Another Free Keene Supporter to be Jailed

January 31, 2010 by Nick Ryder
Filed under: Jailed Activist

Police A recent mover within the last year, Andrew Mercer has kept a fairly low profile as far as activism goes, but he’s certainly still been active. He has gone to court hearings when he can, he’s been to a few 4:20 rallies, and he’s accompanied Sam on quests into City Hall for open records requests, he’s even been on a few CopWatching missions. Though he hasn’t gone out looking to push boundaries and engage in disobedience, but he was recently held in Vermont by state troopers just because one of them suspected he had an illegal plant in his possession.

However, Andrew just went to trial on an unrelated case out of Keene involving him being caught driving a car that didn’t have the correct license plate on it. At trial Andrew’s councel, FreeKeene blogger Nick Ryder, argued that the State could not prove that Andrew attached the wrong plate to the car, or allowed anyone else to.

See the officer’s arrest report on Andrew (PDF)
Hear the audio of the trial (27 min length)

Nonetheless, Judge Lane of the Keene District Court found Andrew guilty, and because of his resistance to paying fines to the government, Andrew will be committed to 50 hours in jail over two separate occasions. The first beginning this Tuesday afternoon (02-02-10).

He may be critiqued for “playing by the rules” in trying to defend himself “by the system” in court, but he’s costing the State several times the price of his $150 ticket. And if more people did that, the system would easily grind down.

Comments

17 Comments on Another Free Keene Supporter to be Jailed

JJ on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 2:56 am

Thanks for the report Nick, good job!

jzacker on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 8:47 am

Who was defense counsel?

nick on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 10:44 am

Like the story says, I represented Andrew before the court. He allowed me to do so based on my past not-guilty rulings I’ve been able to pull from this court.

Obviously I’m no professional, nor would a professional have been financially viable on such a small charge.

Peacemaker on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 11:09 am

Great to see these tyrants lose money when they push peaceful people around. Keep up the great work!

jzacker on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 12:12 pm

I listened to the trial. Andrews biggest failing was that he actually spoke to the police, and admitted to the crime. I guess that’s another lesson, DONT TALK TO THE POLICE.

nick on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 12:15 pm

He knows that now. And we knew going into trial that it would be an issue.

Blackie on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 12:34 pm

He spoke to the police and admitted to the crime, but during the trial he said he didn’t admit to the crime. Did he commit purjury?

nick on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 12:57 pm

I wasn’t there the day of the incident. The police claim he did tell them he put the plate on the car. Andrew claims he never said such a thing.

We weren’t even going to have Andrew testify until it became very clear that the Judge was already on the cop’s side unless Andrew disputed the claims of an admitted crime.

Nonetheless, if he said something that the cop interpreted as an admission, that could have been avoided with the previous advice: don’t say anything.

Andrew on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 2:36 pm

I wasn’t going to testify as Nick said, but it was the only chance I had at defending myself against the cop’s testimony.

And I absolutely agree I said too much at the time of the incident. I had been in similar situations before and have talked my way out of a tow which is what I was initially trying to avoid. In other traffic stops in the recent past I have said much less. Trying to reason with these people is out of the question. I’ve given up on that.

Unfortunately I’m still getting points from this ticket (which had nothing to do with how I was driving) which I really can’t afford to rack up and lose my license cuz I’ll lose my job.

