(#140) 16 September 2016, Vol.3, No.27 > THANKS
PUBLIC DEFENDERS – GREAT WORK!
Welcome
to Pocahontas County
– the Rain Forest of America –
A
place where Rainbows end!
The
POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2
You are visiting < https://crier88.blogspot.com >
THANKS PUBLIC DEFENDERS
–
GREAT WORK!
Once upon a time Pocahontas County
did NOT have an organized legal-defense-system called the ‘The Public Defender Corporation’ –
instead the legal system relied upon local attorneys who were assigned by a
judge to handle a given case if and when the local attorneys could devote some
time towards assisting a defendant with low-income who could not afford to pay
the hourly fee of the same attorney being assigned if hired privately. As a result, the defendant usually found
himself caught between the proverbial ‘rock & hard place’ and badgered &
scared into making some kind of ‘plea-bargain’ that usually resulted in pleading
guilty to something the defendant had NOT DONE yet resulting in a fine &
court costs or imprisonment or both anyway!
Believe it or not – PLEADING TO SOMETHING NOT DONE IS A
VIOLATION OF LAW and can get you sentenced to the maximum of the crime you
admit to at any given time!
At first, attorneys assigned
low-income defendants were paid a flat-fee of between $3K - $4K, compared to
whatever the attorneys received per/hour or per/case as private attorneys – but
that all changed when attorneys assigned to work for low-income defendants like
Lewisburg attorney Douglas Arbuckle ran up his travel expenses account to such
an extent that it was more economical to put into effect an entire PUBLIC
DEFENDER NETWORK! As a result, we now
have a group of attorneys that work full time for the Public Defender
Corporation, including for cases appealed to higher courts, which are
professional, knowledgeable and efficient.
Locally we have Laura Spadora with an office in Marlinton,
and Joshua Edwards with an office in Lewisburg, but active in Pocahontas County
pursuant to the ‘Circuit Court’ of the 11th
Judicial Circuit Court system covering both Greenbrier & Pocahontas
County! These two attorneys have proven
themselves time and again to be honorable, efficient & trust worthy and a
pleasure to work with! This county is
fortunate to have them assisting our community!
To qualify to have a Public
Defender assigned to any given case, the following chart below, issued by the
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, sets the financial standards that
have to be met for the assignment of an attorney. As can be seen below, anyone that is Single and making
LESS THAN $17,500 a year can have an attorney assigned to them if & when
that person is accused of a felony charge; and, Married couples accused of a
felony charge jointly making less than
$24,000 can qualify – and so forth down the list on the chart below!
See this website:
< http://www.courtswv.gov/lower-courts/fee-waiver/index-fee-waiver.html >
See this website:
< http://www.courtswv.gov/lower-courts/fee-waiver/index-fee-waiver.html >
As seen above, this chart can also
be used for anyone involved in a Civil Action for the WAIVER OF FEES for court
costs, including filing fees, and for obtaining TRANSCRIPTS following a
hearing, bench or jury trial, needed for appeal purposes, and for obtaining a
Case Index that must show a listing of all hearings and court documents filed
in any given case that is also required for the filing of an appeal.
Whenever a person
charged with a criminal charge qualifies for a court appointed attorney –
ACCEPT THE ATTORNEY – since by law the assigned attorney has to do what YOU wish them to file and accomplish on
your behalf. And keep in mind that if
you have a bench-trial in Magistrate
Court – and LOOSE – then you are eligible for a
jury-trial in Circuit Court and the case starts over ‘de novo’ – MEANING FROM THE BEGINNING!
Prior to the
establishment of The Public Defender Corporation, far too many defendants were
left holding an empty-bag when they had EITHER a bench-trial or a jury-trial in
Magistrate Court only to find that the cassette tapes were either blank or
filled with ‘white noise’ or both and
therefore denied further justice when appealed to Circuit Court. The most notorious of these cases lasted in
court for more than ten (10) years – and still was never properly settled and
technically still remains open due to having NO ADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE ON RECORD –
thanks to the shenanigans of former assistant county prosecutor Tony Tatano
along with former magistrate Dosche Webb.
But as many of you may recall,
this Editor was arrested near midnight on or about Saturday, 16 April 2016, via
a complaint filed by former assistant county prosecutor Robert Martin and
former county sheriff Jerry Dale, both of whom were candidates in the May
Primary, for this Editor being the author of a series of articles that began
being published on or about 08 April 2016 in THE POCAHONTAS CRIER, an Internet
News Service & Opinion Blog, identified under the heading of “POLITICAL SCOUNDRELS, MISFITS & PARASITES”,
pointing out specific candidates running for government office that once again
wanted live off taxpayers’ money! And as
previously pointed out, arresting persons near midnight and having a local
magistrate refuse to hear the case causes the arrested person to be taken to
the Regional Tygart Valley Jail north of Elkins, and in that manner the
arresting & transporting ‘officers’
get paid overtime so they can take the next day off – thus it’s
two-days pay wrapped into one!
