Victims of the Drug War Are Forced to Resort to Bizarre Legal Defenses Víctimas de la Guerra de Drogas se ven obligados a recurrir a defensas Bizarre Legal
By Por Kevin Carey Kevin Carey | On November 16, 2005, Willie “Bo” Mitchell and three co-defendants — Shelton “Little Rock” Harris, Shelly “Wayne” Martin, and Shawn Earl Gardner — appeared for a hearing in the modern federal courthouse in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. | El 16 de noviembre de 2005, Willie "Bo" Mitchell y tres co-acusados - Shelton "Little Rock" Harris, Shelly "Wayne" Martin, y Shawn Earl Gardner - apareció una audiencia en el juzgado federal moderno en el centro de Baltimore, Maryland . The four African American men were facing federal charges of racketeering, weapons possession, drug dealing, and five counts of first-degree murder. Los cuatro African American hombres se enfrentan a cargos federales de extorsión, posesión de armas, tráfico de drogas, y cinco cargos de asesinato en primer grado. For nearly two years the prosecutors had been methodically building their case, with the aim of putting the defendants to death. Durante casi dos años, los fiscales habían sido metódicamente la construcción de su caso, con el objetivo de poner a los acusados a muerte. In Baltimore, which has a murder rate eight times higher than that of New York City, such cases are depressingly commonplace. En Baltimore, que tiene una tasa de homicidios de ocho veces más alto que el de la ciudad de Nueva York, estos casos son frecuentes deprimente.
A few minutes after 10 am, United States District Court Judge Andre M. Davis took his seat and began his introductory remarks. Unos pocos minutos después de las 10 horas, Distrito de los Estados Unidos de Jueces de la Corte Andre M. Davis tomó su asiento y comenzó sus observaciones introductorias. Suddenly, the leader of the defendants, Willie Mitchell, a short, unremarkable looking twenty-eight-yearold with close-cropped hair, leapt from his chair, grabbed a microphone, and launched into a bizarre soliloquy. De repente, el líder de los acusados, Willie Mitchell, un corto, sin complicaciones buscando veinte y ocho-yearold con cerca de cabello recortado, saltó de su silla, agarró un micrófono, y lanzó en una extraña soliloquy.
“I am not a defendant,” Mitchell declared. "Yo no soy un acusado," declaró Mitchell. “I do not have attorneys.” The court “lacks territorial jurisdiction over me,” he argued, to the amazement of his lawyers. "No tengo abogados." El tribunal "carece de competencia territorial sobre mí", argumentó, para la sorpresa de sus abogados. To support these contentions, he cited decades-old acts of Congress involving the abandonment of the gold standard and the creation of the Federal Reserve. En apoyo de estas alegaciones, citó décadas de edad, los actos del Congreso que impliquen el abandono del patrón oro y la creación de la Reserva Federal. Judge Davis, a Baltimore-born African American in his late fifties, tried to interrupt. Juez Davis, nacido en Baltimore-African American en sus últimos años cincuenta, trató de interrumpir. “I object,” Mitchell repeated robotically. "Me opongo", repitió robotically Mitchell. Shelly Martin and Shelton Harris followed Mitchell to the microphone, giving the same speech verbatim. Shelly Shelton y Martin Harris Mitchell siguió en el micrófono, dando el mismo discurso al pie de la letra. Their attorneys tried to intervene, but when Harris’s lawyer leaned over to speak to him, Harris shoved him away. Sus abogados trataron de intervenir, pero cuando el abogado de Harris inclinado a hablar con él, Harris shoved lo llevaron.
Judge Davis ordered the three defendants to be removed from the court, and turned to Gardner, who had, until then, remained quiet. Juez Davis ordenó a los tres acusados para ser removido de la corte, y se puso a Gardner, que había, hasta entonces, se mantuvo tranquila. But Gardner, too, intoned the same strange speech. Sin embargo, Gardner, también, intoned el mismo discurso extraño. “I am Shawn Earl Gardner, live man, flesh and blood,” he proclaimed. "Estoy Shawn Earl Gardner, vive el hombre, de carne y hueso", proclamó. Every time the judge referred to him as “the defendant” or “Mr. Cada vez que el juez se refiere a él como "el demandado" o "Señor Gardner,” Gardner automatically interrupted: “My name is Shawn Earl Gardner , sir.” Davis tried to explain to Gardner that his behavior was putting his chances of acquittal or leniency at risk. Gardner, "Gardner automáticamente interrumpido:" Mi nombre es Shawn Earl Gardner, señor. "Davis trató de explicar a Gardner que su conducta fue poner a sus posibilidades de absolución o de clemencia en situación de riesgo. “Don’t throw your life away,” Davis pleaded. "No tire su vida lejos", abogó Davis. But Gardner wouldn’t stop. Sin embargo, Gardner no parar. Judge Davis concluded the hearing, determined to find out what was going on. Juez Davis llegó a la conclusión de la audiencia, decidida a averiguar lo que estaba pasando.
As it turned out, he wasn’t alone. En la práctica, no estaba solo. In the previous year, nearly twenty defendants in other Baltimore cases had begun adopting what lawyers in the federal courthouse came to call “the flesh-and-blood defense.” The defense, such as it is, boils down to this: As officers of the court, all defense lawyers are really on the government’s side, having sworn an oath to uphold a vast, century-old conspiracy to conceal the fact that most aspects of the federal government are illegitimate, including the courts, which have no constitutional authority to bring people to trial. En el año anterior, casi veinte acusados de Baltimore en otros casos se había iniciado la adopción de lo que los abogados en el tribunal federal llegó a llamar "la de carne y hueso defensa." La defensa, como es, se reduce a esto: En la Mesa de el tribunal, todos los abogados defensores están realmente en el lado del gobierno, después de haber jurado el juramento de defender una vasta siglo de edad, conspiración para ocultar el hecho de que la mayoría de los aspectos del gobierno federal son ilegítimas, incluidos los tribunales, que no tienen constitucional autoridad para llevar a la gente a juicio. The defendants also believed that a legal distinction could be drawn between their name as written on their indictment and their true identity as a “flesh and blood man.” Los demandados también cree que una distinción jurídica se pueden extraer entre su nombre como en su escrito de acusación y su verdadera identidad como "carne y hueso el hombre."
Judge Davis and his law clerk pored over the case files, which led them to a series of strange Web sites. Juez Davis y su derecho poros empleado más de los expedientes, que les han llevado a una serie de extraños sitios Web. The fleshand- blood defense, they discovered, came from a place far from Baltimore, from people as different from Willie Mitchell as people could possibly be. Fleshand-La defensa de sangre, descubrieron, provenía de un lugar lejos de Baltimore, de personas tan diferentes de Willie Mitchell como la gente podía posiblemente ser. Its antecedents stretched back decades, involving religious zealots, gun nuts, tax protestors, and violent separatists driven by theories that had fueled delusions of Aryan supremacy and race war in gun-loaded compounds in the wilds of Montana and Idaho. Sus antecedentes se extendía décadas atrás, con la participación de fanáticos religiosos, los frutos secos arma de fuego, impuesto manifestantes, y los separatistas violentos impulsados por las teorías que han alimentado ilusiones de supremacía aria y la raza en la guerra de pistola cargada compuestos en los wilds de Montana y Idaho. Although Mitchell and his peers didn’t know it, they were inheriting the intellectual legacy of white supremacists who believe that America was irrevocably broken when the 14th Amendment provided equal rights to former slaves. Aunque Mitchell y sus colegas no lo sepa, que se hereda el legado intelectual de supremacistas blancos que creen que América es irrevocablemente roto cuando la 14 ª Enmienda siempre la igualdad de derechos para los antiguos esclavos. It was the ideology that inspired the Oklahoma City bombing, the biggest act of domestic terrorism in the nation’s history, and now, a decade later, it had somehow sprouted in the crime-ridden ghettos of Baltimore. Es la ideología que inspiró el atentado de Oklahoma City, el mayor acto de terrorismo doméstico en la historia de la nación, y ahora, una década más tarde, que había brotado de alguna manera a la delincuencia plagado de guetos de Baltimore.
