Tim Turner indicted!

[fortinbras]

Tim Turner has filed another flurry of amateurish pleadings, and it's painfully obvious that he's not getting assistance from anyone with legal training.

http://dev.republicoftheunitedstates.or ... ot-Law.pdf

His primary argument in this batch is that Title 18 of the US Code, the Federal Criminal Code, is not law because the winter adjournment between the 1st and the 2nd session of a single Congress intervened between House and Senate passage. This argument has been previously attempted MANY times and ALWAYS rejected.

Tim Turner is not being prosecuted for his involvement with the RuSA, but for serious offenses committed during a bankruptcy court proceeding.

By the way, the $300Gs lawyer previous sought or invited by Turner's followers is not the Luis Ewing suggest, but David K. Demergian, who is a real enough lawyer in San Diego, altho he rather clearly is not a consistent winner, not even in a case involving himself many years ago:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... 3852436766

He clearly isn't helping Turner yet and, the way Turner is going on his own, he is damaging his case beyond the power of almost anyone to save him.

[gatsby]

You beat me to it!

Did you notice that the email, in at least two places, uses a capital "U" when spelling out RuSA? So it's now "Republic of the United States of America."

[gatsby]

EDIT: A perfect lawyer for Prexy Tim! Mr. Demergian has a tarnished record with the State Bar of California, including a previous disbarment (he's currently active, though):

4/17/1989 Disbarment Disbarred
1/2/1987 Interim suspension after conviction Not Eligible To Practice Law

http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/95008


Can this guy save the fake republic by saving Prexy Tim?



http://www.criminallaw.com/profile/david-k-demergian

[fortinbras]

Did you notice that the email, in at least two places, uses a capital "U" when spelling out RuSA? So it's now "Republic of the United States of America."

For what it's worth, the lowercase u in "united States" used by the RuSA and many other militia/sovereign types is an exact duplication of the practice used in the parchment version of the Declaration of Independence (but NOT in the printed versions, as by Dunlop, which capitalized the U).
The reason is that the calligrapher/scribe of the parchment, Thomas Matlick, was capitalizing all the nouns, German-style ... because this was the style of (literally) "the king's English", George III being one of the Hanover kings, was more comfortable communicating in German than in English ... a peculiarity which persisted until Victoria died in 1901. So, the "cultivated" English writing style, evidently even in the colonies, was this imitation of Germanic style. Matlick, being accustomed to writing up documents for English-appointed judges and officials, was habituated to this style.

[gatsby]

For what it's worth, the lowercase u in "united States" used by the RuSA and many other militia/sovereign types is an exact duplication of the practice used in the parchment version of the Declaration of Independence (but NOT in the printed versions, as by Dunlop, which capitalized the U).

The reason is that the calligrapher/scribe of the parchment, Thomas Matlick, was capitalizing all the nouns, German-style ... because this was the style of (literally) "the king's English", George III being one of the Hanover kings, was more comfortable communicating in German than in English ... a peculiarity which persisted until Victoria died in 1901.

Very interesting! Thank you. While I haven't looked into the spelling and grammatical peculiarities of that document, I did spend a couple hours one time exploring the same for the Constitution. I was curious about those capitalizations -- they seemed to me at the time random -- and the odd-to-us spelling of words like "chuse."

But what really prompted my research was noticing a grammatical error in the Constitution. In Article 1, Section 10, it's was used instead of its. Anyone can make a mistake!

[fortinbras]

It is one of the curiosities of history or bibliography that the parchment versions of the Declaration and the original Constitution are considered now to be The authoritative texts, when, in fact, the parchments were drawn up well after the original document was debated and voted and available in printed form. In the case of the parchment of the Declaration, some of the signatures were not put down until after the Revolutionary War was over.

[grixit]

EDIT: A perfect lawyer for Prexy Tim! Mr. Demergian has a tarnished record with the State Bar of California, including a previous disbarment (he's currently active, though):

4/17/1989 Disbarment Disbarred
1/2/1987 Interim suspension after conviction Not Eligible To Practice Law

http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/95008


Can this guy save the fake republic by saving Prexy Tim?

Of course! Just as it takes a suspended detective to solve a crime, you need a disbarred attorney to win a trial.

[Gregg]

4/17/1989 Disbarment Disbarred

Not even Orly Taitz has been disbarred by California. Wow

[wserra]

Here's the docket entry that says it would be available for public download yesterday:

Although I seem to remember that the Judicial Conference directed that transcripts be available on PACER, that in my experience has never been the case on a routine basis. Some transcripts are available on PACER to the parties only, some not available to anyone, and a very few available to the public.

I think the Reporters Union has more pull than the Judicial Conference.

[notorial dissent]

Well, I will admit that the thought of pretend president for life Jimmy Tim having a not lawyer defend him has a certain symmetry about it, but there are a couple of real impediments in the way, not the first of which is good ole Jimmy Tim's ego, and his conviction, you'll pardon the pun, that "he is smartern' any damn lawyer", the fact that I don't think Jimmy Tim could scrape up bus fare right at the moment, let along the alleged $300k that was bandied about, since apparently the pickings from his current flock of pigeons wasn't as good as he had anticipated, not to mention that the proposed legel genius that is going to get him off, couldn't seem to do that for himself, and, of course, there is always the question of whether or not the Federal circuit would allow Demergian to practice. Besides, if Jimmy Tim wants to stick to his sovrunidjit credentials, he really can't afford to have a real barcard carrying(even one once disbarred) shyster representing him as that would be heresy.

I've never decided if he really believed the bilge he was selling, or was just peddling what his audience would buy. Current evidence seems to indicate that not only was he a true paytriot conman, but that he had/has swallowed the whole mythos hook line and sinker, and drunk well and truly deep of the koolaid.

