DEFENDANT’S NOTICE OF MOTIONS & MOTIONS IN LIMINE RE “SUGGESTION” OF DISMISSAL &/OR JURY INSTRUCTION

MY LAWYER'S COMMENTS

Jan. 5, 2010 Murrieta Courthouse, Riverside CA - I showed up in court today with my super-helpful lawyer Graham Berry almost a year after being charged with misdemeanor pansy stomping vandalism under $400. The DA had previously offered to end this and I wouldn't have to pay the full amount of damages but I refused. So this time they made a better offer. If I would cop a plea to stay away from Gold Base for two years and pay a $205 fine all charges would be dropped. My lawyer and I felt this was an acceptable offer so I took it. This had been a very productive and fruitful enterprise so far but the only thing I would have gained had I stuck with the case (and won) would be getting Catherine Fraser in trouble with the law.  Why?

FALSIFIED EVIDENCE

The officer who issued me the pansy stomping citation noted the damaged plants were worth less than $400. This is important because if it was more than $400 it is a more serious crime. Because they had me on camera the Scientologists thought I would plead guilty. They decided to concoct a fake flower invoice of almost $3,000 and say it was from a local grower called "The Color Connection." The charge was changed to vandalism OVER $400. They wanted me in bigger trouble and they wanted me to pay a lot more money in restitution.

Unfortunately for them I pled "not guilty" and a trial had to be arranged. I did not believe for a minute that I had done almost $3,000 worth of damage. So I requested my own invoice from The Color Connection, the only grower in the area that had such flowers available. It showed:1. The Color Connection doesn't do installations even though the cult's invoice said they do. They just grow the plants. I was told the brother of the owner should be contacted if I wanted to talk about planting the flowers. The brother said this would cost less than $200.2. Plants aren't available for purchase in the quantities mentioned on the cult invoice3. The cult invoice looks nothing like their invoices4.  The "real" invoice shows each plant worth about .75 cents. The cult invoice says each installed plant is worth over $9, a 1240% markup!When Catherine Harrison, the woman from the Color Connection, was questioned she said she knew nothing about the Scientology invoice, that there was no record of it in their system, that the prices were much too high and it didn't look like their invoices.

The next time I went to court Catherine Fraser looked very meek because they knew we had talked to the Color Connection. But the cultists didn't tell their own District Attorney Steve Allen about the fake invoice. He was very puzzled as to what was going on and why we were going to bring in a surprise rebuttal witness. "What is to rebut?" the DA thought, "we've got him on video doing it."Things were looking very good for getting Catherine Fraser nailed for falsifying evidence. The case might even get thrown out because of this so we were careful not to mention it to anybody. My lawyer Graham Berry wanted to wait until we were in court on the stand and someone mentioned the price of the flowers. Then he could wave the second, nonfiction invoice, and say AHA! Liars!

FLOWER FARMER CHANGES HIS STORY

Then the cultists leaned on Bill Shinkle the flower farmer. They probably told him they would never buy flowers from him again if he didn't do what they wanted. Right when he business is at it's worst thanks to the economy. Suddenly his girlfriend Catherine Harrison said she didn't know what she was talking about. Bill Shinkle said the invoices look different because he changed computers and systems (quickbooks). Suddenly the flowers that were on the original phony cult invoice weren't good enough and there was stupid debate about 4" vs. 6" plants and other nonsense.  He became a hostile witness. "I only supply and plant the flowers" Shinkle said. "I don't know what they do there and I do not want to know what they do there."Fortunately the invoice claimed a preposterous $4.64 planting fee per plant. We still had great evidence that their invoice was from the moon but the witness would have to be cross examined harshly. Treating a local man badly could have affected the jury and we were concerned.

PLEA BARGAIN

Today when the DA offered a plea bargain in which I didn't have to pay anything back to the Scientologists I decided to finally take them up on their offer. Since I have not been to Gold Base in almost a year it was not a big deal to be barred from going there. I will be on probation for two years but after about half that time, if I have engaged in good behavior, I can petition to be allowed back to Gold base to protest. After two years my record will be expunged.

What started out as an attempt to get the Hemet police to show up and do their duty turned into a very useful exercise. It allowed my lawyer to meet and learn about the DAs and judges at the Murietta Justice Center. Because Anonorange and I were there on Pansygate business we caught Riverside Super Jeff Stone as an alleged accessory to kidnapping. The Scientologists were forced to waste time dealing with me and paying their super-expensive lawyer Elliot Abelson. He even had to rent a room in Murrieta last night to be ready for today. His hotel room probably cost more than the $205 in fines I paid to the state, not the cult. In return I got out of Scientology's Hemet CA hair for a while. Of course at the last minute their lawyer Elliott Abelson tried to have me drug tested and HIV tested to harass me. He knows my HIV status!  They told the Hemet police and the LA Times last year!  This went nowhere and just left the commissioner confused.

Although I was disappointed not to catch Catherine Fraser behaving badly it was a good deal for everyone except my lawyer. "I really wanted to try this case!" he complained.  But he did a great job and a big thanks to Graham Berry.  To see the numbers behind the nonsense invoice click here.  A few days after the trial I received a $35 check from the Superior Court of CA Riverside Bail Trust labelled "Exoneration." I don't know why but I guess that means I only paid $170 to drop this matter.

Meanwhile on many fronts my lawyer remarked that Scientology is very quiet right now. We suspect it is because their numbers are way down and they are infighting. Much like the LA based protesters!