The series of events that led to the prosecution of Willie Mitchell et al are as convoluted, tragic and intermittently absurd as an episode of HBO’s acclaimed Baltimore crime drama, The Wire . La serie de acontecimientos que llevaron a la persecución de Willie Mitchell et al tortuoso como son, trágicos y absurdos intermitente como un episodio de la HBO aclamada Baltimore crimen drama, The Wire. Mitchell and company came of age on the streets of West Baltimore, a few miles and a world away from the rejuvenated inner harbor and the tourist attractions near the federal courthouse. Mitchell y la empresa la mayoría de edad en las calles de West Baltimore, a pocos kilómetros y un mundo de distancia de la rejuvenecido interior del puerto y las atracciones turísticas cerca de la corte federal. According to prosecutors, the group began selling drugs together as teenagers in the mid-1990s, driving up I-95 to New York City, buying half kilos of cocaine in upper Manhattan and cooking it into crack to sell back home. Según los fiscales, el grupo comenzó a vender drogas juntos como adolescentes a mediados del decenio de 1990, la conducción hasta la I-95 a la ciudad de Nueva York, la compra de medio kilos de cocaína en alta cocina de Manhattan y en crack para vender de vuelta a casa. They added heroin to their repertoire a few years later, as well as robbing and killing other drug dealers. Añadieron heroína a su repertorio unos cuantos años más tarde, así como a robar y matar a otros traficantes de drogas. By 2002, they were firmly established in what passes as normal enterprise in a hollowed-out economy like Baltimore, where the drug trade often provides more opportunity than legitimate work and the bedrock institutions of family and school have crumbled. En 2002, se estableció firmemente en lo que pasa como normal la empresa en un hueco-out economía como la de Baltimore, donde el tráfico de drogas a menudo proporciona más oportunidades de trabajo legítimo y la piedra angular de las instituciones de la familia y la escuela han derrumbado. They had children out of wedlock with multiple women. Ellos tienen hijos fuera del matrimonio con varias mujeres. They were occasionally arrested, although they never served much time. Ellos fueron detenidos en ocasiones, a pesar de que nunca sirvió de mucho tiempo. It was an insular culture where a ruthless prohibition against “snitching” to the police was often more powerful than any law. Se trata de una cultura insular donde un despiadado contra la prohibición "snitching" a la policía era a menudo más poderosa que cualquier ley. Even as cities like New York saw the murder rate decline dramatically, drug killings in Baltimore continued at a steady clip. Incluso a medida que las ciudades como Nueva York vio el asesinato tasa de descenso de manera espectacular, los asesinatos de drogas en Baltimore continuado a un constante clip.
According to the indictment, the end began on February 18, 2002, in a downtown Baltimore nightclub called Hammerjacks, where Mitchell got into a dispute and stabbed a fellow drug dealer in the back, seriously wounding him. Según la acusación, el final se inició el 18 de febrero de 2002, en una discoteca el centro de Baltimore llamado Hammerjacks, Mitchell, donde entraba en una controversia y apuñaló a un compañero de traficante de drogas en la espalda, hiriendo gravemente a él. If Mitchell had hoped to get away with this attempted murder, he was swiftly and brutally set straight by the drug dealer’s associates. Si Mitchell tenía la esperanza de salir con este intento de asesinato, fue rápida y brutalmente establecidos directamente por el traficante de asociados. When police on patrol found Mitchell later that evening, he was on a sidewalk with several men jumping on his head. Cuando la policía patrulla en Mitchell encontró más tarde esa noche, estaba en una acera con varios hombres saltando sobre su cabeza. Mitchell survived the assault, but he remained in serious trouble. Mitchell sobrevivieron al asalto, pero él permaneció en grave dificultad. The police had issued a warrant for his arrest; more ominously, his enemies had placed a $10,000 contract on his head. La policía había emitido una orden para su detención; más inquietante, sus enemigos habían colocado un contrato de $ 10000 en su cabeza.
Mitchell probably didn’t know exactly what his enemies had in mind, but he was seasoned enough to realize that they wanted him killed. Mitchell probablemente no sabía exactamente lo que sus enemigos tenían en mente, pero fue lo suficientemente avezado para darse cuenta de que quería que le mataron. Ten days after the club incident, prosecutors allege, he made a phone call to an associate of the men who had beaten him up. Diez días después de que el club incidente, los fiscales alegan, hizo una llamada telefónica a un asociado de los hombres que habían golpeado a él. The associate was a drug dealer named Oliver “Woody” McCaffity. El asociado era un traficante de drogas llamado Oliver "Woody" McCaffity. Mitchell proposed that the two men meet that evening for a drug deal. Mitchell propuso que los dos hombres que cumplen la noche para tratar una droga.
Neither man came to the meeting alone. Ni el hombre llegó a la reunión en solitario. Mitchell brought a friend, Shelton Harris. Mitchell trajo un amigo, Shelton Harris. McCaffity brought his sometime girlfriend, Lisa Brown. McCaffity algún momento trajo a su novia, Lisa Brown. Brown was a pastor’s daughter, a computer systems analyst and mother of three. Brown era un pastor de la hija, un analista de sistemas informáticos y madre de tres hijos. Her parents told reporters that she had broken up with McCaffity after learning of his involvement with drugs. Sus padres les dijo a los reporteros que había roto con McCaffity después de enterarse de su participación con las drogas. But when he called and invited her to the movies, she decided to go along. Pero cuando él llamó y la invitó al cine, ella decidió ir junto.
The two parties drove to the Park Heights section of Northwest Baltimore. Las dos partes llevó a las alturas del Parque de la sección Noroeste de Baltimore. It was a quick meeting. Se trata de una rápida reunión. Mitchell and Harris climbed into the backseat of McCaffity’s Infiniti Q-45. Mitchell Harris y subió en el asiento trasero de McCaffity del Infiniti Q-45. Then they shot McCaffity through the head and fired through Brown’s raised right hand into her left temple, where police later found a .357 caliber bullet. Luego McCaffity disparo en la cabeza y disparó a través de Brown planteó mano derecha en su sien izquierda, donde más tarde la policía encontró una bala calibre .357. The bodies of McCaffity and Brown were left in the car, which rolled downhill and rammed into a nearby tree at the dead-end of the street. Los cuerpos de McCaffity y Brown fueron dejados en el coche, que rodó cuesta abajo y apisonada en un árbol cercano a los muertos de final de la calle. Police found it two hours later. Policía encontró que dos horas más tarde. A palm print on the car window was later matched to Harris, and McCaffity’s cell phone records revealed calls that night to Mitchell’s phone. Una palmera de impresión en la ventana del coche más tarde fue adaptado a Harris, y McCaffity del teléfono celular registros revelaron que la noche pide a Mitchell del teléfono. Mitchell, suspecting that McCaffity’s associates were going to try to kill him, had apparently decided to kill first. Mitchell, ante la sospecha de que McCaffity de asociados se va a tratar de matarlo, al parecer había decidido a matar primero. The murder would probably not have attracted much attention, except for the fact that McCaffity’s Infiniti was owned by Hasim Rahman, the recently dethroned heavyweight boxing champion of the world. El asesinato probablemente no han atraído mucho la atención, excepto por el hecho de que la McCaffity Infiniti era propiedad de Hasim Rahman, el recientemente destronado campeón de boxeo peso pesado del mundo. McCaffity was a friend and business associate of Rahman, causing the ex-champ to quickly call a press conference denying any involvement in the crimes. McCaffity era un amigo y asociado de negocios de Rahman, causando la ex-campeón llamar rápidamente a una conferencia de prensa negar cualquier participación en los crímenes. (Police have never alleged otherwise.) (Policía nunca han alegado lo contrario.)
If the killing of McCaffity and Brown had been a successful preemptive strike, Mitchell was also prepared to kill for more mundane reasons. Si el asesinato de McCaffity y Brown ha sido un ataque preventivo con éxito, Mitchell también está dispuesta a matar por razones más mundanas. On March 24, a few weeks after the Mc- Caffity murder, Mitchell allegedly called a former high school classmate named Darryl Wyche and offered to buy some heroin and cocaine from him. El 24 de marzo, unas semanas después de la Mc-Caffity asesinato, al parecer Mitchell pidió un antiguo compañero de escuela secundaria llamado Darryl Wyche y se ofreció a comprar la heroína y la cocaína a partir de él. Darryl, excited by the prospect of a big sale, agreed. Darryl, entusiasmado por la perspectiva de una gran venta, de acuerdo. The two made plans to meet in a nearby industrial park around midnight. Los dos hicieron planes para reunirse en un parque industrial cerca alrededor de la medianoche.
