Regional physical media chain Bull Moose recently opened its doors in the old Video Headquarters location in the Hannaford plaza on West Street in Keene. They carry a wide variety of media including video games, cds, vinyl, DVD, Bluray, and even books! It’s refreshing to see someone trying to keep physical media distribution alive – hopefully it works out for them. Kudos also to Bull Moose for carrying Keene-produced-and-edited documentary Derrick J’s Victimless Crime Spree on DVD!
DJVCS DVDs on-the-shelf at Bull Moose, Keene!
Of course, you can watch the feature-length documentary produced by Free State Project participants for free in its entirety online, but that doesn’t do you any good if you’re looking for a gift for this holiday season. Victimless Crime Spree makes a great stocking stuffer, and Bull Moose in Keene is selling it for LESS than Amazon! Amazon has it listed for $7.93 while Bull Moose has it on-the-shelf, brand new, for just $6.97! There’s no cheaper place to purchase the Director’s Cut DVD, which is loaded with hours of bonus footage and even features TWO commentary tracks!
Bull Moose has three copies in stock as of yesterday, so if you’re looking for a perfect last-minute gift, stop in to 401B West St. in the Hannaford plaza. They’re open until midnight tonight and 7pm on Christmas Eve.
If you don’t live in the Keene area, just grab your copy at Amazon where it qualifies for Amazon Prime and Free Super-Saver Shipping!
At one point, Pierce was illegally locked out of the courtroom, as Cheshire superior court has a strange policy that locks the doors during opening and closing statements. Defense attorney Paul Garrity objected to both closings on constitutional grounds, as it should be a public trial. Judge John C Kissinger, who in many cases comes across as a relatively fair judge, refused to budge on his policy and kept the doors locked.
In other media news, the Keene Sentinel published a small report. The full seven-hour trial video is encoding as I write this and should be up hopefully sometime tomorrow. Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest.
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!
Yesterday the trial of Free Keene blogger James Cleaveland for recording police wrapped up with an excellent closing argument by defense attorney Paul Garrity (video still to come) advocating jury nullification. The jury was sent to deliberate and could not reach a verdict by the close of court. This morning, the jury was back to deliberating at 9am – the fact that it’s taking this long could be a good sign for James.
