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.
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.
If you love liberty and want to work towards making more of it happen, why not do it in the best place for it? New Hampshire is already more free than other places and there are thousands of libertarians and voluntarists, many of whom love jury nullification, that are moving there as part of the Free State Project. Why not join us and help more liberty happen, sooner?
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.
Less than seven weeks until Iowa, only one path remains for Rand Paul to win the presidency: energize the Remnant.
Gazing out from your balcony atop the darkened city, you notice in the distance a cloaked figure descending a hill at the base of the nearby mountain. The man’s staff and stoop remind you of a wizard from fantasy or a prophet of old. Topping his staff is a lantern that shines with an uncommon glow, growing brighter as he slowly approaches the outskirts of the city. You see his lips moving but you cannot hear him. Not yet.
Years pass. Now and then, you travel to the edge of the city to meet the man and listen to his message. To small pockets of seekers he speaks softly, never raising his voice, of the rights of all people and the free world to come. You keep coming back to learn more, to share more, to exemplify more, for your friends of the city. Slow progress is made. You did not imagine in those early days that the axis of the world would tilt, and the man’s whispers would come to roar like thunder.
There came a moment, exactly eight years ago to this day, when it seemed as if that voice laboring 30 years in the wilderness was finally being heard. The man’s revolutionary message had been exposed at last to full view, breaking past the censors, for all to see.
On December 16th, 2007, grassroots supporters of Ron Paul contributed more than $6 million to his presidential campaign in just 24 hours, shattering the previous single-day fundraising record. Said one pundit afterward:
“Ron, eighteen million dollars. That’s your fourth-quarter tally. You’ve set the record. In the history of American politics, nobody has raised more money in a single day than you. And yet, this is happening without your campaign people coordinating. This is completely about grassroots. And it’s completely about you just saying what you believe in.”
On December 14, 2015 Judge Brian T. Tucker of the Strafford Superior Court denied the injunction brought by the NH Department of Education and Attorney General against the Croydon School Board. The Department of Education and Attorney General claimed that four Croydon students would be irreparably harmed if allowed to remain at the Newport Montessori School as part of the town’s school choice program.
The website School Choice for New Hampshire reports, “The final hearing of Croydon vs the NH DOE is scheduled for January 13, 2016.” Adding, “You can subscribe to our events page so you receive notification as soon as it is posted.”
