Ed and Elaine Brown's latest delusion

[hartley]

On the Olympia Peninsula in the state of Washington, there is a town called Humptulips which sounds like humptwolips.......

And let us not forget Coalinga (in CA) which got its name from the fact that it was originally Coaling Station A, or Coaling A.

Ooh, fun with small town names!

Here in Tennessee, there is a town named Hangin' Limb.

According to locals, it's named after a large tree with a low-hanging branch, not after anything remotely to do with a form of capital punishment.

And yes, it is correctly spelled with no ending "g."[/i]

[webhick]

Spotted this today while reading about Rumford Energy Closing:
http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /704140315

Plainfield

One judge enough in Brown case
Tax resisters' attempt to order dismissal fails

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
April 14. 2007 9:31AM

The couple formerly known as Ed and Elaine Brown are not judges and do not have the authority to dismiss their own criminal case, according to Judge Steven McAuliffe, who oversaw their trial and will decide their sentences later this month.

The Browns, of Plainfield, recently ordered the clerk to close their case, citing themselves as "the court" and "judge." They signed their filings using the names they have recently adopted: Edward, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel, and Elaine, a Living Soul in the Body of the Lord, of the House of Israel.

McAuliffe's order rejected the filings, ordering them "stricken as frivolous, misleading, and not relevant to any matter in issue." The couple is scheduled for sentencing April 24.

McAuliffe has not yet ruled on the Browns' request for free copies of their trial transcript, but the government has objected to the couple's claims they are indigent, pointing to Ed Brown's statements to the Monitor, among other evidence, to assert that the couple has assets that they did not include in financial affidavits filed with the court.

In Elaine Brown's request for free transcripts, she said that her income was limited to her Social Security checks. An attached financial affidavit said she had only $3,000 cash on hand, according to the government's objection. The Browns wrote, in documents addressed to the "sham court" that they wanted the transcripts "for the purpose of trying to understand the legitimacy/jurisdiction of the fiction's actions."
---ADVERTISEMENT---

In another document filed this week, Elaine Brown fired the federal public defender who was acting as her standby counsel.

The Browns have been convicted of conspiring to defraud the federal government, conspiring to disguise large financial transactions and disguising financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements. Elaine Brown, whose Lebanon dental practice generated the couple's income, was also convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion and failing to withhold employment taxes.

The Browns contend that the federal government has no jurisdiction over them and that there is no law compelling ordinary Americans to pay federal income taxes.

Ed Brown stopped attending the couple's January jury trial, opting to hole up in their fortified hilltop home. He has warned repeatedly that any attempt to arrest him may result in a violent confrontation. Elaine Brown attended the duration of the trial and was released on bail into the custody of a son who lives in Massachusetts. She violated the bail conditions and joined her husband in February.

Stephen Monier, the U.S. marshal for New Hampshire, who is charged with arresting the couple on bench warrants, said yesterday that his office continues to communicate with the couple and has no plans to raid the Browns' home.

"We're still talking with them regularly and encouraging them to do the right thing, which is turn themselves in," he said.

The Browns changed their names in late March after converting to a non denominational form of Christianity they learned from a man named Sonny. According to friends of the Browns, Sonny, who wears a long beard, all-white attire and sandals, flew from Hawaii to New Hampshire to visit the Browns and shared his religious and legal teachings over several days. The couple has spoken extensively about their new religious beliefs, and their bearing on the case, in internet radio interviews.

In a phone interview last week, Ed Brown refused to answer detailed questions about his new name or beliefs, but he anticipated that the court would not understand his filings.

"You couldn't possibly understand it," he said. "The court barely knows what it is."

------ End of article

By MARGOT SANGER-KATZ

Monitor staff

[notorial dissent]

Mahvelous, we now not only have the bible, but the constitution as revealed and brought forth by Sonny, can I withstand the exhultation!!!!!!!!!!!

[grixit]

That quote is much older than Krushchev. What i believe you were thinking of is the quote attributed to Lenin: "in the end the capitalists will sell us the rope we need to hang them".

[Weathervane]

That quote is much older than Krushchev. What i believe you were thinking of is the quote attributed to Lenin: "in the end the capitalists will sell us the rope we need to hang them".

That's right, it was Kruhschev who told Eisenhower "You will sell us shovels we need to bury you".

[Cobalt Shiva]

Judge Roy can also probably name the suburbs of DIME BOX.

Dimebox was the capital of Texas in The Texas-Israeli War, AD 1999.

[Demosthenes]

Federal judge rejects couple's filings in tax-evasion case
By KRISTEN SENZ
Union Leader Correspondent
9 hours, 34 minutes ago


A federal judge has rejected filings by Plainfield residents Ed and Elaine Brown, calling them "frivolous, misleading and not relevant to any matter in issue," according to court documents.

The Browns were both convicted in January on multiple tax evasion charges stemming from their decision in 1996 to stop paying federal income tax. They contend there is no law that authorizes the government to tax the wages of American citizens. The couple is scheduled for sentencing next Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Concord.

Earlier this month, the Browns both filed "what purports to be an order of this court setting aside the guilty verdicts returned by the jury and dismissing this criminal prosecution," Judge Steven McAuliffe wrote in an April 10 order that struck the Browns' filings from their court record, making the text of the original orders unavailable.

On Wednesday, McAuliffe granted a request from Elaine Brown's standby attorney to withdraw from the case.

Public Defender Bjorn Lange wrote that grounds for her dismissal as standby counsel for Elaine Brown appeared in an April 2 letter from Brown, which states that Lange's "services as stand-by attorney are no longer required, and are thus terminated as of this date," according to court records.

Lange said the prosecution's position on the matter is irrelevant because Brown has the right to represent herself.

The Browns filed an appeal after their Jan. 18 conviction, but McAuliffe rejected it, saying it was premature to file an appeal prior to sentencing, court records state. Elaine Brown has since indicated in court filings that she plans to appeal her convictions in the First Curcuit Court of Appeals following sentencing hearing.

The government has agreed not to seize or sell the Browns' home, which they built, until after the sentencing, according to court documents.

Elaine Brown was found guilty on 17 felony counts of defrauding the government, failing to withhold taxes from employees at her West Lebanon dental practice, and structuring payments to avoid taxation. Ed Brown, who stopped going to court midway through the trial, was convicted on five similar felony counts.

Since the trial, Ed Brown has been holed up in his Plainfield home, surrounded by friends and supporters.

Despite a court order that she remain in the custody of her son in Massachusetts, Elaine Brown has joined her husband in Plainfield.

Ed Brown has said he has no intention of attending the sentencing hearing next week, and U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier has indicated that the Browns will not be forced to attend.

[LPC]

A federal judge has rejected filings by Plainfield residents Ed and Elaine Brown, calling them "frivolous, misleading and not relevant to any matter in issue,"

And those were the good parts of the filings.

On Wednesday, McAuliffe granted a request from Elaine Brown's standby attorney to withdraw from the case.

I think that the judge just got himself a friend for life.

[.]

McAuliffe granted a request from Elaine Brown's standby attorney to withdraw from the case.

What took so long? Or, perhaps better put, better late than never.

[Weathervane]

Federal judge rejects couple's filings in tax-evasion case
By KRISTEN SENZ
Union Leader Correspondent
9 hours, 34 minutes ago


Ed Brown has said he has no intention of attending the sentencing hearing next week, and U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier has indicated that the Browns will not be forced to attend.

Hmmm...Do you think Monier will give them the same courtesy regarding the court order that results from the sentencing hearing?

[ErsatzAnatchist]

I am guessing not.

You have agents close in on the compound around 2 AM. You distract the Browns by have 2 A-10s fully loaded with nape and snakes blowing up stuff as a distractions. And while distracted (and shared sh*tless) agents swoop in to take them to the "quiet rooms."

Okay, maybe using 2 A-10s is over the top.......

You only need one A-10. The cannon on that thing should generate plenty of distraction.

The U.S. Marshal should just cut off the cable access for the Browns. Ed will get bored without his cartoon channel and surrender.

[Cobalt Shiva]

You only need one A-10. The cannon on that thing should generate plenty of distraction.

There's even a song that mentions it

I Wish I Had a Gun Just Like the A-10

by Dos Gringos

Oh, I wish I had a gun just like the A-10
I'd be happy as a baby in a playpen
I'd mow 'em down like a weedeater
With that thirty millimeter
I wish I had a gun just like the A-10

Oh, I wish I had 8 AMRAAMs just like the Eagle
I'd be havin' so much fun it'd be illegal
Like a guy who ain't been laid for months
I'd shoot those f---ers all at once
I wish I had 8 AMRAAMs like the Eagle

Oh, I wish I had the gas just like a Mudhen
To hang around that long is just a sin
And while you RTB and scoff
I'd be doing loops and j---ing off
I wish I had the gas just like the Mudhen

Oh, I wish I had the alpha of a Hornet
Livin' to fly slow while others scorn it
And while could still pitch and roll
That other guy's going out of control
I wish I had the alpha of a Hornet

(Spoken interlude)
Y'know, all those things are nice
But when you come right down to it
You just can't escape the fact
And that's this here

Yeah all you f---ers wish you flew the Viper
Probably since the time you wore a diaper
We got every mission that you do
And we fly 'em all better 'n you!
Yeah all you f---ers wish you flew the Viper
'Cause we're single seat, multirole
We can fly right up our own a--hole
Yeah all you f---ers wi-i-i-i-ish . . .
You flew the Viper

[Demosthenes]

04/18/2007 165 ORDER denying without prejudice 156 Motion for Transcript at Government Expense as to Elaine A. Brown (1); denying without prejudice [159] Motion for Transcript at Government Expense as to Edward Lewis Brown (2). So Ordered by Judge Steven J. McAuliffe. (jab, ) (Entered: 04/19/2007)

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown165.pdf

04/18/2007 166 ORDER as to Elaine A. Brown, Edward Lewis Brown re 154 State of New Hampshire's Petition for Ancillary Proceedings. Notice of Compliance Deadline set for 4/23/2007. So Ordered by Judge Steven J. McAuliffe. (jab, ) (Entered: 04/19/2007)

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown166.pdf

[Dezcad]

04/18/2007 165 ORDER denying without prejudice 156 Motion for Transcript at Government Expense as to Elaine A. Brown (1); denying without prejudice [159] Motion for Transcript at Government Expense as to Edward Lewis Brown (2). So Ordered by Judge Steven J. McAuliffe. (jab, ) (Entered: 04/19/2007)

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown165.pdf

I thoroughly enjoyed Footnote #1. Perhaps Ed and Elaine just have free time now and want to read the trial transcript, especially since Mr. Ed missed out on the trial.

After they miss the sentencing hearing, they'll need a "free" transcript of that too, I'm sure.

[LPC]

04/18/2007 165 ORDER denying without prejudice 156 Motion for Transcript at Government Expense as to Elaine A. Brown (1); denying without prejudice [159] Motion for Transcript at Government Expense as to Edward Lewis Brown (2). So Ordered by Judge Steven J. McAuliffe. (jab, ) (Entered: 04/19/2007)

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown165.pdf

I thoroughly enjoyed Footnote #1. Perhaps Ed and Elaine just have free time now and want to read the trial transcript, especially since Mr. Ed missed out on the trial.

After they miss the sentencing hearing, they'll need a "free" transcript of that too, I'm sure.

My favorite part is the judge's notice of the Internet babble by the Browns. In explaining why Elaine's financial statements are "facially incomplete," the judge notes that there was evidence at trial that Elaine owned real property, that there is no mention of the property in the financial statements, and that Elaine:

has joined with her husband in publically placing a value on the commercial building at one million dollars (in connection with an Internet offer they made to give the commercial building to anyone who could persuade them that their income is subject to taxation under federal income tax laws).

(I don't know where the judge's spell checker found the word ""publically" but it appears in at least three places in the order.)

[LPC]

04/18/2007 166 ORDER as to Elaine A. Brown, Edward Lewis Brown re 154 State of New Hampshire's Petition for Ancillary Proceedings. Notice of Compliance Deadline set for 4/23/2007. So Ordered by Judge Steven J. McAuliffe. (jab, ) (Entered: 04/19/2007)

http://www.cheatingfrenzy.com/brown166.pdf

New Hampshire is apparently claiming about $350,000 in unpaid business taxes (with interest and penalties).

Ouch. And the court has entered forfeiture orders, but the IRS has not assessed any deficiencies for income taxes and self-employment taxes that Elaine may owe.

By the time this is over, the Browns will be lucky if they still have a pot to piss in.

[Demosthenes]

By the time this is over, the Browns will be lucky if they still have a pot to piss in.

Three hots, a cot, and a pot to piss in. Catchy.

[Dezcad]

If anyone is interested in a 1994 interview with Ed Brown for the Concord Monitor, it is here:

http://www.unionleader.com/pda-article. ... 22d450aee1

"Brown, who says he is an agnostic, admits it's easy to dismiss him as a nut."

Clearly, he is no longer one of those two - agnostic or a nut. But I'm sure you can figure out which one on your own.

[Imalawman]

Welcome to Quatloos, Dezcad.

[Demosthenes]

Tax Protester Cited by Browns Now Says He'd Simply Pay Up
By Peter Jamison
Valley News Staff Writer

Like Plainfield's Ed and Elaine Brown, Pennsylvania resident Larken Rose believed so strongly he wasn't required to pay income taxes that he was willing to battle the federal government in court.

Unlike the Browns, Rose -- who in January finished serving his prison sentence for failing to file tax returns -- no longer thinks the battle was worth it.

In a telephone interview last week from his home in Hollywood, Pa., Rose -- an outspoken critic of the IRS whose video, Theft by Deception, Elaine Brown presented as evidence during her trial -- said he hasn't renounced his theories on the income tax and would still have spoken out about those views. But if he had it to do over again, Rose said, he wouldn't have put his ideas into practice.

He said the disruption to his family's life caused by his prosecution, conviction, and prison term has simply been too great. “I probably would have filed incorrect returns, pretending my income was taxable even though I know it's not,” Rose said. “For the exact same reason that if I lived in a city where the mafia came by and smashed people's kneecaps, I’d give them money, because I like my kneecaps. That’s despicable, but in this country, that’s the only way to stay out of trouble.”

A jury convicted the Browns on Jan. 18 on charges springing from their decision not to pay federal taxes on about $1.9 million in income since 1996. They are scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday. In a memorandum filed yesterday, government prosecutors suggest prison terms of between four and six years. The Browns have argued throughout and after their trial that there is no law requiring American citizens to pay federal income tax.

Ed Brown has stayed holed up in his Plainfield home since he quit attending the couple's trial on Jan. 12. Elaine Brown, who had been ordered after her conviction to remain with a son in Worcester, Mass., broke her bail conditions when she rejoined her husband in February at the house on Center of Town Road. Arrest warrants have been issued for both husband and wife.

U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier, who has repeatedly said he doesn't want to force a violent confrontation with Brown, was out of the office last week and could not be reached. However, an official in the marshals' office said federal authorities “still have open lines of communication” with the Browns.

It is unclear whether the Browns intend to come to their sentencing hearing. On April 4, the Browns filed a demand for free transcripts of their trial before the hearing date. (See accompanying story.)