Again, neither party came alone. Una vez más, ninguna de las partes llegaron solos. Wyche brought his younger brother Tony, who had reluctantly agreed to drive. Wyche trajo a su hermano menor Tony, que había acordado con renuencia a conducir. Mitchell brought Harris again, as well as two more friends: Shelly Martin and Shawn Gardner. Mitchell Harris traído de nuevo, así como otros dos amigos: Shelly y Shawn Martin Gardner.
The Wyche brothers opened the back door of their Honda to let Mitchell and his men into the back seat. El Wyche hermanos abrió la puerta trasera de su Honda para que Mitchell y sus hombres en el asiento trasero. Then each received a bullet in the side of the head. Luego, cada uno recibió una bala en el lado de la cabeza. The next morning the police found the bodies, seat belts still on. A la mañana siguiente la policía encontró los cuerpos, el cinturón de seguridad todavía. (Mitchell appears to have seen Wyche as an easy source of drugs and cash.) (Mitchell parece haber visto Wyche como una fuente fácil de las drogas y dinero en efectivo.)
But Mitchell’s luck was about to end. Pero la suerte Mitchell estaba a punto de finalizar. When Baltimore homicide detectives found the bodies of the Wyche brothers, they assumed they had come across another hard-to-solve drug killing. Cuando los detectives de homicidios de Baltimore encontraron los cadáveres de los hermanos Wyche, que supone que ha llegado a través de otro difíciles de resolver el asesinato de drogas. Then they received an unexpected phone call. Luego recibió una inesperada llamada telefónica. It was from Darryl Wyche’s mother-in-law, who reported finding a strange message on her phone. Se Darryl Wyche de la suegra, informó que la búsqueda de un extraño mensaje en su teléfono. Recorded at 12:43 am, the message was four and a half minutes of a group of men with names like “Wayne” and “Shorty” saying things like “Bup-bup-bup-bup-bup, yo, they both fucked.” The call had come from the cellphone of Darryl Wyche. Grabado a 12:43 horas, el mensaje fue de cuatro minutos y medio de un grupo de hombres con nombres como "Wayne" y "Shorty" diciendo cosas como "BUP-BUP-BUP-BUP-BUP, yo, que tanto jodido. "La convocatoria ha llegado desde el móvil de Darryl Wyche.
Wyche’s family and the police soon figured out what had happened: One of the murderers had stolen Darryl Wyche’s phone and forgotten to turn it off. Wyche la familia y la policía antes de pruebas, lo que había ocurrido: Uno de los asesinos habían robado Darryl Wyche del teléfono y olvidado de apagarlo. While the killers were driving away, one of them had accidentally pressed the phone’s speed dial button, calling Darryl’s mother-in-law and producing a most unusual piece of evidence: a voicemail confession. Mientras que los asesinos estaban lejos de conducción, uno de ellos ha pulsado accidentalmente el teléfono del botón de marcación rápida, llamada Darryl la suegra y la producción de una pieza más inusual de las pruebas: un mensaje de voz confesión. With considerable understatement, a lieutenant in the city homicide unit reflected on his good fortune to the Baltimore Sun . Con considerable subestimación, un teniente en la ciudad de homicidio unidad se refleja en su buena suerte para el Baltimore Sun. “We got lucky,” he said. "Tenemos suerte", dijo. Willie Mitchell and Shelly Martin were soon rounded up and put in jail. Willie Mitchell y Shelly Martin pronto se redondearán por exceso y poner en la cárcel.
What would become the fifth and final murder charge in the case of Willie Mitchell and his cohorts took place two months later. ¿Qué se convertiría en el quinto y último asesinato cargo en el caso de Willie Mitchell y sus cohortes se llevó a cabo dos meses más tarde. This time, only Mitchell’s friend Shawn Gardner was directly involved. Esta vez, sólo Mitchell, el amigo de Shawn Gardner participó directamente. It began with a man named Darius Spence, who had found out that his wife, Tanya, was cheating on him with a local drug dealer everyone called “Momma.” Comenzó con un hombre llamado Darío Spence, que había descubierto que su esposa, Tanya, es hacer trampa a él con un traficante de drogas llamado a todos "Momma".
Spence decided to have Momma beaten up severely. Spence decidió Momma han golpeado severamente. To accomplish this, he negotiated with another drug dealer named Willie Montgomery. Para lograr esto, negoció con otro traficante de drogas llamado Willie Montgomery. Would Montgomery be willing to beat up Momma in exchange for money? Montgomery ¿estaría dispuesto a golpear a Momma a cambio de dinero? But Montgomery had another proposition altogether. Pero Montgomery tuvo otra proposición por completo. Beating Momma up didn’t make sense, Montgomery argued, because then Momma would undoubtedly try to kill Montgomery. Golpiza Momma hasta no tener sentido, Montgomery sostuvo, porque entonces, sin lugar a dudas Momma tratar de matar a Montgomery. It was better just to kill Momma outright, and for five thousand dollars, Montgomery would be glad to do the job. Era mejor, sólo para matar Momma pura y simple, y de cinco mil dólares, Montgomery estará encantada de hacer el trabajo. Spence said he’d think it over. Spence dijo que había que pensar más.
Unfortunately for Darius Spence, Montgomery wasn’t interested in waiting around for an answer. Por desgracia para Darío Spence, Montgomery no estaba interesado en alrededor de espera para una respuesta. Instead, sensing opportunity, Montgomery decided to tell Momma about the hit. En lugar de ello, detección de oportunidades, Montgomery decidió decirle Momma sobre el resultado. If I turn down the deal, Montgomery explained, then Spence will probably just hire someone else to kill you. Si me rechazar la operación, explicó Montgomery, entonces Spence probablemente sólo contratar a alguien para matar a otra persona. Therefore, Montgomery reasoned, you should hire me to kill Spence first. Por lo tanto, Montgomery motivada, deberá contratar a mí para matar a Spence en primer lugar. Momma was persuaded. Momma fue persuadido. (As Montgomery later explained to the prosecutors, “I guess he like that idea better than Darius Spence’s idea.”) (Montgomery Como más tarde explicó a los fiscales, "Creo que al igual que la idea mejor que Darío Spence la idea.")
To execute the hit on Spence, Montgomery recruited two associates, one of whom was Shawn Gardner. Para ejecutar el éxito en Spence, Montgomery contratado dos socios, uno de los cuales fue Shawn Gardner. For the next two months, the three men staked out Spence’s apartment. Para los próximos dos meses, los tres hombres marcados Spence del apartamento. The plan was for Shawn Gardner and his associate to invade from the basement and carry out the killing, and then run to a nearby getaway car, which was to be driven by Montgomery. El plan fue para Shawn Gardner y su socio de invadir el sótano y llevar a cabo la matanza, y luego correr a un coche cerca escapada, que se impulsado por Montgomery. Special care was to be taken not to harm Tanya, and they would cover her eyes with duct tape to prevent her from identifying them. Especial atención se deberá adoptar para no perjudicar a Tanya, y que cubrirán sus ojos con cinta adhesiva para conductos para evitar su identificación de ellos. Still, Montgomery warned Momma that he couldn’t guarantee Tanya’s safety. Sin embargo, Montgomery Momma advirtió que no podía garantizar la seguridad de Tanya. “If it’s up to me, she won’t be hurt,” Montgomery told Momma, “but some things could go wrong.” Momma’s reply was to the point: “Do what you do.” "Si le toca a mí, no va a ser lastimado", dijo Montgomery Momma ", pero algunas cosas pueden ir mal." Momma's respuesta al punto: "Haz lo que haces."
