PCU_//\_Free Assembly Project _____
St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
_//\________________________________an Association of Volunteers__/
29 July 2016 / :: PUBLIC INFO RELEASE :: /
DeMars Trial Set: Rapid City, August 4 —
— a constitutional defense on the ‘Spring Council’ waterline, leading into
the 2015 Rainbow Gathering in South Dakota… Val DeMars will go to trial
at the Federal court in Rapid City SD, on Thurs. August 4, 2016.
___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___
In the course of its customary harassment of early arrivals, USFS law enforcement landed two citations on Val DeMars going into the 2015 Rainbow Gathering in Black Hills National Forest — one for setting up a temporary waterline to serve the Spring Council encampment, and another for not obstructing a non-road, just for bad luck.
Many people suffer these police tactics targeting the gatherings every year, but this bust attacked the infrastucture of expressive assembly, and our ability to protect public health & safety…
It was time to put up a stout legal fight in defense.
(( For the full background story, analysis, & links to case documents,
(( see this prior Public Info post:::
(( “DeMars Defense in So.Dakota” (6/10/2016)
[]] Case Status Update__
After months of contentions on discovery and procedural delays since last Fall, the Defendant filed a pre-trial Motion to Dismiss on 5/25/2016 — strong and innovative in advancing a new “public authority” defense, and arguments on contributive speech, targeting 1st Amendment infrastucture, and unlawful delegation of authority to Incident Command. The ‘Amended Memorandum’ (Doc. 30) filed on 6/7 is definitive on the legal issues before the Court (a good scholarly read).
The intent of such a “pre-trial” motion is to get a pre-trial ruling: Putting forth core facts and legal arguments as grounds to dismiss the charges, it calls for a decision on the issues of law. If the motion is Granted, the charges are dropped, and trial is cancelled; if Denied, the Court should make such a ruling with enough time before trial for the defense to prepare, in response to its positions.
DeMars’ Motion was filed in a timely way, and cross-briefs were complete by 6/22, well before the scheduled trial date of 7/27. The Magistrate had ample time, but did NOT issue a timely decision: With barely more than a week to go, defense counsel made cautious inquiries, and trial was then re-set for 8/4, but the Court still has not ruled on the pre-trial motion — contrary to its procedural purpose.
So this case is going to trial… Val has to show up, and his lawyer has to be ready:
[]] U.S. v. DeMars Case 5:15-mj-00130-DW
Hon. Daneta Wollmann, U.S. Magistrate Judge
Thursday, August 4 2016 – 9:30 am-mt
U.S. District Court of South Dakota (Western Division)
Andrew W. Bogue Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
515 Ninth Street – Rapid City, SD 57701
Court Clerk: (605) 399-6000
This is an important case for civil liberties with new arguments on the table — on Emergency powers over expression, the health & safety of peaceful assembly, First Amendment infrastructure as protected speech, and the sanctity of ‘walking the talk’ in the public interest.
Concerned citizens are encouraged to attend and observe, able journalists and legal scholars should pay attention with these rights at stake. Moreover anyone who witnessed these June 2015 events and can get to Rapid City for the trial should contact Val’s attorney ASAP:
• Gary Colbath, Office of the Federal Defender: (605) 343-5110.
[]] For the whole story, go to this page on our website:
Rainbow 2015: Black Hills, South Dakota
The “DeMars Defense” section presents outline information, public posts & commentaries, and case documents made available for free viewing and download, identified by docket number — a valuable source for research & discussion in relevant forums.
Again, note that individual document links may change later, and further items will be added as the case unfolds — so use the ‘Rainbow 2105‘ page link to monitor developments in this case over the coming months, and feel free to share it with concerned stakeholders.
Earnest queries via private eMail are welcome.
Respects,
_scottie addison__
Coordinator
St Louis, MO