After the city’s latest failure at the superior court, once again the city has given us an early Christmas present by deciding to appeal the most recent decision to the NH Supreme court.
The city’s expensive attorneys from Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrellwaited until the LAST possible day they could file to legally file the appeal (PDF). The city has already spent countless dollars on this case and this latest appeal is a further waste of taxpayer funds.
The appeal is for the Supreme court to look ONLY at the lower court’s ruling regarding the request for the “buffer zone” injunction. The NH Supreme court has already decided the allegations of “tortious interference”, “civil conspiracy”, “negligence”, and the demand for financial compensation were unfounded and the activities engaged in by the Robin Hooders are protected by the first amendment.
Once again the robin hooders will be represented by the NH Civil Liberties Union’s Jon Meyer who expects the case to be heard sometime in the summer of 2016, three years after the case was first filed in 2013. We will keep you up-to-date on any further developments.
Now, mainstream media is picking up the news via an AP story (apparently sourced from NH’s Valley News) that is popping up in places like the Washington Post, FOX News, and dozens more outlets nationwide.
With two months to go and other speakers to be announced, the 2016 Liberty Forum is looking like it will be an amazing event.
2016 is also the year that the FSP will reach its goal of 20,000 people pledged to move to New Hampshire to work toward more liberty. The only question is when. Just this weekend, the Free State Project crossed 90% of its goal. In order to push to the goal faster, they’ve launched a fundraising campaign to buy facebook ads. Here’s the pitch video produced by Free Keene blogger JJ Schlessinger:
Are you a libertarian or voluntarist and still haven’t signed up for the Free State Project? Your time is running out to make history with us. The FSP is now at 90% of its goal of 20,000 people pledged to move to NH and get active for liberty. Join at http://pledge.freestateproject.org
Last week I published a story here at Free Keene about local hate group member Justin Paquette being arrested on two counts of felony armed robbery for allegedly holding up two local convenience stores with a knife.
Very soon after publishing, I was contacted directly by a local business owner who disputed that the Justin Paquette that had assaulted my friend Derrick J back in 2014 and was present during a physical attack by his friend on a peaceful local chalker, was in fact not the same Justin Paquette as was arrested last week for allegedly robbing the gas stations.
Turns out, there are indeed two Justin Paquettes in Keene. It also turns out, after some research at Cheshire superior court this week, that both Justin Paquettes have been arrested for felony armed robbery.
The original, Justin M. Paquette, just had a birthday this month and is now 32. Court records show that this summer he took a plea deal on a felony armed robbery and misdemeanor “criminal threatening”. You can read the case summary in this PDF, which includes his sentence. (He’s currently out on probation and has a suspended sentence for five years.)
New Justin Paquette is younger, 27, and is now currently facing the fresh armed robbery charges from last week’s robberies, where he allegedly brandished a knife at convenience store clerks.
I am sorry for my mistake. Thanks to all who brought it to my attention. Now we know to beware of anyone named Justin Paquette. Any good person named Justin Paquette may want to file for a name change with their local probate court.
In a clear victory today, Free State Project early mover James Cleaveland was found not guilty of “resisting arrest” and six of twelve jurors voted not guilty on the “disorderly conduct” charge! Judge John C Kissinger spoke with the attorneys after the verdict and relayed that the jurors were locked 6-6 on the disorderly charge for all five hours of their deliberation. As a result, a mistrial was declared on the “disorderly” charge, meaning it may go to retrial.
Earlier this year in a bench trial for the same charges, Keene district court judge Edward J Burke found James guilty of both counts. As is his right, James appealed the two class-A misdemeanor charges to a jury trial, even though the sentence from Burke was suspended on condition of good behavior. Ultimately James said he was glad he went to jury trial, as he’s now been vindicated completely on the “resisting” charge, where state police officer Phillip Gaiser lied, claiming James lunged at him and also stepped back 3-4 steps when he tried to cuff him, a claim that was proven false by the video and audio evidence in the case.
In post-trial comments for Free Keene, James said that the video and audio he recorded was critical to his success. Otherwise it would be several cops’ word versus his word, and jurors generally believe police to be honest. Though it was costly in time, stress, and thousands of dollars in legal fees, James is glad he stood up for the right of free press.
Jury Outreach Activists @ Cheshire Superior Court 2015-12-17
Kissinger allegedly said that James choosing to testify made a good impression on jurors, but that having a larger camera would somehow have given him better credibility. All jurors refused activists’ offers of $60 for a post-trial interview.
This is the biggest jury trial success of any liberty activist thus far tried in New Hampshire. Major thanks to all the stellar activists who braved the cold to hand out NHJury.com trifolds to the jurors and also hold signage reflecting the amount of time James was facing (two years in prison), a detail never allowed to be revealed in a criminal trial.
Full video of the trial is still to come to Free Keene. Stay tuned!
