Dogwalker's Sentencing

[Demosthenes]

10/08/2008 NOTICE OF HEARING as to Daniel Riley: Competency Hearing set for 10/28/2008 10:00 AM before Chief Judge George Z. Singal. Sentencing set for 10/28/2008 11:30 AM before Chief Judge George Z. Singal in Concord, New Hampshire.(jar) (Entered: 10/08/2008)

[Judge Roy Bean]

The competency hearing should be the most interesting part of the whole affair.

[hartley]

The competency hearing should be the most interesting part of the whole affair.

Oh yes, I can see Dannyboy standing up and proclaiming that he is totally competent, it's just that everyone is out to get him, including his attorney.

Good times.

[Doktor Avalanche]

Place yer bets, place yer bets.

I'm giving 4:1 odds and placing the over-under at 7.

[Doktor Avalanche]

His competency hearing is going to be a lot like looking at the primates at the zoo. He will do a lot of shrieking, gibbering, flailing about and end up flinging poo at everyone.

Sounds like everyday at my brother-in-law's house.

[Arthur Rubin]

His competency hearing is going to be a lot like looking at the primates at the zoo. He will do a lot of shrieking, gibbering, flailing about and end up flinging poo at everyone.

Is that considered a sign of compentence? He has had a lot done to him, although most (appears to be) his fault.

[ErsatzAnatchist]

The competency hearing should be the most interesting part of the whole affair.

Oh yes, I can see Dannyboy standing up and proclaiming that he is totally competent, it's just that everyone is out to get him, including his attorney.

Good times.

To be fair, everyone is out to get him. For just cause perhaps, but they are out to get him.

Unlike Reno, Danny is truly beyond hope. Where Reno could have done something positive with regards to his sentencing, Danny cannot. A 30 Year Mandatory Minimum IIRC, plus truly damming charges he was convicted of.

Other than Joe Haas, I doubt any of the Free-Staters will show up to support him.

[Gregg]

Danny is so deep in the hole that if Charley Manson showed up as a character witness it would actually help.

[Judge Roy Bean]

Not to add strings to a Gordian knot, but let's take a contrarian view for a moment here.

Let's assume for a moment that professionals deem Danny a loon. Does that set some kind of precedent for others who harbor the same beliefs?

[TheSaint]

What's the point of a competency hearing 90 minutes before sentencing? Why would Dogwalker's competency, or lack thereof, matter now?

[notorial dissent]

In agreeing with Captain K, I will go out on a limb and say that maybe his getting mixed up in the Brown fiasco was perhaps fortuitous, in that as whacked out as I think the Dogwalker is, it is well within possibilities that at some later date or instance he would have actually done something really violent and dangerous and actually hurt someone as opposed to just making an absolute ass of himself and earning a long stay in the pokey, since he really has lost what little grip on reality he ever had.

[wserra]

What's the point of a competency hearing 90 minutes before sentencing? Why would Dogwalker's competency, or lack thereof, matter now?

If found incompetent, the sentencing would be adjourned, and Riley committed to the custody of the AG per 18 USC 4241(d). If competent, the sentencing goes forward.

[Joey Smith]

I thought that Dogwalker was dead? Wasn't he pelted with like 580 bullets from the ATF and then the Blackhawks hit him with missiles? Or did I miss something?

[webhick]

I thought that Dogwalker was dead? Wasn't he pelted with like 580 bullets from the ATF and then the Blackhawks hit him with missiles? Or did I miss something?

Yes. Four hundred gerbils on PCP entered his cell while he slept and tightly braided his pubic hair. In the morning, when he attempted to walk to the urinal, he experienced excruciating pain. His cellmate, upon realizing what happened, burst into an explosive fit of laughter thereby coating the cell with his insides.

Danny was found to be guilty of negligent homicide in a secret trial in a laundry room in Maine and was sentenced to three days in the dryer followed by four days of cleaning his cellmate out of his cell.

I really don't see how you didn't already know this and accept it as the absolute truth...I mean...it was on YOUTUBE, DUDE. That movie changed my life.

[Dezcad]

Dogwalker's attorney has filed a Motion to Withdraw, which states that the evaluation of DW resulted in a determination of competency of DW (see #3 below).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v. Cr. No. 07-189-01-GZS
DANIEL RILEY
MOTION TO WITHDRAW

NOW COMES Sven D. Wiberg, appointed counsel for defendant Daniel Riley, and
moves to withdraw as counsel.

As grounds for this motion, the following is stated:

1. The undersigned has previously moved to withdraw on various grounds, including,
inter alia, Mr. Riley’s repeated requests and explicit direction to do so. This Court has denied
those motions.

2. Counsel asks again to withdraw on the ground that the attorney-client relationship has
broken down irretrievably. Moreover, Mr. Riley will not meet or cooperate with the
undersigned.

3. Also, since an evaluation has determined (subsequent to this Court’s prior rulings on
withdrawal) that Mr. Riley is competent, counsel does not believe that he has the option of acting in his client’s best interests, but must obey his lawful requests and respect his wishes regarding any actions taken in this case, as long as such does not involve illegal or unethical action. Mr. Riley has explicitly and unequivocally directed the undersigned to do nothing on his behalf.

