September 6 was a national day of action for Bradley Manning. Some larger cities hosted civil disobedience arrests for trespassing via sit-in. The focus of the actions were mostly Obama campaign headquarters, though the Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, DC was the location of a tense letter delivery to president Barack Obama. A full report of the delivery of the letter to the national office is available here.
Sept 6 2012 – Concord, NH
The letter being delivered to the party headquarters was signed by eighty-three individuals representing a variety of organizations. Included in the list of signers is Art Brennan, a veteran and former New Hampshire district court judge who scheduled his own action to occur at the Concord Obama campaign office on September 6. He had notified the office that he would be reading his letter aloud and delivering a copy for Mr. Obama. When Mr. Brennan arrived with a small group from Veterans for Peace and NH Peace Action, the doors were locked and the lights were off. (more…)
An article published in Monday’s Union Leader sources a video from the FreeConcordTV youtube channel. In a follow-up piece on the recent State v Jonathan Evans, the full trial footage is linked toward the end of the article, when describing the oddity occurring on camera when a seemingly civilian witness open carries onto the witness stand. Jim Berry identified on the stand as being employed by Riley’s gun store, but I have since been informed that he had been hired by the Northfield police department. It appears he is also sporting a badge on his waistband at 28:10 in the first third of the trial.
The article also reveals that Mr. Blackden has still not been returned his vest, though an older comment from prosecutor John Webb indicates he intends to file a motion to return the unlawfully seized vest. Text of the article:
Concord business Owner Awaiting Return of
Road Dawgs Vest
by Mark Hayward
New Hampshire Union Leader
Two weeks after a judge cleared a Hill police officer in the theft of a Road Dawgs motorcycle vest, the man who claims to own it has yet to get it back.
Concord business owner Brian Blackden said he doesn’t even know the whereabouts of the vest, which he had insisted was stolen from his Main Street shop.
“This judge has no legal right to hold that vest,” said Blackden, who had hung the vest on a female mannequin in his pepper-spray supply store.
Road Dawgs is a motorcycle club comprised of current and former police officers who ride together while off-duty. (more…)
It is not often that an active duty law enforcement officer faces trial for a criminal complaint. But there is little that is typical of the recent case of Jonathan Evans, a Hill, New Hampshire police sergeant who faced misdemeanor charges for his role in the theft of a leather vest from a Concord storefront. There is no known video of the encounter between store owner Brian Blackden and five members of the motorcycle club, the ‘road dawgs’, but from the picture painted in court by witnesses and police, their actions blurred the line between a club and a gang, and exemplified that there are classes of men in modern society.
Prosecutor John Webb
The minutiae brought to surface surrounding an underground police organization remained intriguing throughout the nearly three hour ordeal. The Concord courtroom was host to a range of characters from around NH. Stemming from an incident involving police officers from everywhere in the state but Concord, CPD officers were the primary investigators and the first three witnesses called at trial. The single, B-misdemeanor charge of theft was prosecuted by Cheshire county assistant attorney John Webb, and heard by Concord district court judge Gerald Boyle. Witnesses to speak were three Concord police officers, the storefront neighbor of the victim, the store owner (victim), and the defendant, Jonathan Evans. Evans was represented by Eric Wilson of wbdklaw.com. (more…)
Today the Union Leader’s editorial board published an anonymous review of the recent case of State v Jonathan Evans. Evans stood accused of acting in concert with other members of the “road dawgs” motorcycle club to steal a vest from a Concord store on May 21, 2011. The harsh critique of the not guilty finding in the case comes just over a week after the UL published an objective article overviewing the case. Coverage of the trial is also available from the Concord Monitor.
I videographed the trial last week and have made the full video available at the FreeConcordTV youtube channel. Below is the editorial published in today’s Sunday News. Check back tomorrow for an original article on the trial from Free Concord. (more…)
The subcommittee’s task is to study the bill and recommend to the full committee that it is either Recommended for Future Legislation or Not Recommended for Future Legislation. As the bill makes numerous changes to the wiretapping statute, it may be helpful to consult RSA 570-A for comparison.
Rep. Mark Warden, who attended Ademo’s trial, is the chairman of this subcommittee. He says: “If you come, we’ll hear your testimony. There is some desire within the legislature to clear up this horrible statute, but nobody has found a solid solution in the language. Additionally, many legislators love Big Brother, er, I mean big government, and kowtow to what the Attorney General’s office and other law enforcement types say. And, of course, _they_ want everything to be illegal — it means job security for them.”
This is just another step in the process, but today’s verdict shows reform is needed, not merely theory…
Can’t make it to Concord on Wednesday?,
Send an email (if you LIVE in NH) to:
HouseCriminalJusticeandPublicSafety@leg.state.nh.us
cc your own Reps, (also candidates for those seats in the upcoming election)
CC: your Senator (and the candidates for next session) too
See http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/wml.aspx
And don’t forget to Cc the House Leadership
Speaker: william.obrien@leg.state.nh.us
Majority Leader: PSilva372@aol.com
Minority Leader: terie.norelli@leg.state.nh.us
BE POLITE.
BE CLEAR YOU ARE UPSET THAT THE CURRENT LAW IS SO POORLY WORDED.
DO NOT RANT, BE FACTUAL AND CONCISE.
DID I MENTION BE POLITE?
[And if you don’t yet live in NH, why the heck not? Move. (Oh, wait, that was Ademo being told he should move away… ironic, huh?)
Try this Move. Ah, much better.]
