So far, nothing about rescheduling the trial.
Plainfield
2 judges out of Brown cases
Supporters' trials to be heard by Maine jurist
By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
October 18. 2007 12:25AM
Ed and Elaine Brown (foreground) entertained many supporters at their Plainfield home during their standoff with federal marshals, including Ruby Ridge survivor Randy Weaver (center).
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The cases of four men accused of helping prolong the standoff of Plainfield tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown have been transferred to a federal judge from another state after two of the New Hampshire court's judges recused themselves.
The cases of Jason Gerhard, Cirino Gonzalez, Daniel Riley and Robert Wolffe were assigned to Judge George Singal, the chief judge of the Maine District Court in Portland. The two New Hampshire-based judges opted out of their cases because of death threats made against Chief Judge Steven McAuliffe by the Browns and members of their entourage who were angered by his management of their January tax evasion trial. None of the men facing charges was accused of threatening the judge, but McAuliffe recused himself to remove any "appearance of partiality." A second judge, Paul Barbadoro, also recused himself, citing a long friendship with McAuliffe. The court's third judge, Joseph DiClerico Jr., was not accepting criminal cases; DiClerico is a senior judge and carries a limited case load.
The four men are accused of helping the Browns escape capture. Three of the men, Gerhard, Gonzalez and Riley, have been charged with conspiring to undermine federal marshals and with bringing weapons to the Browns' fortified home. Court documents allege that each of the men brought the Browns a high-powered .50-caliber rifle, a weapon capable of shooting targets with great accuracy at long distances, and with delivering other guns and supplies. Wolffe is accused of giving the couple a car and using his house as a transfer point for supplies after marshals cut mail service to the couple's home.
The men were arrested in September, and three weeks later, marshals were able to arrest the Browns themselves when a small team came to the house disguised as supporters. The Browns' arrest ended a months-long standoff in which the couple vowed to die - and kill federal marshals - rather than surrender. They are currently serving 63-month sentences in federal prisons.
During the course of the standoff, marshals cut mail, phone and electric service to the house, but the Browns endured thanks, in part, to a rotating cast of supporters who delivered supplies including food, weapons and disposable cell phones. The four men were among the most prominent of those supporters, and each lived at the house for periods of time.
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The Browns and many of their allies in the militia and tax protest movements were angered by McAuliffe's management of the couple's case and believe that he robbed the couple of a fair trial. Following their convictions, numerous Brown supporters spoke on radio shows or posted messages on websites accusing McAulliffe of treason and suggesting that he be hanged for his offenses. Ed Brown himself has made several explicit threats against McAuliffe.
In one instance, Brown indicated that McAuliffe's family should pay for his misconduct. In a radio interview in February, he identified McAuliffe as a member of the "Zionist Illuminati," a group that Brown believes is trying to rule the world.
"Once this thing starts, we're going to seek them out and hunt them down," he said. "And we're going to bring them to justice. So anybody who wishes to join them, you go right ahead and join them. But I promise you, long after I'm gone, they're going to seek out you and your bloodline."
This summer, Brown described a hit list with more than 50 names on it, to be targeted if he was harmed or captured. On the day of his arrest, Brown applauded the idea of developing secret assassination squads to target key government officials on his daily radio show, Ed Brown Under Siege. He did not mention names that day, but did agree with the host's admiring appraisal of Bart Ross, who shot family members of an Illinois judge in 2005 after she entered a medical malpractice ruling against him.
According to James Starr, the clerk for the New Hampshire District Court, the defendants' trials will still take place at the New Hampshire courthouse, though pretrial hearings may be held here or in Maine, at the discretion of the judge. Defendants have a constitutional right to be tried in the jurisdiction where alleged crimes occurred.
The cases had been scheduled for trial beginning Nov. 6, and none of the defendants had asked for a delay so far. Starr said that the dates might shift a little, depending on Singal's schedule, but not by much unless the parties request a delay.
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By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ
