The Brown criminal trial

[Demosthenes]

Jury selection starts tomorrow, and I'm dusting off the redcrayons.net blog for the big event.

The entire court docket (with links) can now be found here:

http://www.redcrayons.net/browndocket09.htm

[webhick]

If you plan on coming up, please mind the race schedule. Also, traffic heading out of the Concord area is not pretty on the Monday after a race weekend.

[Gregg]

hmm, I'm currently in residence at the Well Armed Bunker Complex, East, in Gettysburg, so I'm about halfway there already...I might pack up the big Lincoln and road trip!

[Demosthenes]

Jury for Browns' trial to be selected
Plainfield couple face 11 felonies

By Margot Sanger-Katz
Monitor staff
June 29, 2009 - 7:01 am

For nearly nine months, Ed and Elaine Brown holed up in their fortified concrete Plainfield home, surrounded by supporters and supplies, and railed against the federal government.

They threatened law enforcement officials and accumulated weapons and bombs. They spoke frequently with news reporters and nearly daily on a radio show about an apocalyptic confrontation and possible revenge killings.

But the Browns were arrested bloodlessly by an undercover team of U.S. marshals who won their trust and brought them pizza.

The rest of the story:

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs ... /906290303

[Demosthenes]

If you plan on coming up, please mind the race schedule. Also, traffic heading out of the Concord area is not pretty on the Monday after a race weekend.

Hoy carp! I didn't know there were that many racing events in the entire country.

Let me know if you're free for dinner later this week. Same with others in the NH area.

[webhick]

If you plan on coming up, please mind the race schedule. Also, traffic heading out of the Concord area is not pretty on the Monday after a race weekend.

Hoy carp! I didn't know there were that many racing events in the entire country.

Let me know if you're free for dinner later this week. Same with others in the NH area.

Most of those are smaller events, but they still cause a headache with traffic. We just finished a big NASCAR one this weekend (notice all the campers) and the next one doesn't look like it's until September.

[webhick]

hmm, I'm currently in residence at the Well Armed Bunker Complex, East, in Gettysburg, so I'm about halfway there already...I might pack up the big Lincoln and road trip!

I'll alert the state troopers.

[ErsatzAnatchist]

hmm, I'm currently in residence at the Well Armed Bunker Complex, East, in Gettysburg, so I'm about halfway there already...I might pack up the big Lincoln and road trip!

I'll alert the state troopers.

"The trunk of the car looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls . . . Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon."

- Hunter S. Thompson

[Demosthenes]

Hmmmm.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
V.
ELAINE BROWN
No. 09-Cr-30-02-GZS


DEFENDANT ELAINE BROWN’S PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS

Defendant Elaine Brown through counsel respectfully requests that the Court include the following in its charge to the jury. She reserves the right to propose additional instructions as may be warranted by the Court’s rulings during the course of trial and by the evidence.

The government bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt each of the material elements of the offenses alleged in Counts One, Two, Four, Six, Eight, and Eleven. You must consider each count separately. If the evidence does not prove one or more elements of an offense alleged against Elaine Brown, you can cease deliberating on that count. You must return a verdict of not guilty on any count about which you conclude that one or more elements has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

For each offense for which you find that each of the material elements has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, you must consider whether the preponderance of the evidence shows that the conduct alleged in that count was justified. If you re satisfied that the preponderance of the evidence shows each of the following four circumstances:

1. During the time period alleged in the count Elaine Brown was under an unlawful and present threat of death or serious bodily injury;

2. She did not recklessly place herself in a position where she would be forced to engage in criminal conduct;

3. She had no reasonable legal alternative to both the criminal act and the avoidance of the threatened harm, and

4. There is a direct causal relationship between the criminal action and the avoidance of the threatened harm.

Then you shall return a verdict of not guilty as to that count.

Respectfully submitted,
ELAINE BROWN
By Her Attorney,
Date: June 29, 2009 /s/ Bjorn Lange

[Demosthenes]

Jury Chosen For Brown Weapons, Conspiracy Trial
Couple Faces 11 Charges In Connection With Standoff

CONCORD, N.H. -- A jury has been selected for the latest trial involving Ed and Elaine Brown.

The Browns, who were convicted of tax evasion in January 2007, face 11 charges relating to a standoff that began during the trial. The charges include conspiracy to prevent officers from doing their duty, being a felon in possession of a weapon, obstruction of justice and failure to appear for sentencing.