On June 7, 2002, the three men drove to the Spence apartment, a worn red brick building at the end of a cul-de-sac a few miles from Baltimore city. El 7 de junio de 2002, los tres hombres condujo a la Spence apartamento, un desgastado edificio de ladrillo rojo al final de un callejón sin salida a pocos kilómetros de la ciudad de Baltimore. But the hit didn’t go as planned. Pero el éxito no iba según lo previsto. Darius Spence wasn’t in the apartment, and they didn’t manage to blindfold Tanya. Spence Darío no estaba en el apartamento, y que no se ha logrado venda Tanya. As children played outside the Spence apartment, Tanya burst through the kitchen door on the third floor, screaming, “No! A medida que los niños desempeñan fuera del apartamento Spence, Tanya irrumpieron a través de la puerta de la cocina en el tercer piso, gritando, "¡No! No!” Lifting one leg over the balcony, she tried to climb down to the floor below but lost her grip and fell fifteen feet to the ground, landing a few feet from the children. ¡No! "Levantar una pierna durante el balcón, ella trató de subir hasta el piso inferior, aunque perdió a su adherencia y se redujo a quince pies del suelo, de aterrizaje unos pies de los niños. Gasping for breath, she motioned for them to run away before crawling under the first floor balcony. Gasping para respirar, ella motioned para ellos a huir antes de rastreo en el marco del primer piso balcón. Moments later, the two killers emerged from the Spence apartment, ran down the steps and stopped a few feet from Tanya, now lying in the fetal position in the dirt and begging for her life. Momentos después, los dos asesinos surgido de la Spence apartamento, agotar las medidas y se detuvo a pocos pies de Tanya, se extiende ahora en la posición fetal en la suciedad y la mendicidad de su vida. One pulled out a large caliber revolver and fired two shots into Tanya’s chest as the children watched. Uno sacó un revólver de gran calibre y disparó dos tiros en el pecho de Tanya como la vieron los niños. Then both men ran away. Entonces los hombres escaparon.
Unfortunately for the killers, Montgomery wasn’t where they thought he’d be. Desafortunadamente para los asesinos, Montgomery no era donde él había pensado. Somehow the meeting place had gotten confused, and the getaway failed. De alguna manera el lugar de encuentro había llegado confundirse, y la escapada no. Police quickly apprehended Shawn Gardner and his associate. Policía detenido rápidamente Shawn Gardner y su socio. Eventually, the law caught up to Montgomery, too. Finalmente, la ley atrapados a Montgomery, también.
Gardner was tried, convicted, and sentenced in state court to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Tanya Spence. Gardner fue juzgado, declarado culpable y condenado en tribunal estatal a la vida en prisión sin posibilidad de libertad condicional por el asesinato de Tanya Spence. Meanwhile, Willie Mitchell and Shelly Martin were charged by the state with the Wyche brothers’ killings and sat in prison for the next year and a half as police and prosecutors assembled their case. Mientras tanto, Willie Mitchell, Shelly y Martin fueron acusados por el Estado con la Wyche de los hermanos asesinatos y se sentó en la cárcel para el próximo año y medio como la policía y los fiscales se reunieron su caso.
Then, on January 22, 2004 — nearly two years after the first four murders — the word came down from the office of US Attorney Thomas DiBiagio: the Willie Mitchell case was going federal, and the government was seeking the death penalty. Luego, el 22 de enero de 2004 - casi dos años después de los cuatro primeros asesinatos - la palabra bajó de la oficina del Procurador EE.UU. Thomas DiBiagio: el caso de Willie Mitchell iba federal, y el gobierno estaba buscando la pena de muerte. The Justice Department, DiBiagio explained, was going after “individuals responsible for making life hell in Baltimore.” El Departamento de Justicia, DiBiagio explicó, iba después de "las personas responsables de hacer la vida un infierno en Baltimore."
For Mitchell and company, this was bad news. Para Mitchell y la empresa, se trataba de malas noticias. Instead of jurors selected from the city pool, Mitchell would likely be judged by an all-white panel of citizens from places like Maryland’s westernmost rural counties or the far reaches of the Eastern Shore. En lugar de los jurados seleccionados de la ciudad piscina, Mitchell probablemente ser juzgados por un panel blanco de los ciudadanos de lugares como la más occidental de Maryland condados rurales o la medida llega de la costa oriental. He would face better-funded prosecutors, and was far more likely to get the death penalty. Él tendrá que hacer frente mejor financiados por los fiscales, y es mucho más probable para obtener la pena de muerte. Maryland has only executed five people in the last thirty years, but in 2005, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was aggressively seeking death sentences. Maryland sólo ha ejecutado a cinco personas en los últimos treinta años, pero en 2005, el entonces Fiscal General John Ashcroft fue agresivamente la búsqueda de penas de muerte. In fact, the Justice Department was even retrying cases in order to win death penalties for crimes like the Spence murder, for which Shawn Gardner was already serving life without parole. De hecho, el Departamento de Justicia fue incluso de volver a casos con el fin de ganar las penas de muerte para delitos como el asesinato Spence, para que Shawn Gardner ya estaba al servicio de la vida sin libertad condicional.
DiBiagio’s office also added a raft of conspiracy charges to the indictment, filed under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. DiBiagio la oficina también añadió una serie de cargos de conspiración para la acusación, presentada bajo la influencia federal extorsión y Organizaciones Corruptas (RICO) Act. By alleging that the defendants were part of an organized conspiracy — the so-called “Willie Mitchell organization” — prosecutors could hold all four defendants responsible for any of the crimes the others had committed. Por la que se alega que los acusados formaban parte de una conspiración organizada - el llamado "Willie Mitchell organización" - los fiscales podrían celebrar los cuatro acusados responsables de cualquiera de los crímenes de los que otros han cometido. That’s why Shelton Harris, who wasn’t originally arrested for the Wyche or the McCaffity and Brown murders, was pulled off the street and charged with the full slate of crimes. Es por eso Shelton Harris, que no fue originalmente detenido por la Wyche o la McCaffity Brown y asesinatos, fue arrastrado fuera de la calle y cargado con la plena pizarra de los crímenes. It’s also why Mitchell and Harris were charged with the Spence murder, although they were already in jail when Shawn Gardner committed it. Es también el motivo por Mitchell y Harris fueron acusados con el asesinato Spence, a pesar de que ya estaban en la cárcel cuando Shawn Gardner cometido. RICO is normally applied to members of the mafia and organized crime, and its use sent a clear message: the government was coming at Mitchell and company with everything it had. RICO se aplica normalmente a los miembros de la mafia y la delincuencia organizada, y su uso envió un mensaje claro: el gobierno está llegando a Mitchell y la empresa con todo lo que tenía.
The prosecutors bolstered the conspiracy argument by noting that, unlike most Baltimore drug dealers, Mitchell and company had incorporated a legal entity for which they all worked and allegedly funneled proceeds of their drug business into: “Shake Down Entertainment, Ltd.” The group promoted rap CDs and concerts through the company, which even had its own record label, “Shystyville.” Soon, Shystyville CDs with titles like “Pure Shit” became evidence of not just the conspiracy but the crimes themselves, with prosecutors entering into the record lyrics like these: Los fiscales reforzado el argumento de la conspiración señalando que, a diferencia de la mayoría de los traficantes de drogas de Baltimore, Mitchell y la empresa ha incorporado una persona jurídica para que todos ellos trabajaban y supuestamente funneled producto de su negocio de drogas en: "Shake Down Entertainment, Ltd" El grupo promovido rap CDs y conciertos a través de la empresa, que incluso tuvo su propio sello discográfico, "Shystyville." Pronto, Shystyville CDs con títulos como "Pura Mierda" se convirtió en evidencia no sólo de la conspiración, pero los crímenes propiamente dichos, con los fiscales que entren en el registro de letras como los siguientes:
I watch ya brains fly all over on the bitch next to you Ya termine de ver todos los cerebros de moscas a lo largo de la perra a tu lado
Homeboy it’s up to you I could put this pup to you Homeboy le toca a vosotros he podido poner esto a usted las crías
Then to pumpin’ you up like a innertube A continuación, a Pumpin 'usted como un innertube
Send shots that’ll pump up the end of you Enviar fotos bomba que va hasta el fin de que
Leave you all fat and bloated you know I keep Deje que todos grasa hinchado y ustedes saben sigo
the Mac loaded then I like ta clack rollin’ Mac cargado entonces me gusta ta clack Rollin '
That’s why Bo and Weez on lock now and every day on lock down Es por eso que Bo y Weez en bloqueo y ahora todos los días en cerrar
Niggas getting shot down for runnin’ they mouth clown Niggas obtener derribado para runnin 'que la boca de payaso
Tell me how it feels with a gun in ya mouth now Dígame cómo se siente con una pistola en la boca ya ahora
Prosecutors alleged that the “bitch next to you” was Lisa Brown, who was sitting beside Oliver McCaffity when he was shot through the head, that a “pup” is slang for the largecaliber revolver used in the killing, that the “Bo” on “lock now” was the imprisoned Willie “Bo” Mitchell, and that the reference to “Niggas getting shot for runnin’ they mouth” amounted to witness intimidation. Los fiscales alegaron que la "perra a tu lado" era Lisa Brown, que estaba sentado al lado de Oliver McCaffity cuando le dispararon en la cabeza, que un "cachorro" es el argot para el largecaliber revólver utilizado en la matanza, que el "Bo" en la "Candado" para los encarcelados se Willie "Bo" Mitchell, y que la referencia a "Niggas disparo para conseguir runnin 'que la boca" ascendió a la intimidación de testigos. Faced with the prospect of an all-white jury hearing this music in the courtroom, the defense lawyers objected on the grounds that lots of songs have lyrics that “proudly refer to violent retaliation,” offering by way of example country star Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” Ante la perspectiva de un jurado blanco audiencia de esta música en la sala de audiencias, los abogados defensores se opusieron con el argumento de que muchas canciones tienen letras que "con orgullo se refieren a violentas represalias", ofreciendo a modo de ejemplo los países estrellas Toby Keith's "Cortesía de la Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)".
