Yesterday while attending Occupy the Primary being held at Veterans Park in Manchester, I met MPD captain Robert Cunha. He had come to the park to discuss altering aspects of the occupation with participants in the protest. I had noticed when mailed my verdict following the trial held stemming from my Chalking 8 arrest that Capt. Cunha was CC’d a copy of the ruling. This indicates that he is likely the supervising officer in dealing with the cases that have stemmed from the chalking 8 incident. Following the arrests, it was the lower ranked sergeant Todd Boucher who spoke with press and was cited as the officer in charge during the incident. Sergeant John Patti was the officer who made or ordered six of the arrests. Joseph Mucci, also a sergeant, made 2 arrests and issued one citation that was later upgraded to a criminal charge.
Not surprisingly, Robert Cunha was not interested in discussing aspects of the case. That the potential still exists for legal action to be taken against Manchester PD for false arrest is likely what drives the silence. See my interaction with Cpt. Cunha embedded below:
On Monday, January 9, Ademo Freeman and Wesley Gilwreath will be sentenced following their convictions on chalking-related criminal mischief charges which were ruled upon December 27. Activists have planned to chalk in solidarity outside of the court prior to the sentencing hearing.
Satirical supporters of republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich were prevented from attending a speaking event at the Radisson, where Gingrich accepted the endorsement of NH House Speaker William O’Brien. I arrived at the event just as the supporters were being ejected, and found that they made for a much more interesting story than what would be occurring formally. See my footage below of the Pro-Gingrich rally outside of the Radisson on December 21.
Yesterday I received mail addressed to Ean Garret from “9th Circuit – District Division – Manchester” court. The title of the piece read, The State of New Hampshire and Ean Garret. I took note of the fact that the State had deescalated its language in addressing me — their paperwork no longer read State of New Hampshire versus Myself. A two page letter, signed on a third page as So Ordered, Judge William H. Lyons, affirmed the State’s inability to prove that I had violated either of two charges under NH RSA 644:2 on June 4th, when I was swept up in Manchester PD’s Chalking 8 incident. I was taken into custody, according to arresting officer John Patti, for refusing to move from a public area of the sidewalk when ordered. The judge determined that there was no basis for the officer to make this arrest under RSA 644:2. A violation for impeding potential pedestrian traffic is not authorized under the already broad disorderly conduct statute. While specific city ordinance violations allow police to ticket those who impede pedestrians, the New Hampshire criminal code does not. The State made no attempt to prove that I was even in the crime scene which one of the charges alleges I had interfered with, as John Patti barely remembered any of his multiple interactions with me.
Despite my victory, one of the two people arrested simultaneously with myself, Pete Eyre, was found guilty at the non-criminal violation level of one of the two charges. Interestingly enough, the charge he was convicted on was not the reason for his arrest, but was attached later. John Patti, who ordered Pete’s arrest but was my arresting officer, arrested us for allegedly refusing an order regarding a city ordinance violation. Neither the order nor the basis of the order were substantiated in court, yet Pete was, retroactively, in a sense, found guilty of having been in the “crime scene” and having been ordered out of it. The disorderly conduct statute is so over broad that you are automatically guilty at the violation level if you have been given what is considered a “lawful order”. By refusing the order, you are then guilty at the criminal level. (more…)
Today at Concord District Court, I had attempted to audio and video record a hearing at the defendant’s request. I was given last minute notice, and ended up missing the brief hearing by the time I had arrived. When I entered the courthouse, I did not appreciate that security had disarmed me of my harmless accountability mechanism, the camera. They also took my tripod, and would give me back none of my equipment until a judge gave me permission to act as the press.
To protest the violation of my first amendment right, I exercised different first amendment rights outside. Utilizing my speech, I chalked out against the press restrictions practiced by the monopolist court officers. I was almost finished when the head of court security exited the building and asked me to stop chalking and leave. He implied that I was doing something illegal, but never spelled out exactly what. He even identified himself as a police officer. Due to some NH court’s crackdowns on press freedom, in the more restrictive venues it is rare to see a court security officer in action, especially outside of his normal domain inside the building.
An article by Michael E. Ross entitled The Epidemic of Police Brutality published at The Root yesterday. It comes alongside news from Tampa of police misconduct resulting in homicide. On December 23, Reason’s Hit and Run blog published the story of Nick Christie, who was tied to a chair and repeatedly pepper sprayed by Lee County, FL deputies (photo included in link). His death was likely caused by asphyxiation, though there could have been a number of factors at work as Nick Christie had a medical condition. According to a witness, who at the time was a corrections officer, “He had a spit mask on and was naked.” The witness testified that the restrained man had pleaded with officers to remove the spit mask because he could not breathe.
Yesterday while attending Occupy the Primary being held at Veterans Park in Manchester, I met MPD captain Robert Cunha. He had come to the park to discuss altering aspects of the occupation with participants in the protest. I had noticed when mailed my verdict following the trial held stemming from my Chalking 8 arrest that Capt. Cunha was CC’d a copy of the ruling. This indicates that he is likely the supervising officer in dealing with the cases that have stemmed from the chalking 8 incident. Following the arrests, it was the lower ranked sergeant Todd Boucher who spoke with press and was cited as the officer in charge during the incident. Sergeant John Patti was the officer who made or ordered six of the arrests. Joseph Mucci, also a sergeant, made 2 arrests and issued one citation that was later upgraded to a criminal charge.
