{"article":{"id":13058,"heading":"MAY DAY ARRESTEE GETS 3 YEARS","author":"mayday","created":"2001-11-22 15:05:52","modified":"2013-11-10 23:43:08","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:43:08","article":"<p>On Thursday November 15th Robert Middaugn was scheduled to begin his <br>  <br>  trial stemming from his arrest at the Reclaim the Streets demo in Long <br>  <br>  Beach on May 1st.  Robert had been in Jail since May 1st and was charged <br>  <br>  with Felony assault against a peace officer (pig), Felony riot, Felony <br>  <br>  conspiracy, Felony resisting arrest, and misdemeanor failure to disperse. <br>  <br>   At the time of his arrest on May 1st Ruckus was on formal probation <br>  <br>  stemming from pleading guilty to assault against a pig at the Democratic <br>  <br>  National Convention. When we appeared in court the morning of November <br>  <br>  15th there were 4 pigs sitting in the courtroom in the jury chairs.  We <br>  <br>  soon learned that these pigs were there to testify against Ruckus for his <br>  <br>  parole violation hearing.  Yes, the pig court was going to have Robert&rsquo;s <br>  <br>  probation violation hearing before his trial; in reality you are guilty <br>  <br>  until proven innocent in the American injustice system. The prosecution <br>  <br>  put the &lsquo;deal&rsquo; of offering Ruckus3 years in State Prison and 3 years <br>  <br>  formal probation upon release.  In order to coerce Ruckus into taking the <br>  <br>  plea the judge informed Ruckus that he would be facing 4 years just for <br>  <br>  his probation violation not to mention a possible 13 more if found guilty <br>  <br>  of the other charges.  Ruckus was threatened with 17 years in prison.  <br>  <br>  After discussing the situation with his attorney Ruckus decided to take <br>  <br>  the 3 years in prison.  As Ruckus was being led away in shackles he <br>  <br>  raised his fist to the approx 15 people there in court to support him, <br>  <br>  and we raised our fists back and proceeded to leave the courtroom after <br>  <br>  letting the judge, bailiffs, and police know what we thought of them. <br>  <br>  Roberts lawyer has informed us that Rob will not be transferred to state <br>  <br>  prison for at least a few weeks.  Please write to him at his current <br>  <br>  address. <br><br> Robert Middaugn <br>  <br> #6859467 <br>  <br> P.O. Box 86164 <br>  <br> Terminal Annex <br>  <br> Los Angeles CA, 90086-164 <br><br>  <br>  <br> Misdemeanor Trials Begin For May Day Arrestees <br><br>  On November 15, nine people who had not yet pleaded out were scheduled to <br>  <br>  begin trial in Division 9 at the Long Beach Municipal Court House.  Of <br>  <br>  these 9, four people chose to plead out leaving 5 people left still going <br>  <br>  to trial.  Those who plead out on that day received 1 year of probation, <br>  <br>  a $135 fine, and some received 30 days of community service. After all <br>  <br>  the pleas were taken, trial began for three defendants after lunch break <br>  <br>  on November 15th.  The trial began with two motions made by the defense.  <br>  <br>  The first motion was to dismiss the illegal assembly charges based on the <br>  <br>  fact that the superior court of Los Angeles had recently ruled that Long <br>  <br>  Beaches permitting process for protest demonstrations was <br>  <br>  unconstitutional.  The second motion was stated that the Long Beach <br>  <br>  Police department had engaged in entrapment, and thus the charges were <br>  <br>  not legitimate. <br>  <br> Needless to say, both of these motions were denied in court on Friday <br>  <br> November 16th. Jury selection will take place on Monday November 19th and <br>  <br> will most likely last two to three days.  Opening statements should take <br>  <br> place approximately by Wednesday. Please, if you live in the southern <br>  <br> California area, come out to this court case and support our comrades who <br>  <br> are going thru trial.  <br><br> Court begins around 9am on the third floor of the Long Beach Municipal <br>  <br> Court House in Division 9. <br><br> To be added to an e-mail updates list for the upcoming trials please send <br>  <br> a message to:   <a href=\"mailto:Lbmaydayfund@disinfo.net\" rel=\"nofollow\">Lbmaydayfund@disinfo.net<\/a><\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Anarchist Robert (Ruckus) Middaugn\r\nSentenced to 3 years in State Prison:","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2001\/11\/13058.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":13067,"heading":"while cops kill and lie","article":"no joke,cops kill, plant guns, pimp (your?)women,\r\nsend you off to prison for crimes you didnt commit,\r\ncant no judge tell me they dont,and if they dont like\r\nrevolution,theyre that same bullshit!FUCK THE SYSTEM!","author":"unknown","parent_id":13058,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-11-22 23:10:58","modified":"2001-11-22 23:33:02","fileurl":""}]}