

Prosecutors have said they will also ask the judge to instruct the jury to consider second-degree and third-degree murder charges.

CNN's Susan Candiotti and Reuters contributed to this report.

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