Fwd: [OrgNCNR] Drone Sentencing at Hancock-Possible Appeal
More on how the court handled the drone resisters' case...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ellen Barfield <organizingncnr@PROTECTED>
Date: Sat, Aug 1, 2015 at 12:36 PM
Subject: [OrgNCNR] Drone Sentencing at Hancock-Possible Appeal
To: VFP Action <vfpaction@PROTECTED>, Vfpall All <vfp-all@PROTECTED>, VFP Women VFP Women 2007 <vfpwomen@PROTECTED>, Max Obuszewski <mobuszewski@PROTECTED>, NCNR Organizing <organizingncnr@PROTECTED>, NCNR Coordinating Committee <ncnr-cc@PROTECTED>, WILPF DISARM <disarm@PROTECTED>, Membership Council <wilpf-mc@PROTECTED>, Barbara Larcom <barbara.larcom@PROTECTED>, Sam Husseini <samhusseini@PROTECTED>, BXE Crew <beyond-extreme-energy@PROTECTED>, Desirée Fairooz <desiree.fairooz@PROTECTED>, "Judith M. Pasternak" <jmahoneyp@PROTECTED>, NC WRL <wrlnc@PROTECTED>, Ed Kinane <edkinane@PROTECTED>, Mary Anne Grady Flores <gradyflores08@PROTECTED>
Cc: Jules Orkin <julesorkin@PROTECTED>, Bev Rice <nycbev85@PROTECTED>, Joan Pleune <jpleune@PROTECTED>
"It is deeply offensive that we get this long list of potential violent
From: Ellen Barfield <organizingncnr@PROTECTED>
Date: Sat, Aug 1, 2015 at 12:36 PM
Subject: [OrgNCNR] Drone Sentencing at Hancock-Possible Appeal
To: VFP Action <vfpaction@PROTECTED>, Vfpall All <vfp-all@PROTECTED>, VFP Women VFP Women 2007 <vfpwomen@PROTECTED>, Max Obuszewski <mobuszewski@PROTECTED>, NCNR Organizing <organizingncnr@PROTECTED>, NCNR Coordinating Committee <ncnr-cc@PROTECTED>, WILPF DISARM <disarm@PROTECTED>, Membership Council <wilpf-mc@PROTECTED>, Barbara Larcom <barbara.larcom@PROTECTED>, Sam Husseini <samhusseini@PROTECTED>, BXE Crew <beyond-extreme-energy@PROTECTED>, Desirée Fairooz <desiree.fairooz@PROTECTED>, "Judith M. Pasternak" <jmahoneyp@PROTECTED>, NC WRL <wrlnc@PROTECTED>, Ed Kinane <edkinane@PROTECTED>, Mary Anne Grady Flores <gradyflores08@PROTECTED>
Cc: Jules Orkin <julesorkin@PROTECTED>, Bev Rice <nycbev85@PROTECTED>, Joan Pleune <jpleune@PROTECTED>
FOUR SENTENCED TO YEAR PROBATION, FINE, AND 2 YEAR ADDED OOPs!
It was another long night Wednesday July 29th in the Dewitt, NY, Town Court
waiting to be sentenced for the Hancock Air Base trespass conviction the jury
had given us four on 28 June, 2015, for the anti-drone action we did on 28 April,
2013. Long, partly because courts never get started on time, and partly because
our attorney was seeking every possible avenue to vacate the jury's verdict, and
legal palaver is time-consuming.
We had assumed the jury compromised between entirely innocent and entirely
guilty, even after rebelling at their time constraints being ignored, when they
saw the government's ridiculous over-charging of 2 counts of disorderly conduct,
one of obstructing government administration, and the late-breaking trespass
charge only announced nearly 2 years after we did the action.
Our attorney Lew Oliver's main argument was that the trespass charge exceeded
the one-year statute of limitations. Other arguments included jury selection errors
of racism and keeping jurors with violent opinions, and the failure of the prosecution
to call the Sheriff's Department officer who gave the one and only warning to the
activists of potential arrest, because he is under investigation for financial
misconduct. Also, our ready and willing expert witness, Pardiss Kebriaei from the
Center on Constitutional Rights, had been refused.
Judge Zavaglia denied all of these arguments, and sentenced us all to a year's
"Conditional Discharge", essentially probation, requiring no violations of "ANY
federal, state, or municipal laws", anywhere, fines of $250 and surcharges of $125,
and TWO year additional Orders of Protection not to stalk, sexually abuse, obstruct
the breathing of, or a long list of other assaults on the Hancock Base Commander
Greg Semmel. These absurd OOP's have been given to many drone resisters at
Hancock, and 3 of us refused to sign them. I spoke vehemently against the OOP,
and below is a paraphrase of my words.
acts read to us that we mustn't commit, when we are totally
nonviolent people, and have no intention of committing ANY violent
act on ANYONE, and Colonel Semmel and his soldiers are perpetrating
horrendous violence on the people of Pakistan.
It is also deeply offensive to victims of domestic violence to misuse
orders of protection in this way, when they were specifically created
to protect them, not to be used against nonviolent activists."
Joan Pleune and Beverly Rice refused to accept the year's Conditional Discharge
and went right to jail for the maximum 15 days, though with time already served
right after the arrests and good behavior they should be out in about a week.
For now Jules Orkin and I are constrained for a year from further civil resistance.
Though unfortunately the fees for the Court Reporter we had to hire to ensure
an accurate and timely transcript were much higher than we had expected, we
are still considering appealing the case. We humbly ask anyone who still might
be able to contribute to setting good precedents for the whole Upstate Coalition
to Ground the Drones, to send a check to
Granny Peace Brigade
c/o NY Gray Panthers Project Fund,
Inc
244 Madison Ave., Suite 396
New York, NY 10016
"Joan and Bev Defense Fund" to be written in memo
line.
or donate on-line at
The Stop These Wars link
Since
we don't have anywhere people can put on that link what the donation is
for, just also e-
mail me to tell you've made a
donation.
Thanks so much everyone for supporting the ongoing civil resistance to drone
assassinations. Peace, Ellen Barfield
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