[The Dog]

But what really prompted my research was noticing a grammatical error in the Constitution. In Article 1, Section 10, it's was used instead of its. Anyone can make a mistake!

I think it was Bill Bryson who pointed out the illogicality of the phrase "more perfect union".

[notorial dissent]

It also helps if you read and really understand 18th C grammar, spelling, and usage. Something most of the sovrunidjit crowd aren't fluent in the 20th/21st C versions of. Not to mention, that most of the real writers of the period were beyond besotted with the hyperbole of the Enlightenment, particularly the French version thereof, and let's not go in to real English usage of the period. It's no wonder that some people have real trouble reading and actually making sense of those documents.

While it is true we spoke the King's English, there is always some question as to which King.

[gatsby]

Attention! Prexy Tim, High Commander of the RuSA Theocracy, has an important message!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Republic,

Prayer is the most potent force known to mankind. Because we have been made partakers in Jesus' victory over sin and death (1 John 4:4), we have the authority as sons and daughters of God to pray for others, pushing back the darkness of sin and oppression. In prayer, we have a weapon that has "divine power to destroy strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4)

I ask you to come together in Intercessory prayer like never before specifically for my release and complete exoneration. I have witnessed others having had all charges dropped just to be re-arrested on similar, but different charges the same day as their release. I ask you to pray for God to push back the darkness and call upon his divine power to intercede.

May God bless you and keep everyone of you and may God bless the Republic.

James Timothy Turner
President

More here: http://goo.gl/IR8Fp

[gatsby]

It also helps if you read and really understand 18th C grammar, spelling, and usage.

A year ago, I came across this book:

Colonial American English: A Glossary
Richard M. Lederer

http://amzn.com/0930454197

[Dr. Caligari]

It seems like this is headed toward something in Turner's favor if he's allowed to represent himself. His "defense" will be a sovcit farce that will prove better than the prosecution's case that he's a nut who wanted to avoid paying taxes while making money by showing others how to do the same.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems such a charade that resulted in conviction would be overturned on appeal.

A defendant who asks to represent himself cannot complain on appeal that he did a lousy job and should have had a lawyer foisted on him against his will.

Actually, such defendants usually do complain about it on appeal, but never with any success.

[wserra]

A defendant who asks to represent himself cannot complain on appeal that he did a lousy job and should have had a lawyer foisted on him against his will.

As Justice Blackmun disapprovingly but accurately characterized the leading Supreme Court case on the issue, Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), it "bestows a constitutional right on one to make a fool of himself".

We definitely think you should go for it, Timmy.

[webhick]

I cleaned up the religious war. Please try to refrain.

[notorial dissent]

.....We definitely think you should go for it, Timmy.

I definitely concur!! Particularly, in as much, as I really don't think it is going to make one whit of difference to the outcome. I have yet to see any convincing, let alone any, evidence that Jimmy Tim is anything other than not the sharpest knife in the drawer, or even in close proximity to it. I think they pretty much have him dead to rights, I really don't think he was/is smart enough to have covered anything he did up, and some of it is so blatant and just plain dumb that there can be no other take on it. I think they've got him, can prove it, and the most/best he could hope for with really competent help might be a lessening of the sentence, if that is even possible. I do think that he will prove that he is a legal idiot quite sufficiently to everyone's satisfaction once it does go to court. the only real downside to all this is that I really do feel sorry for the poor judge who will have to wade through the volumes of dreck that will be delivered to his desk if he lets him go pro se.

[wserra]

And Timmy is off to the races - in his case, of course, without a car, or even a Razor.

Judge Thompson has granted the govt's motion to be the first case tried in the tern starting March 18. As he notes, "Indeed, this is the only criminal case to be tried at that time". You've got the Court's undivided attention, Timmy. Offhand, I would say that's a bad thing, but to each his own.

Only other new item in docket: there have been a couple of sealed conferences with the M-J. Given that one of these was ex parte, they probably deal with issues of representation.

Hang in there, Timmy! Don't take a lawyer and become a ward of the court!

[fortinbras]

A defendant who asks to represent himself cannot complain on appeal that he did a lousy job and should have had a lawyer foisted on him against his will.

Actually, such defendants usually do complain about it on appeal, but never with any success.

There have been a very few successes on appeal, where the defendant originally went pro se at trial, lost, and then appealed on the premise that the trial judge (this is kind of hard to say with a straight face) should have recognized that they were, in some way, incompetent to make that decision, and the judge ought to have insisted that a lawyer represent the defendant.

Sometimes the claimed incompetence is that the defendant believed that the flag in the courtroom had some sinister meaning or that he thought that by denying his citizenship he got a Get Out Of Jail Free card; very early on - about 20 years ago when this sov'run movement was brand new - this argument sometimes got the trial overturned. Lately, now that the judges have realized that this nonsense is not generated by mental illness (or, at least, not the defendant's mental illness), such arguments have consistently lost.

Sometimes judges, at their discretion because this is not something that the defendant can demand as of right, will provide "standby counsel" - a lawyer for the defendant who wants to go pro se. The defendant can confer with the lawyer for advice, instructions, etc., and the lawyer might take over the defense if the defendant realizes he's in over his head - or if the defendant throws some sort of tantrum and has to be removed from the courtroom, but this lawyer is not supposed to speak unless spoken to. I imagine it's a painful experience for the lawyer, watching his "client" ruin himself. A pro se who was provided with a standby lawyer (it's called a hybrid defense) and refused to consult him can't win an appeal based on ineffective assistance.

There is an interesting law review article by John F. Decker, The Sixth Amendment Right to Shoot Oneself in the Foot: An Assessment of the Guarantee of Self-Representation Twenty Years after Faretta, 6 Seton Hall Constitutional L.J. 483 (1996).