Larken Speaks (Part XIV)

[LPC]

The Larkenator is at it again:

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Details of Appeals Hearing‏
Dear Subscriber,

I have the details of the oral arguments which will occur in the appeal of my conviction. Again, it will be happening at the federal courthouse (844 N. King Street) in downtown Wilmington, Delaware(NOT in Philadelphia*). The case is U.S. v. Larken Rose (case number 05-5199), and the hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m., on Thursday, September 27th, in courtroom 6A (on the sixth floor).

The hearing should be fairly short. The court has given each side15 minutes for argument, though if the court wants to hear more, it often goes longer than that. And again, only the search warrant issues (First and Fourth Amendments) will be addressed at the hearing, though my appeal raises other issues in the written motions. As I understand it, a ruling in the case should happen within a few days of the hearing.

So if you want to come along, feel free. As in any appeal, the only question before the appellate court is whether the trial court judge (Judge Michael Baylson) did what he was supposed to do. We're arguing that he should have granted my motion to suppress, which he didn't. While I'm at it, let me mention a few more points which people have asked about:

1) If the appeal is successful, I get "unconvicted," but the government could try to prosecute me again. Since I've already served the sentence, they wouldn't have much to gain by doing so,except for the "making an example" propaganda routine. (On the other hand, they'd have a lot to lose if they tried again and lost.)

2) There are several issues raised in my appeal, any one of which can be the basis for the conviction to be thrown out. If we win on the issue of suppression, however, the government wouldn't be allowed to use anything they got from the 2003 raid of my house (including e-mails in which I say nasty things about the IRS--as if that is proof of a crime). In theory the government could still try me again, but they could use almost nothing they introduced at the first trial.

3) If I win (either the government doesn't take it to trial again,or I get acquitted the second time), my conviction disappears, but all I get for the year of wrongful imprisonment is an official"oops." Only very rarely does is a suit for wrongful incarceration successful. (In addition to the wrongful imprisonment, the court also fined me $10,000, which I'm almost finished paying off. If I won I'd get that back.)

4) If I win the appeal, am tried again, and convicted again, I expect I would just get sentenced to "time served" (what I already did). Since I was coerced into giving them returns pretending I owed the tax, and giving them lots and lots of money I didn't owe(and entering an installment agreement for what's left), I can't imagine why the sentence would go up the second time around. So the second time around I'd pretty much have nothing to lose.

Sincerely,

Larken Rose
http://www.larkenrose.com

(* Apparently the Philadelphia appeals court is so backlogged that some cases, including mine, are being sent to other courthouses.That's why my appeal is happening in Delaware, and it's also why it took so long to happen at all.)

[.]

If the appeal is successful

LOL.

[Imalawman]

If the appeal is successful

If hell freezes over.....

If pigs fly....

If the Pope coverts to southern baptist....

Keep hoping Larkin, keep hoping.

[Quixote]

Am I correctly remembering that the crux of Larken's argument is that the government should not have searched his home for evidence because he was willing to concede that the evidence the government already had was sufficient to convict him?

[LPC]

Am I correctly remembering that the crux of Larken's argument is that the government should not have searched his home for evidence because he was willing to concede that the evidence the government already had was sufficient to convict him?

That's the only claim I've ever heard him make.

Maybe his attorney has come up with an argument that might be worth 30 minutes of the 3rd Circuit panel.