Meanwhile on the following day, a
teleconference is usually held in the Regional Jail, bail is set, and the
arrested person is then freed to find their own way home via friends or family,
etc. It has become a sure RACKET for
both the magistrate court and the office of the sheriff and just another ‘burden’ upon the backs of the general
public. In fact the whole scenario is just a
way of PUNISHING ANYONE TARGETED BY HOLDING THEM IN JAIL OVERNIGHT WHETHER THE
CASE EVER COMES TO A TRIAL OR NOT – as in this particular matter!
The basis for this specific ‘criminal case’ was that while THE POCAHONTAS
TIMES stated on 18 March 2015 that ersatz attorney Robert ‘Bob’ Martin had been ‘TERMINATED’
from the position of assistant county prosecutor by County Prosecutor Eugene
Simmons, this Internet Blog known as THE POCAHONTAS CRIER, used the word ‘FIRED’
instead of ‘TERMINATED’
– howbeit that Eugene Simmons never indicated his reasons for ‘firing’
or ‘terminating’
Bob Martin! IF this instant matter had
come to trial, then that information most definitely would have become public
record – but as it stands now neither Martin nor Simmons have yet to be called
to the witness stand to answer for their respective actions!
Meanwhile this instant case became
a FIRST AMENDMENT CASE dealing with the merits of Freedom of Speech, Freedom of
the Press and Freedom of Association and in force & effect became a sister
case to one in the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, in the State
of Ohio, Case No.: 1:10-cv-720 (2014), USDC, SD, Ohio, Western Division,
entitled, “SUSAN
ANTHONY LIST v. DRIEHAUS”, and later “SUSAN B. ANTHONY LIST, et al. v. OHIO ELECTION
COMMISSION, et al.”; see <
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-6th-circuit/1727316.html
>. Had this case gone its limit
within the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, then this case would have joined its
similar case in the Sixth Circuit, and another in the Eight Circuit which
struck down a Minnesota statute similar to the one in both Ohio and here in
West Virginia. Both the Sixth &
Eight Circuit Courts of Appeal found their respective laws similar to WVC
§3-8-11(c) as not being necessary and simultaneously over broad and
under-inclusive and the least restrictive means of achieving any stated goal [281
Care Comm. v. Arneson, No. 13-1229, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 16901 (8th
Cir. Sept. 2, 2014)].
As a direct and proximate result, this local case came to
an abrupt and fitting end when the State filed a motion upon the following
grounds: THE STATE WISHES TO NO LONGER PROSECUTE.
And was signed by the Greenbrier County Prosecutor, Patrick Via, and put
into full force and effect on 15 September 2016, by Magistrate Carrie Wilfong.
Last but not least, had this
instant matter gone to trial, some unique facts surfaced via the federal law
known as THE HATCH ACT
of 1939 as amended in 1940, and so forth.
In short,
The Hatch Act FORBIDS any federal or state employee from running for public
office IF all or part of their federal salary comes from federal funding –
whoever wants to run for public office has to FIRST RESIGN their federal or
state employment! Well it so
happens that BOTH Martin & Dale work for government & private agencies
that receive federal funding – and as such it appears that neither Martin nor
Dale were qualified to be on the ballot running for government office! As a direct & proximate result, neither
of them had any claims or could make any claims against anything said about
them in their respective checkered-past, present or future! Thus their joint complaint failed to meet the
checks & balances necessary to even receive a hearing!
SO THANKS TO ALL WHO WORK WITHIN THE PUBLIC DEFENDER CORPORATION
TO SEE JUSTICE RESTORED AND BECOME A CHECKS & BALANCES TO PETTY CASES JUST
BECAUSE SOMEONE DOESN’T LIKE SOMEONE ELSE or what they think or say!
MAY
JUSTICE PREVAIL FOR ALL…instead of ‘just-us’
for a few!
In the interim…
VOTE TRUMP
& PENCE AND…
LET’S MAKE
AMERICA
GREAT AGAIN!
*******
“All must admit that the reception of the teachings of the
Christ (i.e., the Messiah) results in the purest patriotism, in the most
scrupulous fidelity of public trust, and in the best type of citizenship.” – President Grover Cleveland
“The reason that Christianity is the best friend of
Government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart
(i.e., innermost feelings).” – President Thomas Jefferson
YOU ARE NEVER WRONG…IF YOU
DO THE RIGHT THING! Mark Twain
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER…WE ALL REAP WHAT WE HAVE
S OWN…& then some!
“The Gray
Riders are now gone, yet they remain asleep in our
soil, and alive in our veins. Untouched by fire, untouched by frost, they
whisper within us: ‘OUR CAUSE IS NOT LOST!’”
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service
providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the
Citizens
of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in
the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’
tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing
impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense
Alternatives for
THE
GREATER COMMON GOOD BEFORE SELF…
or any
Special Interests!
We fight for Social
Justice on all fronts and are an integral part of The
Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal Fires of WV, &
Rolling Thunder in association with
Echoes from
the Holl’r.
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