JORDAN
HALLIDAY TAKES PLEA
(from ADL-SLC)
Utah animal rights activist Jordan Halliday
pleaded guilty Tuesday, July 27, 2010 to criminal contempt
of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand
jury allegedly investigating the animal rights community
of Utah.
In court Tuesday, before the US District Judge Ted
Stewart, Halliday admitted that he willfully & knowingly
violated an order by US District Judge Tena Campbell.
The Prosecution claims that Halliday refused to take
oath and responded with "no comment" to essentially
every question asked, even to harmless questions such
as where he lived.
Outside court, supporters of Halliday loudly expressed
their support for Jordan as well as their concerns with
Grand Juries. Holding signs stating "Resist Grand
Juries" and "Support Jordan Halliday".
Halliday was subpoenaed in March 2009 to testify before
a federal grand jury. When he resisted he was held in
civil contempt of court for nearly four months. When
he was released he was indicted with criminal contempt
of court for the same act of recalcitrance.
Criminal contempt of court is rare in the sense it
is neither a felony nor a misdemeanor but rather considered
sui generis by the court. Literally meaning in latin:
"of it's own kind". This being the case it
carries no maximum punishment and it is entirely up
to the Judge to decide the sentence.
Halliday is currently out on pretrial awaiting sentencing
on October 19, 2010.
***
KEVIN OLLIFF TRANSFERRED TO STATE
PRISON
(from SupportKevin.org)
On July 23rd, animal rights prisoner Kevin Olliff was
transferred from Los Angeles County's Twin Towers Correctional
Facility to the State Prison located in Chino, California
for evaluation.
Kevin Olliff - CDC ID# AE 1628
CIM - DU 206
Reception Center East / Del Norte
P.O. Box 500
Chino, CA 9170
Kevin is scheduled to appear before the judge once again on September 28, 2010 (8:30am at LA Superior Court (210 W. Temple St.) on the 9th floor in Department 102). This date may change so please check the website.
This is always a difficult time for prisoners and California
is universally known for its "difficult" prison
system. It is expected that Kevin will be on continual
"lock-down" and unable to receive visits from
friends and family. Kevin's only access to his community
is through letters and 15-minute collect telephone calls
(which are very expensive). Additionally, he's lost
access to his books, letters, and address book.
Please take just a moment out of your day to send Kevin a letter of support. Contact supportkevinolliff@hotmail.com if you'd like to send him a book.
Letters are crucial to Kevin's health and well-being at this time. Stepping away from the television for thirty minutes and writing a letter means the world to a prisoner.
* Be sure to include Kevin's CDC# on all correspondence.
***
ARREST
MADE IN 'LONE WOLF' ARSONS
On Thursday, July 22, the FBI arrested
Walter Bond for allegedly setting fire to the Sheepskin
Factory in Denver, Colorado. The criminal complaint
states, "On July 1, 2010, ATF Special Agent Christopher
D. Forkner received a telephone call from an individual,
who hereafter will be referred to as CI-01... CI-01
stated that within the last few days he/she had a telephone
conversation with BOND. CI-01 stated he/she had not
talked to BOND for approximately 12 years prior to this.
CI-01 indicated that he/she believed BOND called him/her
from a public library telephone... CI-01 stated that
when he/she asked BOND what he had been up to lately,
BOND told him/her to visit the site www.voiceofthevoiceless.org
and to scroll down to the Sheepskin Factory fire and
a fire that occurred at the Leather Factory... CI-01
met with BOND at the Ramada Inn hotel... The meeting
was consensually [sic] monitored and audio and video
tape recorded by ATF. Your affiant and other investigators
monitored the conversation and heard BOND state that
he burned the Sheepskin Factory in Denver as well as
a leather factory and a foie gras restaurant in Utah.
BOND stated that he used the nickname 'Lone Wolf'"
Walter Bond is currently being held in a county jail.
We will post more information as it becomes available.
***
HUGH AND TIGA TAKE PLEA
(From Hugh and Tiga's Support Crew)
Wednesday afternoon, a dozen or so of
us journeyed one last time (hopefully!) to Petersburg,
Indiana with Gina (Tiga) and Hugh to sign the plea agreement
that was offered by the prosecution. The plea was accepted
by the court, and thus begins the end of this insane
situation.
As has been the case with other court appearances,
the event was far from serious. Rather, it felt fun
and social as we played games and told jokes in the
courtroom.
But that doesn't mean it was all easy, as it was still
really emotionally difficult hearing our friends state
"guilty" when asked how they plead.
Details of the Agreement: Hugh and Gina each pled guilty
to 2 counts of trespassing (class A misdemeanor) and
were each sentenced to two years non-reporting probation
and a $10 fine, plus court costs. According to the deal,
if they don't violate their terms of probation, they
will be able to move to have it terminated at 15 months
and this motion will be accepted.
For transparency's sake, we'll soon be posting scans
of their plea agreements on the website (http://mostlyeverything.net).
Let us know if you have any other questions about the
terms of the plea- we realize that plea agreements can
be sketchy and we'd like to be as open as possible about
all of this. We've done a lot of work with our lawyers
to make sure that these pleas won't implicate anyone
else. Gina and Hugh both remain fully uncooperative.
Other notes: We'll be getting the bail money back in
the next two weeks! Thank you so much to everyone who
contributed. Please get in touch if you think you should
be getting money back- we have good records of where
all the money is supposed to go, but we don't have current
addresses for everyone. If you put money in and don't
need it back, it will go to other friends' legal defenses
(we promise we won't spend it on cupcakes and beer!)
