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.