Reached by telephone at his home last week, Ed Brown declined to comment on the couple's plans.

“We're not talking to anybody,” Brown said. “The news doesn't exist, the government doesn't exist, all of you don’t exist.”

Rose, who stood trial on considerably less serious charges than the Browns -- willfully failing to file tax returns is a misdemeanor, while Ed and Elaine Brown have been convicted on felony charges -- said he sympathized with the Browns' decision to have no truck with the legal system.

“I obviously didn't go the route Mr. Brown went, but I can certainly understand why he has no faith in the system granting justice, because it didn't in my case,” Rose said.

Rose said he was disillusioned after seeing a jury of his peers so ready to believe the arguments of government prosecutors. “Basically, I regret having put my freedom in the hands of the American public, because they're utterly clueless and not deserving of the freedom they still have,” Rose said.

Rose's own argument is that tax laws don't define the income of American citizens working within the United States as taxable. He said he doesn't hold with many of the beliefs of others who decry the income tax, such as the idea that wages don't constitute income.

But Rose said he was prevented from presenting his views as evidence in court. As a result, he said, the jury only heard the government's side of the story before sentencing him to 15 months in prison. (Rose said he was in prison for just over a year before his release.)

The complaint echoes many voiced by Ed and Elaine Brown, who have said that they weren't allowed to give a full account of their anti-tax views in Judge Steven McAuliffe's court and that the judge misdirected the jury when he told them that the constitutionality of the IRS code was not on trial.

Yet outside legal observers have stated that McAuliffe gave the Browns unusual leeway in explaining their belief that there is no law making them liable for income taxes. For example, McAuliffe rejected the argument of U.S. prosecutors that the couple shouldn't be allowed to present their theories at all, since they might confuse the jury.

“I think the judge went considerably farther than he had to,” said Michael Mello, a criminal justice professor at Vermont Law School who has followed the Brown case. “I don't think he was required to let in any evidence about why they believed they weren't required to pay their taxes. That’s not something that the government had to prove as an intent element.”

According to McAuliffe's jury instructions in the case, the argument that the Browns honestly misunderstood federal tax laws would have been a valid defense. That they understood what the law required but chose not to comply -- for whatever reason -- was not.

Part of the government's case against the Browns was to show that IRS officials repeatedly warned the couple that their reading of the law was incorrect. “It's really a matter of notice,” Mello said. “Once you're on actual notice that your legalistic contentions lack merit, you can’t continue to stand on them. I mean, you can, of course, but when you do, you have to pay a penalty.”

Mello, a former public defender in capital murder trials, said criminal defense strategies often founder on a defendant's sincere belief that a law is unjust or does not apply in certain cases. He cited the beliefs of one of his own former clients -- a Florida anti-abortion activist named Paul Hill, who was tried, sentenced and eventually executed for his 1994 killing of a doctor who performed abortions.

Mello said such beliefs often come into play, if at all, in the sentencing phase of a trial. Once guilt has been established, he said, motive can be an important factor in deciding the severity of a defendant's punishment.

History also furnishes examples of those who break the law for ideas that are ultimately vindicated -- such as anti-slavery activists in the 19th century and civil rights leaders in the 20th. But the power of their acts, Mello said, derives in no small measure from the fact that they recognize the law, however unjust they believe it to be, and understand the consequences of breaking it. “When the law says you can't do something and you go ahead and do it anyway as protest, part of what makes that protest legitimate, it seems to me, is the willingness to be punished for it,” Mello said.

Rose, the tax protester, said he had his doubts about whether his own imprisonment had upped his credibility in the eyes of the public. He said sales of his book and video have stayed about level throughout the ordeal. He doubts he benefited from any “martyr” effect.

“Different people react differently,” he said. “Some people think, ‘If you've been to prison, I'm not listening to you.’ Other people think, ‘If you believed in this enough to take it seriously, I'll believe you.’ All in all, it probably has a net-zero effect.”