The government alleges that the Browns took shelter in their Plainfield home and refused to surrender.

The Browns, who represented themselves at the tax trial, contended no law authorizes the federal income tax and that the 1913 constitutional amendment permitting it was never properly ratified.

Court paperwork described the home as a fortress stocked with an array of anti-personnel mines, thousands of rounds of ammunition and body armor.

In a letter sent to WMUR, Ed Brown said he and his wife would not attend Monday's jury selection or any of the proceedings afterward. Brown sent the letter after a federal judge denied News 9's request to interview the couple. Brown said that decision was unconstitutional.

Both were in attendance Monday.

Judge George Singal began by asking a pool of 186 potential jurors if they knew the Browns or knew anyone with a personal relationship with the Browns. The jury was chosen early Monday afternoon.

Opening statements in the case are scheduled for Tuesday.

[Imalawman]

Both were in attendance Monday.

Judge George Singal began by asking a pool of 186 potential jurors if they knew the Browns or knew anyone with a personal relationship with the Browns. The jury was chosen early Monday afternoon.

Opening statements in the case are scheduled for Tuesday.

I wonder how long that is going to last?

[LPC]

you [the jury] must consider whether the preponderance of the evidence shows that the conduct alleged in that count was justified. If you re satisfied that the preponderance of the evidence shows each of the following four circumstances:

1. During the time period alleged in the count Elaine Brown was under an unlawful and present threat of death or serious bodily injury;

If only Monier hadn't insisted on chanting "Burn, baby, burn!" in television interviews.

Seriously, what "unlawful" threat ever existed? The *only* evidence of any action by the U.S. Marshals was the capture and release of Danny Riley.

2. She did not recklessly place herself in a position where she would be forced to engage in criminal conduct;

Violating your promise to stay away from Ed, and failing to appear for sentencing following your conviction, seem "reckless" enough.

3. She had no reasonable legal alternative to both the criminal act and the avoidance of the threatened harm, and

Elaine could have surrendered, which was both (a) reasonable and (b) legal.

And I'm quite sure that Monier will testify that Ed and Elaine could have dictated the terms of their surrender in terms of time and place, as well as witnesses.

4. There is a direct causal relationship between the criminal action and the avoidance of the threatened harm.

If there was "threatened harm," then there *might* be a causal connection between that harm and building bombs and accumulating weapons.

So it looks like Elaine might be 1-for-4 at best, and is most likely 0-for-4 on the elements for "justification."

Question: Is a judge required to give an instruction when there is no evidenced introduced that could possibly be used to support the instruction?

[Dr. Caligari]

Question: Is a judge required to give an instruction when there is no evidenced introduced that could possibly be used to support the instruction?

Short answer: no.

The Court is required to instruct on any theory of the defense that has "any support" in the evidence, but not on a theory that has no support in the evidence.

[LPC]

The Court is required to instruct on any theory of the defense that has "any support" in the evidence, but not on a theory that has no support in the evidence.

<Don Adams>As I thought.<Don Adams>

[Judge Roy Bean]

The Court is required to instruct on any theory of the defense that has "any support" in the evidence, but not on a theory that has no support in the evidence.

Welcome to the Devil's playground and the ultimate avenue to appeal.

The "unlawful threat" allegedly exists in the minds of the defendants in this case. Be prepared for apocalyptic depictions of how their fear drove them to accept assistance from disparate and previously unknown people who offered technical and quasi-professional expertise for their defense.

Not to be redundant, but the past exploits of the "ebil guvment" will always come back to haunt prosecutors. Sorry, but that comes with the job.

[wserra]

The "unlawful threat" allegedly exists in the minds of the defendants in this case.

But there exists no admissible way to get that threat before the jury without testifying.

[The Observer]

The "unlawful threat" allegedly exists in the minds of the defendants in this case.

But there exists no admissible way to get that threat before the jury without testifying.

How about with a wooden rabbit? Or a wooden badger?

[Judge Roy Bean]

The "unlawful threat" allegedly exists in the minds of the defendants in this case.

But there exists no admissible way to get that threat before the jury without testifying.

Something tells me some of the people on the defense witness list will be asked to recount what they heard the defendants say about their fears.

[Demosthenes]

Greetings from New Hampshire.

[webhick]

Greetings from New Hampshire.

I see you brought the sun with you.