OPCA drama - Scott Peters

[Fmotlgroupie]

In the few hours between first seeing the article on Google News and getting my act together to write this the news story went from a "crazy freeman court arguments" to "Jury quickly convicts freeman" [actually I was waylaid for a few days after writing that, but I'm still tickled that it was updated so quickly. The Winnipeg Sun's story seems fairly straightforward:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breaki ... 13591.html

A so-called "Freeman on the Land" who claimed he was above the law has quickly been convicted of running a marijuana grow operation.
Members of a Winnipeg jury needed only a couple hours to reach their verdict Tuesday afternoon. Scott Peters will be sentenced on Feb. 18.
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This Winnipeg 'Freeman' on trial for growing pot wants to see the Queen
Peters acted as his own lawyer and argued he was the victim of an unlawful persecution. In his closing argument Monday, he demanded he be allowed to face his accuser in court.
"It says here the Queen versus Scott David Peters. Well where is my accuser? Where is Her Majesty, the Queen? Why isn’t she on the stand?" Peters asked. "There is no case against me."
The question was one of many posted during a rambling, 100-minute closing argument. Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Dewar repeatedly cautioned him to stay on point but clearly gave Peters plenty of latitude.
The Crown, meanwhile, took all of five minutes to summarize their simple case: Peters was found with 56 plants in the basement of his North End home by police officers executing a court-authorized search warrant in 2012.
Growing pot without a licence is illegal. Peters doesn’t have a licence. Therefore, he should be found guilty, they argued.
But Peters appeared to relish his opportunity to speak to the 12 citizens who will decide his fate, taking them on a wild ride that included railing against the government, bureaucrats and even sounding off against fluoride in drinking water, the public school system and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
"It’s all about mind control," Peters said.
He denied any wrongdoing, despite the mountain of evidence against him.
"No man’s life, liberty or property are safe," Peters said at one point, quoting Mark Twain. "I have the right to use my property as I see fit. Nobody has the right to question anything."
Peters isn’t the first "freeman" to irritate justice officials. Last month, a Winnipeg man charged with illegally soaring over the city in a powered paraglider told a judge he should be exempt from prosecution. Tony Gibson, 35, claimed he is a sovereign individual whose civil rights are being abused. His case remains before the courts.

(Note the reference to the Freeman in the Air that Burnaby brought us a few weeks ago.)

So I dutifully google to see if there is anything interesting about our boringly named Freeman. And what do I find? A whole bucket of crazy!

http://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.ca ... david.html

If this blogger is to be believed (and perhaps we should be careful about that, as she is a resident of a fairly crazy part of the intellectual spectrum), we have some facts about Peters:
-he goes by Truthwar
-he was an engineer for the Vinny Eastwood show
-he not only collected child pornography but also sent it to women in the conspiracy-theory world
-this was reported to the Winnipeg Police, who raided his house in 2012 [the year his little grow op was discovered)

Oh, such drama! So is it true at all?

It makes sense that police looking for child pornography might find the grow op, but why is he only going to trial on the marihuana charges? Did he plead guilty to those charges already (doesn't seem his style), or were the authorities unable to make them stick?

Anyways, if there are any Vinny Eastwood listeners here you may have more insights than I do.

[bmxninja357]

in the stuff i found he claims to be a nudist and the kiddie pics were just nudist families.....

a weak defense for a large turd; but it may be enough to dance around production/possession of child porn so long as he only distributed the pics in a fashion becoming a nudist. as in, only sending them to others making the same claim....

if he could prove the nudist thing the crown may not have enough evidence to have a reasonable probability of conviction. plus look at the witnesses. how clear are the statements, if any, and what is there credibility. that may be where public opinion and legal validity part company, unfortunately.

peace,
ninj

[Burnaby49]

I've had this story for a few days too but was distracted by the Chief. Here are a few more links, Note that the jury took 61 minutes to convict him. Less time than his closing speech which really only seemed to address his charges a few times by random chance.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/01/20/g ... uch-longer

A jury wasted no time convicting a "freeman of the land" of illegal production of marijuana Tuesday, rejecting his claim the laws of the Criminal Code do not apply to him.
Jurors had barely set their forks down from lunch before beginning deliberations and reaching an almost instant verdict of guilty.

Scott David Peters, 45, will return to court for sentencing on Feb. 18.