4. Counsel has attempted to obtain the assent of the Government, but has not yet gotten a
reply.

WHEREFORE, the undersigned asks this Court to allow him to withdraw.


Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Sven D. Wiberg
NH Bar No. 8238

Wiberg Law Office, PLLC2456 Lafayette Road, Suite 7Portsmouth, NH 03801

(603) 686-5454
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of this pleading will be served upon the Government and parties byECF filing on this 13th day of October, 2008.

/s/ Sven D. Wiberg

CERTIFICATE

I hereby certify that I attempted to contact counsel for the Government to obtain assent, but have not had a reply at this time.

/s/ Sven D. Wiberg

[.]

If there were such a thing as combat pay for public defenders, Wiberg would certainly seem to deserve it.

[TheSaint]

If found incompetent, the sentencing would be adjourned, and Riley committed to the custody of the AG per 18 USC 4241(d). If competent, the sentencing goes forward.

Thank you for your answer.

[fortinbras]

Actually, if found incompetent, the defendant would go to a psychiatric hospital -- one of those locked ward type places, where he would have even less rights than if he were a prison inmate. Perhaps the only upside is he wouldn't be made to work. Not a terribly appetizing alternative to regular prison.

[Bud Dickman]

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs ... 043/NEWS01

Plainfield

Doctors: Tax protester competent
Judge set to rule on psychiatric evaluation

By Margot Sanger-Katz Monitor staff
October 15, 2008

A man convicted of building bombs and bringing guns to holed-up tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown has been called capable of understanding the legal process in his case, a court document states.

Daniel Riley of Cohoes, N.Y., faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 30 years for his support of the couple, who evaded arrest in their well-fortified Plainfield home by stockpiling weapons and issuing threats against federal agents.

Riley had been scheduled for sentencing this summer, but the judge agreed to postpone the hearing after Riley's court filings, public outbursts and communications with his lawyer suggested that he might be too mentally ill to aid in his own defense.

The results of Riley's psychiatric evaluation have not been released publicly. But a motion filed this week by Riley's lawyer, Sven Wiberg, says that psychiatrists for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Riley is competent. Judge George Singal, who is overseeing the case, will make a final determination about Riley's competency after a hearing scheduled for later this month. If Singal finds him to be competent, he may be sentenced on the same day.

"An evaluation has determined . . . that Mr. Riley is competent," says the motion, written by Wiberg. The motion asks the judge to allow Wiberg to withdraw as Riley's lawyer, given the outcome of the evaluation and Riley's repeated requests to fire him.
Wiberg asked the judge to order the evaluation after Riley cut off all contact and began filing his own court papers that Wiberg described as "perhaps delusional." Wiberg has argued that Riley believes there is an alternative, secret legal process that he can unlock by filing certain documents or demanding certain legal rights. Riley's belief in the secret system, Wiberg said, makes it impossible for him to participate meaningfully in his case.

Riley was attracted to the Browns because they shared some of his unorthodox legal and political views, particularly their claim that there is no legitimate legal basis for the federal income tax. But Wiberg told the court last year that he believed Riley was competent to stand trial for five federal felonies. After Riley's conviction, Wiberg said that his view of his client's mental state had changed.

In court hearings this summer, Riley expressed new views, including a claim that Singal is a "chancellor disguised as a judge," a "Satanist," and "friend of international bankers." He contended that his criminal case can be resolved using bonds and securities. In written pleadings, he argued that Wiberg is an employee of the Treasury Department, not his attorney.

In a hearing, Singal appeared skeptical that Riley had a mental illness, but he ordered the evaluation, he wrote, in an effort to be "scrupulous."

Singal has not yet ruled on Wiberg's request, so it is unclear whether Riley will represent himself during his competency hearing.

Riley was tried alongside three other Brown supporters, who spent time living with the couple during their nearly nine-month standoff. All four were convicted of crimes for helping the Browns. Riley will be the last to receive a sentence and faces the stiffest penalties.

Riley was found guilty of conspiracy, of accessory after the fact, and of using weapons and destructive devices to prolong the standoff. Witnesses at trial said that Riley purchased several guns that were later found on the property, including a .50 caliber sniper rifle. Riley also ordered materials to construct exploding rifle targets found hanging from trees around the property and built booby trap "spring guns," witnesses said. The destructive device charge alone carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison, to be served consecutively with any additional sentences.

The Browns were ultimately arrested in October 2007 by an undercover team of U.S. marshals posing as supporters. They are serving 63-month prison sentences for tax-related crimes. They have not been charged with any crimes in connection with the standoff.

[LPC]

A man convicted of building bombs and bringing guns to holed-up tax protesters Ed and Elaine Brown has been called capable of understanding the legal process in his case, a court document states.

"Capable" of understanding does not mean he actually understands, because there is also free will to contend with.

Is there such a thing as "willful blindness" when it comes to competence to understand legal process?