On Wednesday, 2010-02-03 Mike was released from jail on personal recognizance. The judge in the case finally looked at the motion filings at around noon on the same day, and order Mike’s release shortly thereafter.

After the usual bureaucratic snafus and paperwork shuffling, Mike was released around 18:00.

On 2010-02-01, activists and friends of Big Mike filed two motions in Manchester District Court in an attempt to have his $5000 cash bail converted to personal recognizance. One motion stated that Mike has identified himself and been processed completely by the jail, which was the stipulation the judge had placed on Mike’s case in order for him to be bailed. The other motion was a request by Mike for a jury trial.

Considering the run-around we had during the arraignment, and dealing with the jail over the past two weeks, this went surprisingly quickly. We arrived at the court around 08:15 and were done within an hour.

We expect that the motions will be taken up and ruled on today; if the judge grants the motion, Mike should be released immediately. Hopefully there will be no need for a hearing, as the motions provide everything the judge required in order to amend bail. We’ll post an update as soon as we find out if Mike has been released.

On Saturday, 2010-01-16, two activists, Mike “Big Mike” T. and Brian M., were arrested at a marijuana-legalization rally in Manchester. Mike refused to coöperate with the police, not even giving them his full name, so he was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail on Valley Street in Manchester to await an arraignment as a “John Doe” on Tuesday, 2010-01-19. Brian was bailed out on $500 cash bond shortly after his arrest.

Mike is charged with “assault” on a police officer for brushing up against one of the cops at the rally.

The arraignment took place at 08:00 and was attended by about two dozen activists and friends. As is typical in the court bureaucracy, no one could tell us precisely when the arraignment could take place, and we waited all morning for Mike’s arraignment in one courtroom, went to lunch, and then returned for the afternoon session only to find out Mike was arraigned as an “overflow” in a different courtroom—first thing when the court opened that morning.

Since Mike refused to identify himself, the judge, William H. Lyons, set his bail at $5000 cash, with the caveat that if Mike is identified by the jail and processed completely, he would be released on personal recognizance to await trial. Mike is currently sitting in Valley Street jail completely incommunicado with the outside world.

More coverage can be found at 420at420.org, a site set up to document the 420 rallies happening around New Hampshire.

After requesting two continuances, the State has finally submitted their brief in this case.

If the Right to Travel is an issue that you care about, and you’d like to submit an amicus brief, let us know. You can reach Ivy at ivy -@- nhclog·org, or the entire NH-CLOG staff at staff -@- nhclog·org.

Brad Jardis’ disciplinary hearing in front of the Epping selectmen took place on 2009-11-30 at 19:15. After a lengthy hearing where both sides got to present their stories, the selectmen voted to uphold Brad’s suspension by a 5–0 vote. However, Selectman Archambault then made a motion not to sustain the police department’s request to fire Brad, but instead to order him to a psychological evaluation. That motion passed, 3–1–1. The firing was never actually handled at the meeting, so Brad still currently serves as an Epping police officer.

More updates will be posted tomorrow. Video was taken by at least two activists, which will be added once it’s uploaded.

The arraignment for Rich Paul, an activist arrested twice at the daily 420 rallies in Keene for marijuana possession (RSA 318-B), took place on 2009-11-02 at 09:00 in Keene District Court.

Rich had been out on personal recognizance bail since his arrests on 2009-09-26 and 2009-10-17, and remains free.

The prosecution has lowered both charges to B misdemeanors, meaning Rich isn’t facing a jail sentence. However, Rich plans to refuse to pay any fines meted out, and per RSA 618:8, will thus be required to serve a jail sentence at the rate of $50/day. The reduction to a B misdemeanor also bars him from requesting a de novo trial in Superior Court in front of a jury, and from requesting a public defender to assist in his defense.

The trial for both charges is scheduled for 2010-02-24 at 10:00.

Eight to ten activists showed up at the arraignment. Thanks to Ian Freeman for providing us with most of the details in this report.

On 2009-10-23, Tyler & Eirene were both transferred to the Pinal County Jail in Florence, Arizona. Here is their current contact information:

Pinal County Jail
Timothy Whiteway 003191792
P.O. Box 2610
Florence, AZ 85132

Jennifer Whiteway 003290484
[same address]

You can use Mail-to-Jail to contact them once it’s updated. Note that Arizona only allows inmates to receive postcards (up to 5×7″), and not letters.

Thanks to Kevin C. for finding out the specific information for us. Until 2009-11-02, it was only known that they’d been extradited, but not specifically where to, or what their contact information is.

Tyler & Eirene’s extradition hearing was held on 2009-10-13 at 08:00 in Manchester District Court. Cassidy and I got there at 08:00 to observe, but the hearing didn’t start until after 10:00 (as usual, the last case being heard). Tyler & Eirene had separate public defenders. The Governor’s Warrant had been signed, and they’d both agreed to not fight extradition, so they were returned to custody pending the actual extradition.

The State of Arizona was given until 2009-10-26 at 23:00 to send their officials to New Hampshire; otherwise, a new hearing would take place on 2009-10-27. On 2009-10-23, the Arizona officials arrived and Tyler & Eirene Sanstail were extradited.

The arraignment for Bill Walker’s perjury case was held on 2009-10-08 at 09:00 at Belknap Superior Court. After the usual interminable wait in a court lobby, Bill met with a public defender, filed a not guilty plea (waiving arraignment in front of an actual judge), and was released on $5,000 personal-recognizance bail.

Being a Superior Court case, there are several upcoming court dates scheduled: A dispositional conference is scheduled on 2009-12-04 at 08:30, a final pre-trial conference on 2010-01-20 at 13:30, and jury selection for 2010-02-01 at 09:00. No actual trial date is scheduled yet. All of these court dates are in Belknap Superior Court.