Lastly, a giant thank you to everyone who contributed
in any way, especially in friendship and emotional support.
Those of us who have been working on the case in Bloomington
for the last year are still trying to figure out lots
of things; what we could have done better or differently,
why all of this felt so incredibly debilitating, how
we can use what we've learned to help other friends
who are increasingly finding themselves in similar predicaments.
Processing this is difficult, but something that we're
still struggling to do collectively. We'd like there
to be broader conversations, but aren't sure how to
begin them. If you're interested in this or have any
reflections to share or ideas about any of this, please
stay in touch.
Hope everyone's doing well, take care, love,
Friends in Bloomington
***
AETA PROSECUTION THROWN OUT!
(From the Civil Liberties Defense Center)
A California federal court judge has thrown
out the first ever prosecution under the Animal Enterprise
Terrorism Act of the AETA 4 (Adriana Stumpo, Maryam
Khjavi, Nathan Pope and Joseph Buddenberg). The AETA
4 were accused of picketing and handing out leaflets
regarding animal experimenters--patently constitutionally
protected activities. The court granted defendants'
motions to dismiss on the basis that the indictment
fails to allege the facts of the crimes charged with
sufficient specificity to meet the requirements of the
Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and Fed. R. Crim.P.
7(c)(1). The court granted the motion "without
prejudice," meaning that the government may re-file
the charges again if they so
choose. But, for now, a victory for activists everywhere!
***
SUPPORT JORDAN HALLIDAY AT CHANGE
OF PLEA HEARING!
(From ADL SLC)
Jordan Halliday's Court Dates have been
canceled for a plea change hearing on Tuesday, July
27, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
We will be holding a support rally for Jordan outside
of the courthouse at 9:00 am. Be sure to be there early.
Jordan Halliday was incarcerated for nearly four months
on March 13th, 2009 for refusing to cooperate with a
federal grand jury investigating the animal rights community
of Utah. Upon release Jordan was indicted with felony
"criminal contempt of court" and released
on pretrial. Jordan is still facing even more prison
time. There is no maximum sentence with this charge.
Jordan is the first radical in decades to be held under
civil contempt and subsequently charged with felony
criminal contempt. Over the past 20 years many AR and
otherwise anarchist kids have suffered subpoenas and
coercive incarceration, but rarely for more than a few
weeks. But at present we are experiencing an increase
of pressure.
We all need to be there to show solidarity and to show
him that he is supported. YOU MAY BE NEXT.
Remember answering questions before a grand jury will
most likely lead to more subpoenas in the future - you
become a spring they can tap.
If you can't make it to the support rally or hearing,
please send any letters of support or financial assistance
for legal costs to:
Karen Halliday,
PO Box 25581
SLC, UT 84125.
To keep up to date & for more info on Jordan's
case and Grand Jury Resistance in general, visit: http://www.supportjordan.com/
***
APRIL 5, 2010 – STEVE MURPHY
SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS
Steve received a sentence of 60 months (5 years)
and three years of supervised release. He is currently
being held at the CDC in San Bernardino and it is uncertain
as to how long it will take for Steve to be transferred
to a federal facility. Awaiting a transfer can be a
particularly stressful time. Please take a minute to
write Steve a note of support. For the time being, his
address is:
Murphy, Steve James
0910300841
Central Detention Center
630 East Rialto Ave.
San Bernardino, CA 92408, USA
***
WILLIAM "BJ" VIEHL AT FCI TERMINAL ISLAND
BJ has arrived at the low security federal facility
at which he will be serving his sentence.
Please write him at:
William Viehl
#15909-081
FCI Terminal Island
PO Box 3007
San Pedro, CA 90731, USA
For more information on BJ and his
case, please visit:
http://www.supportbjandalex.com/
***
DANIEL McGOWAN JOINS LAWSUIT AGAINST CMUs
Daniel McGowan and his wife are both plaintiffs
in a suit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR) against Communications Management Units (CMUs)- the
illegal, experimental prison units that target Muslim
prisoners and political activists. Daniel is currently
being held at the CMU in Marion, IL. This is the same
unit in which Andy Stepanian was held prior to his release.
For more information on the suit, please visit CCR's
website. For more information on Daniel and his
case, please visit: http://www.supportdaniel.org/
***
MARCH 22, 2010 – HUGH & TIGA'S FELONIES DROPPED... STILL FACE CHARGES
From Hugh and Tiga's Support Team:
Great news! Hugh and Tiga's felony racketeering charges
have been dropped! We
got word this morning that, based on arguments made
by their lawyers at their
last court appearance, the Felony Racketeering charge
they were each facing has
been deemed not legitimate. (If you're curious... the
basis for this ruling is
that, under Indiana RICO law, conspiracy charges cannot
stem from misdemeanor
charges.)
While this is definitely a reason to celebrate and
a huge step, we're not quite
out of the water yet. Tiga and Hugh are still each facing
four misdemeanors,
carrying a maximum sentence of four years. Also, they
are both still confined to
the state of Indiana, based on bail agreements made
shortly after their arrests.
Hopefully this will change in the near future, but we
can't promise anything
yet.
Furthermore, we're not sure what this means for the
pre-trial date scheduled for
this Monday, the 29th. We're going to assume it's still
happening until we find
out otherwise, but keep your ears to the ground for
updates. If it's still
happening, let's plan on trying to fill the courtroom
again!
Gigantic thank you's to everyone who's offered solidarity
in any form thus
far... things are looking up...
lots of love,
us.
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