Nearly two years passed. Casi dos años pasaron. The wheels of justice were turning, slowly but surely. Las ruedas de la justicia fueron convirtiendo, sin prisa pero sin pausa. Then came the memorable hearing in which the defendants debuted the flesh-and-blood defense. Luego vino la memorable audiencia en la que los acusados debutó el de carne y hueso defensa. After that, everything changed. Después de eso, todo cambió.
A month after the hearing, Judge Davis took the unusual step of issuing a written opinion denying all of the defendant’s “unusual — if not bizarre” arguments. Un mes después de la audiencia, el juez Davis tomó la medida inusual de emitir una opinión escrita de negar todos los del demandado "inusual - por no decir extraño" argumentos. “Perhaps they would even be humorous,” Davis wrote, “were the stakes not so high It is truly ironic that four African- American defendants here apparently rely on an ideology derived from a famously discredited notion: the illegitimacy of the Fourteenth Amendment.” One can understand his incredulity that four Baltimore drug dealers might invoke a racist argument that dates back to the nineteenth century. "Tal vez sería incluso humorística," escribió Davis ", fueron las apuestas no tan alto Es verdaderamente irónico que cuatro afro-americanos acusados al parecer aquí se basan en una ideología derivada de una famosa y desacreditada noción: la ilegitimidad de la Decimocuarta Enmienda." Uno puede entender su incredulidad de que cuatro traficantes de drogas de Baltimore podría invocar un argumento racista que se remonta al siglo XIX. But as it turns out, that’s when the seeds of the flesh-and-blood defense were sown. Pero, como resulta, que es cuando las semillas de la de carne y hueso defensa se sembraron.
In 1878, southern Democrats pushed legislation through Congress limiting the ability of the federal government to marshal troops on US soil. En 1878, impulsó el sur de los Demócratas en el Congreso la legislación que limita la capacidad del gobierno federal para reunir las tropas EE.UU. en el suelo. Known as Posse Comitatus, (Latin for “power of the county”) the law’s authors hoped to constrain the government’s ability to protect black southerners from violence and discrimination. Conocido como Posse Comitatus, (latín para "el poder del condado") el derecho de los autores de esperar a limitar la capacidad del gobierno para proteger negro del sur de la violencia y la discriminación. The act symbolically marked the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of Jim Crow. El acto marcó simbólicamente el fin de la Reconstrucción y el comienzo de Jim Crow.
For the next eight decades, black Americans lived under the yoke of institutional racism. Para los próximos ocho décadas, negro americanos viven bajo el yugo del racismo institucional. But by the late 1950s, the civil rights movement was growing in strength. Sin embargo, de finales del decenio de 1950, el movimiento por los derechos civiles fue creciendo en fuerza. In 1957, President Eisenhower sent 1,200 troops from the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, so that nine black students could safely enter a previously all-white high school. En 1957, el Presidente Eisenhower envió tropas a partir de 1200 la 101 ª División Aerotransportada a Little Rock, Arkansas, por lo que nueve estudiantes de negro con seguridad podría entrar en una previamente todos en blanco instituto. The landmark Civil Rights Act followed in 1964. La histórica Ley de Derechos Civiles seguidos en 1964.
These developments horrified one William Gale, a World War II veteran, insurance salesman, self-styled minister of racist Christian Identity theology, and raving anti-Semite. Estos acontecimientos horrorizado un William Gale, la Segunda Guerra Mundial veterano, vendedor de seguros, las supuestas racistas ministro de la teología cristiana de identidad, raving y anti-semita. In 1971, he launched a movement whose impact would reverberate through the radical fringes of American society for decades to come. En 1971, lanzó un movimiento cuyo impacto que reverberan a través de la radical margen de la sociedad norteamericana en las próximas décadas. He called it Posse Comitatus, named for the 1878 law he believed Eisenhower had violated by sending the troops to Little Rock. Él lo llamó Posse Comitatus, llamado así por la ley 1878 creía Eisenhower había violado mediante el envío de tropas a Little Rock. In a series of tapes and self-published pamphlets, Gale explained that county sheriffs were the supreme legal law enforcement officers in the land, and that county residents had the right to form a posse to enforce the Constitution — however they, as “sovereign citizens,” chose to interpret it. En una serie de cintas y la libre publicado folletos, Gale explicó que los sheriffs del condado fueron la supremacía jurídica funcionarios encargados de hacer cumplir la ley en la tierra, y que los residentes del condado tienen derecho a formar un grupo para hacer cumplir la Constitución - no obstante que, como "ciudadanos soberanos , "Eligió para interpretarlo. Public officials who interfered, instructed Gale, should be “hung by the neck” at high noon. Los funcionarios públicos que interfirió, dio instrucciones a Gale, debería ser "colgado por el cuello" a altas horas.
Gale’s racist beliefs were hardly unique. Gale's creencias racistas son apenas única. His singular innovation was to devise a “legal” philosophy that was enormously appealing to disaffected, alienated citizens. Su singular para la innovación fue diseñar una "legal" la filosofía que fue enormemente atractivo para los desafectos, ciudadanos alienados. It was a promise of power, a means of asserting that they were the true inheritors of the founding fathers’ ideal, a dream they believed had been corrupted by a vast conspiracy that only they could see. Se trata de una promesa de poder, un medio de afirmar que ellos son los verdaderos herederos de los padres fundadores' ideal, un sueño que creían que había sido corrompido por una vasta conspiración que sólo ellos podían ver. Gale’s ideas gave people on the paranoid edge of society a collective identity. Gale las ideas de la gente dio en la paranoica sociedad borde de una identidad colectiva. It told them what they desperately wanted to hear: that the federal government was illegitimate, and that the legal weapons the state used to oppress them could be turned against the state. Se les dijo lo que desesperadamente querían oír: que el gobierno federal es ilegítima, y que las armas legales el estado utiliza para oprimir a ellos podría volverse contra el Estado.
Soon, Posses were sprouting across the country, attracting veterans of the 1960s-era tax protest movement, Second Amendment absolutists, Christian Identity adherents, and ardent anti-communists who had abandoned the John Birch Society because they felt the organization wasn’t extreme enough. Pronto, la brotación se posee en todo el país, atrayendo a los veteranos de la década de 1960 era fiscal movimiento de protesta, la Segunda Enmienda absolutistas, partidarios de identidad cristiana, y ardientes anti-comunistas que habían abandonado la John Birch Society ya que consideró la organización no era lo suficientemente extrema . Local groups would meet to share literature, listen to tapes of Gale’s sermons, and discuss preparations for the approaching End Times. Los grupos locales se reúnen para compartir la literatura, escuchar cintas de Gale's sermones, y discutir los preparativos para el próximo fin de los tiempos. This extremist stew produced exotic amalgamations of paranoia, such as when Posse members would explain the need for local militias to stockpile weapons in order to defend white Christians from blacks in the coming race war sparked by the inevitable economic collapse caused by the income tax and a cabal of international Jewish bankers bent on global dominance through one world government, for Satan. Este guiso elaborado extremistas exóticas fusiones de paranoia, como Posse, cuando los miembros de explicar la necesidad de que las milicias locales para almacenar las armas para defender a los cristianos blancos de los negros en la próxima carrera de la guerra desencadenada por el inevitable colapso económico causado por el impuesto sobre la renta y un cabal de los banqueros internacionales judíos empeñados en la dominación mundial a través de un gobierno mundial, por Satanás.