Peters, an adherent of the so-called "freemen of the land" movement, represented himself at trial. He argued the court had no jurisdiction to prosecute him and that the only law he recognized was one "to do no harm."

"My advice is it would be helpful for you to talk to a lawyer," Justice Robert Dewar told Peters before adjourning court.

During a nearly two-hour long closing address to jurors Monday, Peters touched on everything from the Communist Manifesto to fracking and government mind control, with only glancing references to the charge before the court.

Peters did not dispute control of the grow-op, claiming he smokes marijuana to treat his dystonia, a neurological condition.

"This whole putting people in jail for not hurting anyone is an abuse of the system," Peters said. "I have not infringed on anybody, but I sure have been infringed upon."

Peters rejected references to his full name, agreeing to respond only to Scott.

"OK, we are referring to someone named Scott David Peters, which I understand is a legal fiction created by the government so they can claim they have jurisdiction," Peters said during trial testimony last week. "They aren't referring to I, the man — they are referring to some puppet they think they can manipulate."

Prosecutors said the case against Peters was simple, the evidence overwhelming. In April 2012, police executed a search warrant at Peters' Boyd Avenue home and found 58 marijuana plants in the basement. Documents found in the kitchen, including a residential tenancy agreement and change of address form, conclusively tied Peters to the home.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 82951.html
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 13591.html
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/01/19/y ... op-suspect
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/01/15/g ... e-in-court

This is also discussed in the World Freeman forum;

http://worldfreemansociety.ca/forum/116 ... ug-charges

[Burnaby49]

The poor guy has dystopia?

dys·to·pia noun \(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə\ : an imaginary place where people are unhappy and usually afraid because they are not treated fairly

perhaps he meant dystonia;

DYSTONIA - : any of various conditions (as Parkinson's disease and torticollis) characterized by abnormalities of movement and muscle tone
— dys·ton·ic \-ˈtä-nik\ adjective

http://spectatortribune.com/article/the ... he-land/#2

[JamesVincent]

Wasn't Peters the one that got into a hissing match with Menard after being thrown out of his condo, along with his lovely, brainless, wife?

[Burnaby49]

Wasn't Peters the one that got into a hissing match with Menard after being thrown out of his condo, along with his lovely, brainless, wife?

No, that was Scott Duncan. Check page 10 of this discussion.

[Fmotlgroupie]

Sentencing hearing happened this week, attended by the Winnipeg Free Press' veteran court reporter:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 52391.html

Justice officials are seeking up to six months in jail for a so-called "Freeman on the Land" who claimed he was above the law by running a marijuana grow operation in his home.

Scott David Peters was convicted of drug charges last month following a brief trial in which he acted as his own lawyer. Jurors took less than an hour to reach their guilty verdict.

Peters returned to court Wednesday for sentencing. The Crown asked for between four to six months behind bars, while Peters argued he should face no penalty at all.

Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Dewar has reserved his decision until Feb. 26.

Peters continues to claim he is the victim of an unlawful persecution. In his closing argument at trial, he demanded to be allowed to face his accuser in court.

"It says here the Queen versus Scott David Peters. Well where is my accuser? Where is Her Majesty, the Queen? Why isn't she on the stand?" Peters asked. "There is no case against me."

The question was one of many posed during a rambling, 100-minute closing argument in which Peters railed against the government and sounded off against fluoride in drinking water, the public school system and monosodium glutamate (MSG) among other things.

He denied any wrongdoing, despite the mountain of evidence against him.

"No man's life, liberty or property are safe," Peters said at one point, quoting Mark Twain. "I have the right to use my property as I see fit. Nobody has the right to question anything."

Peters was found with 56 marijuana plants in the basement of his North End home by police executing a court-authorized search warrant in 2012.

Peters isn't the first "freeman" to irritate justice officials. Last month, a Winnipeg man charged with illegally soaring over the city in a powered paraglider told a judge he should be exempt from prosecution. Tony Gibson, 35, claimed he is a sovereign individual whose civil rights are being abused. His case remains before the courts.

[Burnaby49]

Tony Gibson has his own discussion here;

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=10405

[Dr. Caligari]

What if Gibson's paraglider crash-landed into Peters' greenhouse? Which FOTL "court" would have jurisdiction over the ensuing dispute?