theKINGofKEENE on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 6:37 pm

clusterfuck. That’s what I just wasted 30 minutes listening to…I’ve always admired & respected the efforts of the “freekeeners”…still do…///…Ironically, I have a lot more respect now for Tim Peloquin, and even, and even, oh, shit. judge Howard did a pretty fair job of being fair. Nick, go back & listen. It sure sounded to me as if Howard was trying to offer you an “out”, but you seem to have not noticed. Tim, I think you handled yourself very well here. Nick, ask me sometime & I’ll say yes to sitting down & analyzing this little drama…lots of places you could have done better. You did good, tho…Andrew, some time in the future, please try this: Meet w/Tim Peloquin. Ask him if there is any way that he might have acted differently if you had acted differently. You said you have talked your way out of tickets before, I think maybe you could have done the same here. And yes, idiot, you were *DRIVING*. That’s what’s known as a *MOVING VIOLATION*…duh…Not that I agree with the rules, law, etc., but they are there. Ignorance of them, from a so-called, self-professed “liberty activist”, is disappointing. DO YOUR HOMEWORK, KIDS!!!…///…Hey, Howard, thanks for putting this guy in jail. That was the idea all along. How else can he help organize the PRISON BREAK???…oooooh! disinformation! HAH!…or *IS* it really true???…///…over a freakin’ license plate…jeezus H. christ…

jzacker on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 9:46 am

Can you take one of those driving classes to reduce the points on your license? Those do cost money, but sometimes they are worth it to reduce the points.

Andrew on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 12:23 pm

Hey KOK, thanks for the name-calling. I didn’t know I was actually moving while I was driving. What I said was that this ticket/pull-over had nothing to do with the manner I was handling the vehicle.

Now maybe we can move beyond that. Thank you for your comments and for your admiration of other FreeKeeners (myself excluded). Perhaps when you encounter an issue such as this, I’ll come out to support you. If I’m not working that is. Maybe you can show me some things I did wrong, and in my other upcoming cases I can apply the better methods.

JZACKER, thanks for bringing that up. Yes I can and will take that course. However, I believe I can only take it once per year. I have other pending charges that carry points. I might be wrong though. Maybe you or someone reading this knows whether or not I can take this course again in the future. If I can’t, I may save my one time for a ticket that has a higher points value associated with it.

theKINGofKEENE on Wed, 3rd Feb 2010 8:51 pm

Andrew, you’re welcome for the name calling. If I’d known you were gonna take it so seriously, I’d'a’ called ya’ a dickwad, douchebag, cunt, and asshole, too. You’da’ liked that better, no???…If you didn’t know you were moving while you were actually driving, did you know you were actually driving???…If you always act like a thin-skinned piss-ant, maybe *THAT’S* why Occifer Pelican gave you the ticket. And after all, *THEY* didn’t stop you, *YOU STOPPED YOURSELF*!!!…Guilty conscience???…I can’t defend the cops, but I can’t much defend you here, either. Sorry, that’s just how I see it. I’m very glad you put up some fight, you did pretty good, all things considered, &I’m sure you’ll learn much more better ways, too…Good luck & all that, really…Yes, you did OK in court. My next Kangaroo Court appearance will most likely be a video arraignment from the morgue at Fletcher Funeral Home, so……..

the kingof keene on Thu, 11th Feb 2010 7:29 pm

just kidding.

theKINGofKEENE on Tue, 9th Mar 2010 10:50 am

TURCOTTE ME, ENGLISH! TURCOTTE ME!…(…and the shit goes on, and the shit goes on, and the shit/// Andrew, AARP, among others, sponsors “safe driver” courses several times per year, in the area. They’re all over, really…They’re not “gov’t” so they rarely, if ever, can be used for license point reduction purposes. But, most Insurance Co.’s will honor them with lower premiums, if you know how to ask…As for my words? If I didn’t like you, would I waste my time on here? I’m just helping train you, that’s all. Yes, my words are intended to create an effect in you…please use them to train yourself to respond better to cops. Once you know cop training, cops are frighteningly easy to manipulate. Just be careful. They’re also trained killers, remember???..(Just got word from my contact on the inside. While they are moving everybody from Westmoreland to Marlborough(new jail), there will be a “traffic accident”…”that truck just came out of nowhere”…Think about the logistics. A crash-pileup of only a few cars, at say, Swanzey Factory Rd., & the 101/124 intersection, would absolutely isolate the new jail from *ANY* paved road access! Can you say “prison escape”???…can you say, “Officer involved car crash, fatality resulting”???…Anybody else know what’s up the hill behind the new jail, & why that’s important???…the shit goes on&on&on&on&on…