While local Posses would periodically confront law enforcement officials in the 1970s, (usually in property disputes), they were often incompetent, and few people were hurt. Si bien posee locales que periódicamente enfrentan los agentes del orden público en el decenio de 1970, (por lo general en los litigios de propiedad), a menudo eran incompetentes, y algunas personas resultaron heridos. But things took a serious turn in 1978, when thousands of farmers rallied in Washington DC seeking relief from low commodity prices, high interest rates, and farm debt. Pero las cosas tomaron un grave su vez en 1978, cuando miles de agricultores se congregaron en Washington DC que buscan alivio de los bajos precios, las altas tasas de interés, y la deuda agrícola. When Congressional relief attempts failed, some farmers became susceptible to peddlers of the Posse ideology, which preached that the farm crisis had been brought on by the international Jewish banking conspiracy, abandonment of the gold standard and a malevolent Federal Reserve. Cuando el Congreso de socorro fracasado los intentos, algunos agricultores se convirtió en susceptible a vendedores ambulantes de la ideología Posse, que predica que la crisis agrícola ha sido provocado por la banca judía internacional de conspiración, abandono del patrón oro y una malévola Reserva Federal.
By 1982, Bill Gale had flown to Kansas to conduct paramilitary training and indoctrination for splinter groups of disaffected farmers. En 1982, Bill Gale había volado a Kansas para realizar entrenamiento paramilitar y el adoctrinamiento de grupos escindidos de los agricultores descontentos. At night, a country music station in Dodge City broadcast tapes of Gale’s sermons. Por la noche, una estación de música country en Dodge City cintas de emisión de Gale's sermones. “You’re either going to get back to the Constitution of the United States in your government,” he intoned, “or officials are gonna hang by the neck until they’re dead Arise and fight! "Eres bien va a volver a la Constitución de los Estados Unidos en su gobierno", intoned, "o son los funcionarios que va a colgar por el cuello hasta que estás muerto Arise y lucha! If a Jew comes near you, run a sword through him.” As Posse ideology rippled across the distressed farm belt, violence followed. Si un Judio viene cerca de usted, publicar una espada a través de él. "Como la ideología Posse rippled toda la angustia granja cinturón, la violencia siguió. Several deadly confrontations between Posse adherents and law enforcement made national headlines; Geraldo Rivera descended on Nebraska to document the “Seeds of Hate” in America’s heartland. Varios mortíferos enfrentamientos entre adeptos Posse y la aplicación de la ley posible sobrevivir; Geraldo Rivera descendió en Nebraska para el documento "Semillas de odio" en América del corazón. By 1987, Gale’s rhetoric had escalated further. En 1987, Gale la retórica ha intensificado aún más. He told his followers that “You’ve got an enemy government running around its source and its location is Washington, DC, and the federal buildings they’ve built with your tax money all over the cities in this land.” Él le dijo a sus seguidores que "Tienes un enemigo del gobierno de funcionamiento en torno a su fuente y su ubicación es Washington, DC, y los edificios federales que han construido con su dinero de los impuestos de todo las ciudades en esta tierra."
Hucksters and charlatans prowled the Midwest as the farm crisis deepened, selling desperate farmers expensive seminars and prepackaged legal defenses “guaranteed” to cancel debts and forestall foreclosure. Hucksters y charlatanes prowled el Medio Oeste como la crisis profundizó la explotación, venta desesperada agricultores caro seminarios y envasados defensas legales "garantizada" para cancelar deudas y prevenir la exclusión. Since the gold standard had been abandoned in 1933, they argued, money had no inherent value, and so neither did their debts. Dado que el patrón oro había sido abandonada en 1933, sostuvieron, el dinero no tiene valor intrínseco, por lo que tampoco sus deudas. All they had to do, farmers were told, was opt out of the system by sending a letter to the appropriate authorities renouncing their driver’s license, birth certificate, and social security number. Todo lo que tenía que hacer, los agricultores se les dijo, era optar por no participar del sistema mediante el envío de una carta a las autoridades competentes la renuncia a su licencia de conducir, certificado de nacimiento y número de seguro social. That number was allegedly tied to a secret government account held in a secure subterranean facility in lower Manhattan, where citizens are used as collateral against international debts issued by the Fed and everyone’s name is on a master list, spelled in capital letters — the very same capital letters used in the official court documents detailing foreclosure and other actions against them. Ese número fue, al parecer, atado a una cuenta secreta del gobierno, celebrada en un lugar seguro instalaciones subterráneas en el bajo Manhattan, donde los ciudadanos se utilizan como garantía contra deudas internacionales emitidos por la Reserva Federal y todo el mundo es el nombre en una lista maestra, escrito en mayúsculas - la misma mayúsculas utilizados en el tribunal los documentos oficiales detallando la exclusión y otras acciones en contra de ellos. The capital letter name was nothing but an artificial construct, they were told, a legal “straw man.” It wasn’t them — natural, live, flesh and blood men. La letra mayúscula nombre era nada más que una construcción artificial, se les dijo, una persona jurídica "hombre de paja." No es - naturales, vivos, carne y sangre los hombres.
Bill Gale died on April 28, 1988, three months after being sentenced in federal court for conspiracy, tax crimes, and mailing death threats to the Internal Revenue Service. Bill Gale falleció el 28 de abril de 1988, tres meses después de ser condenado en tribunal federal por conspiración, delitos fiscales, de correo y amenazas de muerte para el Servicio de Impuestos Internos. By that time, the farm crisis had begun to recede. En ese momento, la crisis agrícola ha comenzado a disminuir. Posse ideology simmered for the next few years, morphing into the “Christian Patriot” movement, which sanded down some of the roughest racist and anti-Semitic edges while retaining the core beliefs of Constitutional fundamentalism. Posse ideología fuego lento para los próximos años, morphing en el "Patriot cristiana" movimiento de arena que en algunos de los roughest racistas y antisemitas bordes, manteniendo al mismo tiempo el núcleo de creencias Constitucional fundamentalismo. The patriots saw themselves as “sovereign citizens,” unlike the “federal citizens” who had been created by the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. Los patriotas vieron a sí mismos como "ciudadanos soberanos", a diferencia de los "ciudadanos federal" que ha sido creado por la 14 ª Enmienda de la garantía de igual protección bajo la ley.
The deadly confrontations between federal agents and extremists at Ruby Ridge in 1992 and Waco, Texas in 1993 brought latent anger with the federal government back to a boil. Los enfrentamientos mortíferos entre agentes federales y los extremistas en Ruby Ridge, en 1992 y Waco, Texas en 1993 trajo la ira latente con el gobierno federal vuelve a hervir. The militia movement of the 1990s built on Posse tenets of county- based, self-organized paramilitary groups led by citizens expressing their basic Constitutional rights. La milicia del movimiento construido en 1990 Posse principios del condado de base, auto-organizado grupos paramilitares liderados por los ciudadanos expresar sus derechos constitucionales fundamentales. Most groups stuck with conducting survivalist training camps and filing bogus liens against houses owned by local judges. La mayoría de los grupos pegado con la realización de campamentos de entrenamiento de supervivencia y la presentación de falsos privilegios en contra de casas de propiedad de los jueces locales. But a few did much more. Pero unos pocos hicieron mucho más.
