Helena, MT—A Cheshire County, New Hampshire jury convicted local marijuana and liberty activist Rich Paul today on five felony counts of victimless drug charges. Paul had disputed one of the charges on the facts and had openly pursued jury nullification on the other four charges, which involved the sale of small amounts of marijuana. The buyer turned out to be an FBI-paid informant who had entrapped Paul in exchange for leniency for his own heroin offense.
In 2012, New Hampshire passed HB 146, a fully informed jury bill, which guaranteed defendants the ability in court “to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy.” The measure took effect on January 1 of this year.
While the defense did make the case for jury nullification, the judge undermined the intent of the law through misinformation in the instructions he issued to the jury. An attendee at the trial reported on the Free Keene Facebook page that, “Judge John C. Kissinger is reading jury instructions, where he is emphasizing the word “I” in his claim that the jury “must follow the law as *I* explain it”.” (more…)
A thirty-second television spot which gives another take on the upcoming series AKPF #1 is now available. Stay tuned for more on the cable access series which premieres Monday, May 13 at 7pm on Cheshire county’s channel 8.
As you may recall, on 2011-06-15, Tom Ball self-immolated out in front of the Cheshire County “Superior” Court – where many lives have been destroyed.
Recently, Dave Ridley had the opportunity to confront one of the bureaucrats involved with the family courts and did a great job: (You only need to watch the first two minutes. The rest is mostly Ridley walking around.)
I am pleased to announce May 13 as the scheduled date of premiere for Cheshire TV’s newest variety series, AKPF #1. Earlier today, a program preview was completed and uploaded to the Aqua Keene channel. AKPF #1 will function similar to a variety show, and occupy a 30-minute slot from 7-7:30pm Mondays on Cheshire county’s channel 8.
Do you have content you would like to see featured on the program? Would you like to guest host an episode? As the series is prerecorded and will not be utilizing the cable access studios, the producers have total creative control outside of the standard financial and broadcasting standards constraints. Submit your unique ideas or content to akparkingforce@gmail.com. Feel free to create your own content using the archives of creative commons videographers, such as those working alongside the AKPF.
Rich Paul’s story has already been covered once by Vice.com prior to the trial and now journalist Harry Cheadle has a couple more questions for Rich. I went to the Keene Spiritual Retreat aka the Cheshire “House of Corrections” to ask him the questions on video:
A crowd of about 100 people gathered to celebrate the 4/20 holiday at 4:20pm in front of the state house in Concord this evening. This years’ event was hosted by the NH Teapot Party, covering for the usual organizing of the 420 Foundation. Rich Paul, founder of the 420 Foundation and outspoken opponent of the war on drugs was convicted on Thursday afternoon by jury on multiple counts of cannabis distribution. He remains detained while awaiting sentencing, and today marked the first annual celebration without Rich since the rallies began in 2010.
While Rich was blasting his ideas through a bullhorn last year, the New Hampshire Drug Task Force as well as the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force were conducting an investigation into Rich’s not-so-discrete sale of cannabis. Multiple purchases totaling 81 years of prison time were made through a confidential informant who himself had been busted for heroin distribution. Despite the questionable ethics and honesty of the DTF, FBI, and the confidential informant, the jury did not find Rich’s victimless crime worthy of nullification. Unlike many involved in the drug trade, who profit from actions that they hide from public scrutiny, Rich’s openness made him an easy target, though he was incorrectly profiled as an easy mark. When told that his charges would go away if he would incriminate others for the FBI and DTF, Rich courageously stood on principle and said, ‘No’. In a way, Rich is going to jail in place of the unknown others whom he chose not to involuntarily substitute for his position. (more…)
In an editorial piece, the Fully Informed Jury Association calls for a new trial for Rich Paul based on “superior” court judge John C. Kissinger’s biased jury instructions:
