Why I plead guilty to “disobeying”: I don’t have time to make a video right now, so a post will have to do. Monday morning, I was ready for a trial. We walked into the Laconia court house, and my attorney Seth Hipple asked to speak to me. He informed me that prosecutor Jim Sawyer had contacted him that morning and said he believed I had given false information on the bail paperwork I filled out in jail and that he intended to charge me with perjury.
What would this have meant? Regardless of the outcome of Monday’s trial, it would have meant ANOTHER trial and – because my attorney was at the jail when I was doing paperwork – I would have to hire ANOTHER lawyer. Jim Sawyer was willing to stop the additional assault if I would pay $100 and admit to committing the horrendous crime of not obeying orders shouted by a jackboot in the street.
So I had a choice – more hours of my life to the state and fistfuls of money to another lawyer, or leaving a situation that had just taken a very bad turn. (more…)
The Cheshire Superior Court gave both sides until March 17 to file further Memorandums of Law before the court would issue a final decision in the case of Salada, et al. v Keene School District. The case was filed by four voters after the February Deliberative Session in which all of the warrant articles that were placed by petition were amended in such a way as to create a nullity.
The following Memorandums of Law were filed. Salada et al. memorandum of law (1 of 2) Salada et al. memorandum of law (2 of 2)
This week’s AKPF #1 installment is the second of three parts of Robin Hood’s Direct Action Panel from the 2014 New Hampshire Liberty Forum. This never before seen edit of the panel includes b-roll embedded to better illustrate the scenes as painted by the panel. This footage will air on Cheshire TV at 7:00pm on March 17, as per the usual AKPF #1 timeslot.
Last evening, the finance subcommittee of the Democratic People’s Republic of Keene central committee heard numerous proposals related to city functions, before finishing the meeting with a symposium on proposed changes to the notoriously contested parking system. Following discussions on a new Cheshire TV channel and lacking airport business operations, the parking policies attracted the most attention from the civilian audience, with numerous individuals speaking in favor of modesty in fee hikes. Other specific points addressed were the egregious mandatory minimums proposed, in which meters would not register any time until at least twenty-five cents worth of time is purchased. Another idea tossed about was extending the hours of enforcement forward by two into the evening on weekdays, while removing one hour of enforcement from the morning. The Keene Sentinel’s Kyle Jarvis reported on the exchange of parking ideas in a front-page feature in today’s print edition. Video was recorded by numerous independent videographers and activists from the area, and is available from the Fr33manTVraw youtube channel.
A chalking that appeared near the Wells Street parking garage in downtown Keene:
The 2013 New Hampshire Liberty Forum was host to a special presentation which has not, until now, been publicly broadcast. New York City street artist Essam was facing 56 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, grand larceny possession of stolen property, and weapons possession. Last November, all felony charges previously filed by the state’s attorney were dropped, and some were reduced to misdemeanors. Word broke March 6 that all remaining charges against the dissident artist were dropped regarding State v Essam Attia.
In this presentation, the audience hears directly from the source how a guerrilla art project was planned and executed throughout New York, the motivations behind the pieces, and the potential penalties for the subversive signage. Release of video from the talk has been delayed pending resolution of the criminal case, as there is incriminating information provided which defense attorneys understandably would oppose providing directly to the prosecution. One motivation for the state’s decision to cease prosecution of the case may have been to avoid the constitutional questions raised as to when street art intersects with protected speech. An article from AnimalNewYork.com chronicles the most recent update and has been following the story from its breaking.
Amanda Billyrock took a plea to “Disobeying an officer” (the other charges were dropped) in Laconia district court earlier this week and many have been wondering what motivated her. Turns out, she was under duress as she explains in this Facebook post:
