State v. Joseph Hart – Defense Filed Documents and Evidence Gathered

Joa and I have filed a Motion For Continuance due to not being finished collecting evidence for his defense.

Interestingly, these are a sample of the “Advance Notice Forms” that were approved by the Goffstown District Court where Joa signed things other than his name.  He was approved each time to film anonymously…  but the Hillsborough District Court ordered him to leave and had him arrested for filming doing the same thing.

Our defense lies in a theory called “Entrapment By Estoppel” and RSA 626:3 II.

The New Hampshire Courts should not have a disparity in how they authorize people to film court proceedings.  In having one, it creates situations like this.

The original trial date of 5/21/24 at 1:00PM will hopefully be rescheduled to July sometime.

Shire Free Church’s Items Returned By FBI

We have some good news for once from the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office! After a long legal battle and multiple federal lawsuits, the FBI agreed to return our church property that was illegally seized on March 20, 2016. For those of you not familiar with the backstory, FBI Agents arrived at 73 Leverett Street on that day at 0600 hours and executed search warrant 16-MJ-36-01-06 against the Shire Free Church Monadnock. This raid occurred only two weeks after Minister Mark Edgington on Free Talk Live condemned the FBI for their strategy of running a website that resulted in the distribution of hundreds of thousands of pieces of child pornography to thousands of IP addresses while only making ten arrests. The sealed search warrant was presented in redacted form to the members of the church present for the raid, i.e. Minister Ian Freeman, Parishioner TJ The Spy, and Parishioner James “Robinhood” Cleveland. The warrant alleged that on or about February 20, 2015, someone using the IP address at 73 Leverett Street had accessed the website that was part of the FBI’s vast child pornography distribution network, in violation of 18 USC 2252.

The returned electronic items.

The returned electronic items. Christmas came early!

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State v. Joseph Hart – Court Order

Judge Susan Ashley has issued an ORDER that my appearance on behalf of Joa is allowed.

I have been filed documents with the Court that I imagine the Judge hasn’t reviewed yet, pending this order.  I have been doing so because time is limited as the trial scheduled for May 21st.

State v. Joseph Hart – Defense Filed Document

We’ve gone silent for the last few weeks while we’ve worked on collecting audio/video authorization forms from four different District Courts in New Hampshire.  Four courts have allowed Joa to film anonymously while the Hillsborough District Court had him arrested for doing it.  These documents and requests are still pending.

Joa has filed a Motion To Compel the Release of Criminal Records to have the Court order the State to release his criminal records for trial preparation as the prosecutor was reluctant to do so.  This is a normal procedure as there are very strict rules governing the release of these records.

I’d like to mention that the prosecutor has been nothing but a gentleman and actually helpful to me personally in explaining some lawyerly procedures to me that I wasn’t too familiar with.  I believe he represents the community of Hillsborough very professionally.  I unfortunately don’t have years of law school and mock trial preparation like he and other lawyers do, so I am most grateful to him.

The trial date is presently scheduled for May 21st at 1:00PM.

State v. Joseph Hart – Court Order and Response

This blog is made pursuant to NH Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6 (c) (2).

I am grateful to Judge Susan W. Ashley for her correct interpretation of District Court Rule 1.3D…  the rule that allows non-lawyer representatives to appear and litigate for another in a criminal case.  Find her ORDER here.

It’s worth noting that Judge Ashley is the Deputy Administrative Judge for the Circuit Court.  You cannot achieve that position without knowing the rules front to back.

Find my required response to her ORDER here.

State v. Joseph Hart – Criminal Defense Strategy

This blog is made pursuant to NH Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6 (c) (2).

Due to having filled out the court recording notice form multiple times prior in the same fashion as he did the day of his arrest, Joa informs the Court that his defense to the charge of Criminal Trespass is “Effect of Ignorance or Mistake” due to prior grants of permission to film after filling out the form “anonymous” by similarly situated court facilities.

The statue that specifies that defense is here.

Find the notice sent to the Court here.