In 1993, a Michigan farmer and survivalist named James Nichols was pulled over for speeding. En 1993, un granjero de Michigan y de supervivencia llamado James Nichols fue arrastrado más por exceso de velocidad. Instead of simply paying the fine, he argued in court that his “sovereign citizen” status made him immune to prosecution. En lugar de simplemente pagar la multa, argumentó ante el tribunal que su "soberanía ciudadana" le hizo inmune al enjuiciamiento. That same year, James’ brother Terry tried to pay off a $17,000 debt with a fake check issued by a radical “family farm preservation” group run by Posse adherents. Ese mismo año, James Terry hermano trató de saldar una deuda de 17000 dólares con un cheque falso expedido por un radical "granja familiar preservación" grupo dirigido por Posse adeptos. Two years later, Terry Nichols helped to bring the Posse’s anti-government hatred to its ultimate fruition. Dos años más tarde, Terry Nichols contribuyó a que la Posse en la lucha contra el gobierno el odio a su último éxito. On April 18, 1995, he and a friend named Timothy McVeigh loaded 108 fifty-pound bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer into a Ryder truck. El 18 de abril de 1995, él y un amigo llamado Timothy McVeigh cargado quincuagésimo 108 libras de bolsas de fertilizante de nitrato de amonio en un camión Ryder. The next day, McVeigh bombed the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people on the second anniversary of Waco. Al día siguiente, McVeigh bombardearon el edificio federal Murrah en Oklahoma City, matando a 168 personas en el segundo aniversario de Waco.
After the attack, the Feds began cracking down on white supremacist groups, including one called the “Montana Freemen,” who were, in the words of hate-group expert Daniel Levitas, “the direct ideological descendants of the Posse Comitatus.” (Levitas’ book, The Terrorist Next Door, contains the definitive account of Bill Gale and the Posse.) The Freemen were arrested in their isolated compound after a threemonth standoff with the FBI. Tras el ataque, los federales se inició en la lucha contra los grupos de supremacía blanca, entre ellos uno llamado "Montana libres", que eran, en palabras de odio-grupo experto Daniel Levitas, "los descendientes directos ideológicos de la Posse Comitatus". (Levitas «Libro, el terrorista de al lado, contiene la cuenta definitiva del proyecto de ley de Gale y los Posse.) Libres fueron detenidos en sus compuestos aislados tres meses después de un enfrentamiento con el FBI. At trial, they filed an array of bizarre documents citing the Fed, the gold standard, the 14th Amendment, and the Uniform Commercial Code, but to no avail. En el juicio, que presentó una serie de extrañas documentos citando la Reserva Federal, el patrón oro, la 14 ª Enmienda, y el Código de Comercio Uniforme, pero fue en vano. They were sent to the maximum security “Supermax” federal prison in Florence, Colorado, where they remain today. Ellos fueron enviados a la máxima seguridad "supermax" prisión federal en Florence, Colorado, donde permanecen hoy.
But the appeal of their anti-government dogma didn’t disappear. Pero el llamamiento de su gobierno contra el dogma no desapareció. The Freemen continued to attract sympathizers outside Supermax walls. La continuación libres para atraer simpatizantes supermax fuera de las paredes. Some collected the documents the Freemen filed during their trial and began offering them for sale via adver tisements in “America’s Bulletin,” a newsletter espousing Posse- style anti-government theories that is widely distributed throughout the prison system by white supremacists. Algunos de los documentos recogidos los libres presentadas durante el juicio y comenzó a ofrecer a la venta a través de publicidad en tisements "America's Bulletin," un boletín defensa al estilo de Posse contra el gobierno teorías que se distribuye ampliamente en todo el sistema penitenciario de supremacistas blancos.
In October 2004, a prisoner named Michael Burpee arrived at the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center in downtown Baltimore. En octubre de 2004, un preso llamado Michael Burpee llegó a Maryland el Centro Correccional de ajuste en el centro de Baltimore. Burpee had recently been convicted in Florida of trafficking PCP to Maryland. Burpee recientemente había sido condenado en Florida trata de PCP a Maryland. Hoping for leniency, he pled guilty, only to receive a twenty seven-year prison sentence dictated by harsh federal sentencing guidelines. La esperanza de clemencia, él se declaró culpable, sólo para recibir un veintisiete años de prisión dictada por las duras penas a las directrices federales. Desperate for a way out, he began listening to someone — presumably a fellow prisoner — who explained how the charges were all part of a secret government conspiracy against him. Desperate para una salida, comenzó a escuchar a alguien - presumiblemente un compañero preso - que explicó cómo las acusaciones formaban parte de un gobierno secreto conspiración en su contra. Then Burpee was brought up on new federal drug charges in Maryland, and shipped north. Burpee Entonces se planteó en nuevos cargos federales de drogas en Maryland, y enviadas hacia el norte. He carried with him a pile of documents that were remarkably similar to those that had been filed by the Montana Freemen. Se llevó con él un montón de documentos que fueron notablemente similares a las que había sido presentada por la Montana libres.
In Baltimore, Burpee found a group of inmates at the margins of society, people like Willie Mitchell and company who were staring at the full force of the federal government. En Baltimore, Burpee encontrado un grupo de reclusos en los márgenes de la sociedad, gente como Willie Mitchell y la empresa que se mira a toda la fuerza del gobierno federal. As one defense attorney representing a flesh-and-blood defendant put it, they “saw a freight train coming and felt three feet tall.” Soon the unorthodox legal filings and courtroom outbursts began to multiply. Como un abogado defensor que representa una de carne y hueso lo demandado, "vio un tren de carga y se sintió próximos tres pies de altura." Pronto la poco ortodoxa presentación de solicitudes legales y estallidos sala de audiencias comenzaron a multiplicarse. It was, one public defender later explained, “like an infection that was invading our client population of pre-trial detainees.” Burpee appears to have been patient zero in the epidemic. Se, un defensor público más tarde explicó, "como una infección que se invaden nuestros clientes población de detenidos en prisión preventiva." Burpee parece haber sido paciente cero a la epidemia. For over a year, he harangued his lawyers and judge about the conspiracy and spread the word in the Baltimore lockup. Desde hace más de un año, harangued sus abogados y juez sobre la conspiración y la voz en el Baltimore bloquear. Then, in a stroke of bad luck for the public defender’s office, the US Attorney’s office decided to drop the charges against Burpee — perhaps reasoning that he wasn’t worth the hassle considering that he had already been sentenced to twenty-seven years. Luego, en un golpe de mala suerte para la Oficina del Defensor Público, los EE.UU. oficina del Fiscal decidió retirar los cargos contra Burpee - tal vez un razonamiento que no vale la pena la molestia por considerar que ya había sido condenado a veinte - siete años. For Burpee’s peers, the decision imbued the flesh-and-blood defense with legitimacy and the hope of freedom. Por Burpee's pares, la decisión la imbuido de carne y hueso defensa con la legitimidad y la esperanza de libertad.
Before long, the relatives of the defendants were scanning Web sites like www.redemptionservice.com, which offers maps showing how Satanic runes were secretly incorporated into the street plan of Washington, DC, and a deluxe package of instructions for renouncing one’s social security number for only $3,900, payable by check or money order. En poco tiempo, los familiares de los acusados fueron escanear sitios Web como www.redemptionservice.com, que ofrece mapas que muestran cómo satánicos runas fueron incorporadas en secreto en la calle plan de Washington, DC, de lujo y un paquete de instrucciones para renunciar a la propia social número de seguro por sólo $ 3900, a pagar por cheque o giro postal.
Like the Midwestern farmers before them, the Baltimore inmates were susceptible to the notion that the federal government was engaged in a massive, historic plot to deprive them of life, liberty, and property. Al igual que los agricultores del medio oeste antes que ellos, los Baltimore reclusos fueron susceptibles a la idea de que el gobierno federal está empeñado en una enorme, histórica complot para privarlos de la vida, la libertad y la propiedad. Such suspicions are prevalent in certain pockets of the black community — that year, a study from the Rand Corporation found that over 25 percent of African Americans surveyed believed the AIDS virus was developed by the government, and 12 percent thought it was released into the population by the CIA. Estas sospechas son prevalentes en algunos focos de negro la comunidad - ese año, un estudio de la Rand Corporation encontró que más del 25 por ciento de los afroamericanos encuestados considera el virus del SIDA fue creado por el gobierno, y el 12 por ciento pensó que fue puesto en libertad en la población por la CIA. And black separatist groups like the Nation of Islam — also fond of conspiracy theories — have long cultivated members through the prison system; some of these groups have explicitly adopted the language of constitutional fundamentalists. Given these developments, Levitas told me, “I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.”