[Burnaby49]

Our pot growing Freeman just gets a conditional sentence.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 70681.html

He had a good point, he was denied the right to face his accuser.

"It says here the Queen versus Scott David Peters. Well, where is my accuser? Where is Her Majesty the Queen? Why isn't she on the stand?" Peters asked. "There is no case against me."

But let's be fair to the Queen. If she had to madly scrabble around to sit in on every trial in Canada she'd be so worn out that she wouldn't make it to September when she becomes the longest reigning Britiah monarch in history. Tough luck Victoria!

[Burnaby49]

Another news report on Peters. Sadly this one relates that he's still suffering from dystopia. Maybe he can join a support group with Katniss Everdeen.

http://spectatortribune.com/article/the ... -the-land/

[Hyrion]

Peters showed up to court literally waving a white flag

Even though it does say "literally" I thought the reference was metaphorical for speech.

He told Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Dewar it was a sign of peace, not surrender

ROFL - it wasn't a metaphor after all.

He was placed on daily house arrest and must perform 100 hours of community service work.

Sadly, while I believe the Judge was trying to show him leniency, I seriously doubt - given his other statements - that he'll abide by either the house arrest or the 100 hours of community service.

[Burnaby49]

Peters is in deeper trouble than a few drug charges;

Peters' legal troubles aren't over. He is set to stand trial next month on child pornography charges and again will be representing himself.

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/02/26/fr ... use-arrest

He's done one sensible thing, he's chosen trial by judge rather than a jury.

CR14-01-33286 QUEEN vs PETERS, SCOTT DAVID

2 21-Jan-2014 Winnipeg-QB PROVINCIAL COURT DISPOSITION DOCUMENTS BANS- YES, SOIRA APPLICATION- NO, ELECTION- JUDGE ALONE

[Burnaby49]

Peters is back in jail for violating his bail order. The Crown is now trying to terminate his conditional sentence and keep him in jail for the rest of his sentence. He's finally had enough sense kicked into his head to get a lawyer and keep his mouth shut.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... ice=mobile

[Jeffrey]

He was also found in possession of adult pornography. All of these were violations of an existing bail order Peters was placed on following a 2012 arrest on child pornography offences.

I'm not one to question the wisdom of the Canadian justice system, but surely consumption of adult pornography should be encouraged in this circumstance.

[Fmotlgroupie]

And he's out! http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 05501.html

A so-called Freeman on the Land is going to get another chance at freedom in the community.

Scott Peters, 45, was convicted earlier this year of running a marijuana grow operation following a bizarre, three-day jury trial. He was then given a 13-month conditional sentence in March which would allow him to remain free in the community.

But Winnipeg police arrested Peters just days later after executing a warrant at his Boyd Avenue home. Investigators found him engaging in online Skype chats through his computer which also contained data elimination software. He was also found in possession of adult pornography. All of these were violations of an existing bail order Peters was placed on following a 2012 arrest on child pornography offences. That case remains before the courts and he is presumed innocent.

The Crown moved to terminate Peters’ conditional sentence on the drug conviction, saying he violated it by "failing to keep the peace and be of good behaviour." They asked for the remainder of the penalty to be converted to real jail time.

But in a decision released Friday, Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Dewar decided to give Peters another chance. He declined to terminate the conditional sentence, ruling Peters can be released from custody next Friday to serve the duration of his penalty. Dewar believes the 10-weeks Peters will have spent behind bars have given him a proper "taste of the alternative" if he doesn’t comply in the future.

"I don’t consider Mr. Peters to be a danger to the public, although misguided in his views of the world," Dewar said Friday. He gave Peters credit for finally hiring legal representation rather than continue to act as his own lawyer like he did during his trial.

Truly an impressive effort by the judge to keep Peters out of jail - we can only hope he (Peters, not the judge) takes advantage of it and sticks to the straight and narrow for the next year.

[Burnaby49]

It's been a year and a half since the last posting in this discussion and Peters has finally been convicted of the child pornography charges (CR14-01-33286 QUEEN vs PETERS, SCOTT DAVID) and received an 85 day time served sentence, 3 years probation, and a 10 year Criminal Code, s 161 prohibition against employment or volunteering with an organization which will create a relationship with persons under the age of 16. Can't tell if that was a guilty plea or there was a trial - probably the former.