This, then, was how Willie Mitchell came to draw on the accumulated layers of three decades of right-wing paranoia and demand that his case be dismissed “in accord with House Joint Resolution 192, and Public Law 73-10″ — laws that involved the abandonment of the gold standard and the Federal Reserve. And it explained why Shawn Gardner kept insisting that he be addressed as “Shawn-Earl: Gardner,” rather than the capital-letter SHAWN GARDNER printed on the indictment: he thought that if he could convince the court to call him by his “natural” name, it would be tantamount to admitting that the charges had been filed against someone else.
On the morning of January 10, 2006, two months after the first flesh-and-blood hearing, Gardner returned to Judge Davis’s courtroom. Moments after Davis arrived, Gardner stood up. “I object,” he said, over and over, until Judge Davis had finally had enough. “Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked Gardner. “You are committing suicide in broad daylight. There are public suicides in this country far too often. People jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge. People walk into their workplaces with a gun and put the gun up to their head and pull the trigger. People slash their wrists. I don’t want you to join that community, but that’s what you’re doing, sir.”
Gardner tried to argue that the court had no power over him under “common law.” “At common law,” Judge Davis replied, “you were property. You were bought and sold just like those Timberlands on your feet today can be bought and sold. That’s what your ancestors were, some of them, and that is what my ancestors were, some of them.”
“You have invoked ideas formulated and advanced by people who think less of you than they think of dirt,” Davis continued. “The extremists who have concocted these ideas that you are now advancing in this courtroom are laughing their heads off. You are giving them everything they ever wished for. They should be paying you to do what you are doing. They are going to make you the poster child for their movement. When you complete this suicide, they will honor you because you are doing their work, better and more effectively than any of them ever dreamed they could do. Some of them — ” “I object,” said Gardner, interrupting. “The government wants to do the same thing anyway. So what’s the difference?”
Gardner, unrepentant, was escorted from the courtroom. And so the tenets of Posse Comitatus continued their long, strange journey, from the racist, hate-filled mind of William Gale to four black defendants on trial for their life in Baltimore federal court.
A little more than a year after the November 2005 hearing, the flesh-and-blood phenomenon took another twist. A key part of the conspiracy indictment against Mitchell et al was the allegation that the defendants acted together in pursuit of criminal goals. The seemingly choreographed speeches and the identical filings, all submitted on the same day and mailed by the same person, suggested that the four defendants were going to great lengths to coordinate their actions, despite being housed in separate prison facilities and having no obvious means of communication. Ergo, evidence that the conspiracy was continuing in jail. The US Attorney’s office also added new charges of felony obstruction of justice, citing the disruptive nature of the fleshand- blood defense. The prosecutors weren’t just rejecting the defense as an argument for innocence. They were saying that it was, itself, a crime.
Undaunted, Mitchell and company continued making courtroom speeches and filing more nonsensical motions. One, for instance, claimed that Judge Davis’ court only had jurisdiction over crimes committed in federally owned “forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and enclaves.”
None of these arguments had a prayer of overturning the charges. But they had an impact nonetheless. They made a long, complex trial longer and more complex still. Seeking the death penalty is rightfully arduous — it requires legal justifications for the penalty itself, enhanced scrutiny over jury selection, an additional penalty phase after a conviction, and so on. Conspiracy charges create further legal burdens. And the way Mitchell et al chose to deal with their attorneys — not dismissing them outright, but asking them to sign a peculiar “contract” that would essentially prohibit them from mounting a defense — created more problems. If the defendants weren’t dealt with carefully, they might be able to appeal by claiming that they had been inadequately represented. The last thing Judge Davis wanted was for an appellate court to throw out a verdict and send the case back to Baltimore to start all over again. According to a source close to the court, dealing with the flesh and blood defense has been “one of the greatest challenges Davis has faced in twenty years as a judge, by far.”
By mid-2007, the federal prosecutors were starting to run low on a vital resource: time. As years go by, memories fade, police officers retire or transfer, informants change their mind, and juries wonder, why, if the case is so straightforward, it took so long to make. On September 6, 2007, prosecutors withdrew the death penalty for all four defendants.
Nobody in the Baltimore federal courthouse is willing to state, or even speculate on the record, that Mitchell and his cohorts may have averted death with the flesh-and-blood defense. There are other possibilities involving evidence, witnesses, and Justice Department policy. But the elaborate processes of federal capital cases weren’t built to accommodate farcical pro se filings and challenges. Traffic offenses, tax cases — even farm foreclosures — are one thing. When the end goal is execution, even the most ludicrous defenses are taken seriously.
On January 8, 2008, the case of United States of America v. Willie Mitchell et al convened once again in the main courtroom of the federal courthouse. The lawyers arrived first, chatting in the manner of people who had spent nearly four years and counting on the odyssey of this case. The defendants came next. While Shawn Gardner wore the blue work shirt of a lifer in state prison, Willie Mitchell sported comfortable baggy jeans and a stylish black shirt. Mitchell sauntered to his table, and spied the lone spectator in the courtroom’s auditorium-style gallery of one hundred- plus seats, a slender black woman who looked to be in her late twenties. His eyes lit up as he smiled and mouthed “How are you?” “I’m good, I’m good” she murmured. “Your new lawyer — get his card!”
Judge Davis arrived last, emerging from a wooden door behind the bench, beneath oil portraits of judges from days gone by. The hearing will be short, he said; the purpose is to establish a schedule for future motions, and ultimately the trial. Davis and the lawyers spent the next twenty minutes trying find eight weeks of available courtroom time for ten busy lawyers plus the judge. Then, apropos of nothing, Shelton Harris stood up. “Good morning your honor,” he began. Davis saw where this was going and cut him off. “I haven’t recognized you yet, Mr. Harris. You’ll have time to talk later,” he said. “I accept your offer,” Harris replied softly, and sat down.
The scheduling discussion continued; Mitchell rested his head in his arms as though bored. Finally, Judge Davis allowed Harris to speak. Harris launched into the now familiar oration — “I request you, the judge, close the accounts” He spoke rapidly in a low, gravelly voice, as if he’d worked hard to memorize the speech and didn’t want to leave anything out.
Harris finished, sat, and Judge Davis turned to the defendants. The speech you just gave has no legal meaning whatsoever, he said sternly. They were words in the English language, but they have no meaning as a matter of law. If, in future proceedings, you persist — even politely — in making these speeches, you face a severe risk of being expelled from the courtroom. The court also may conclude that you are waiving your right to appointed counsel, in which case you would have to represent yourself. That would be a sad day. “We are in recess,” Davis said. He turned back toward the door to leave.
Then several things happened at once. Shawn Gardner, handcuffed, slumped in the arms of the federal marshals, who seized him beneath his armpits and dragged him across the courtroom toward the door. Willie Mitchell raised his right hand to speak, intent on giving his version of Harris’ speech, but the marshals grabbed his arm and forced it down behind his back toward his left wrist, which was already cuffed. Mitchell struggled and yelled at his lawyer, “They got my arm in a chicken wing!” The marshals forcibly moved Martin and Harris toward the door. Judge Davis watched with consternation as they were dragged from his court.
Willie Mitchell and company won’t go on trial until September, if then, and they won’t face the death penalty, even though they probably deserve it if anyone does. But they will probably be convicted and spend the rest of their lives in federal prison, never to be heard from again, because in the end, the flesh-and-blood defense is no defense at all. The 14th Amendment didn’t revoke Shawn Gardner’s natural citizenship — it gave him protection under the law, and paved the way for another black man to judge his case. There’s no international cabal of Jewish bankers conspiring against him — one of his lawyers, a professor at Howard University Law School, is Jewish. The secret histories and grand conspiracies that have fueled decades of right-wing paranoia, morphing to accommodate one doomed cause after another until finding an unlikely temporary home in a Baltimore lockup, are lies and nothing more.
As the marshals shoved the four men toward the courtroom door, back to the prison they’ll never leave, they shook their heads and looked at each other smiling, as if to say right, right, isn’t it always just like this? One of them let out a chuckle that rose above the din. Judge Davis turned to the court reporter. “Let the record show,” he said, “that Mr. Harris is laughing.”
Have Your Say: Victims of the Drug War Are Forced to Resort to Bizarre Legal Defenses
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