IPFS
An open letter from Julian Heicklen...
Written by Donna Hancock Subject: ActivismForwarded to me from a friend, this letter recounts Julian Heicklen's arrest last week and his plea for help:
ARREST OF FEBRUARY 18, 2011
Very early in the morning (6:00 am according to Assistant U. S.
Attorney Mermelstein) of Friday, February 18, 2011, my daughter Judy
noticed lights flashing on our cars parked across the street. One
Teaneck, NJ police officer rang the doorbell and informed Judy that
someone was trying to break into our cars. She opened the door to talk
with him. Immediately 9 police officers swarmed into the house. Four
were from the Teaneck, NJ police. They held my daughter hostage
downstairs. They would not permit her to return to her room to dress.
The five police from the Federal Protective Service, an arm of the
Department of Homeland Security, went upstairs and into the bedroom
where my wife and I were sleeping. They surrounded our bed and then
awakened us. They informed me that they had a warrant for my arrest,
and that I was under arrest. I asked them to identify themselves, but
they refused. They ordered me to dress. I went to the bathroom and
clothed myself in a shirt, underpants, regular pants, sock, and Patakis
(the slippers issued to me when I was a prisoner in Rikers Island).
Again I asked them to identify themselves and informed them that they
were under obligation to do so. They refused. I repeated my request,
but they refused again. I went limp and fell to the floor. They
carried me downstairs, out the door, put me in a paddy wagon and took
me to Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ.
At the
hospital, I was given a medical exam. My pulse, temperature, and blood
pressure were taken. Blood was drawn from my left wrist, a finger was
poked with a needle for a blood sugar test. An electro-cardiogram was
taken. The doctors informed the police that I was medically sound and
could leave. Then a strange thing happened. I was not tortured, as
was previously done at 5 other hospitals. Apparently the Department of
Homeland Security has not yet notified small towns like Teaneck that
the hospitals are required to torture patients brought by the police.
Another example of government inefficiency.
At
this point, I was handcuffed and placed horizontal in the paddy wagon
for the ride to the U. S. District Court in Manhattan, NY. Three other
police cars accompanied us. At the federal courthouse, I was placed
into a wheel chair and taken to the police section of the federal
building at 500 Pearl Street. Fingerprints and pictures were taken.
Then I was wheeled to a cell with a toilet. The handcuffs were
removed, and I was left alone. Immediately I urinated to prevent my
bladder from bursting.
I was left in the cell
for some time. I took a nap. Then four guards handcuffed me and
wheeled me to another cell in the court facilities. Again I was
fingerprinted and pictures taken. I was moved to a third holding area
just outside the courtroom. After several minutes, I was wheeled into
the courtroom in handcuffs. I lowered my head and did not look at the
judge or anyone else. I refused to speak.
Magistrate Judge Ellis presided over the hearing. Rebecca Mermelstein
was the Assistant U. S. Attorney, who was the prosecutor representing
the U. S. Government. Judge Ellis appointed Sabrina Shroff from the
public defenders office of the U. S. government as my stand-by counsel.
Prosecutor Mermelstein informed the court that I
had missed many previous appearances. She stated that I had influenced
another juror on a case in which I was a juror, and influenced jurors
in other cases. She asked that I be held in custody.
Ms. Shroff wanted to intervene on my behalf. Judge Ellis asked if this
was acceptable to me. I spoke for the first time, since I fell to the
floor in my home. I asked to speak with Ms. Shroff privately before I
made a decision. I was wheeled out of the court room, still in
handcuffs, to a cell where Ms. Shroff and I spoke. She advised me that
I should accept whatever terms that would get me released.
We returned to the courtroom where I stated that I did not appear at my
court appearance date, because the Court would not guarantee a jury
trial, as I had requested and because the deadline set for a speedy
trial, as set by the court rules, had passed. Ms. Mermelstein informed
the judge that the charges against me had a maximum prison time penalty
of 6 months, so I was not entitled to a jury trial.
The Sixth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution states, in part: "In all
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy
and public trial by an impartial jury ..." Why is it that lawyers, who
do not understand English, are allowed to participate in legal
matters? They do not understand what the words "all" and "speedy"
mean. The federal court rules state that "speedy" means within 70
days. How come lawyers cannot count to 70? Legal matters, in
particular, require and understanding of English and addition. (This
paragraph did not occur in court. It is my editorial opinion added
after the fact.)
I gave Judge Ellis a lecture.
I said that Attorney Shroff said that he was a fair judge. I informed
him that Ms. Mermelstein had committed perjury twice. I was not a
juror on any case in this court and could not have been a juror,
because I do not reside in the jurisdiction of the Second Circuit,
which includes NY City. I am not even on the potential juror list.
Furthermore I stated that I had never served on a jury. I asked him if
he would ever let me sit on a jury, and he stated he would not. I
informed him that neither would any other judge.
I asked him to charge Ms Mermelstein with perjury. He refused. I
replied that settles that evaluation. I accused him of violating my
rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the U.
S. Constitution. Furthermore I reminded him that I had asked that
Judge Wood, who is the judge appointed to the case, be recused because
she had threatened me for exercising my legal rights in a previous
case, from which she was recused.
Judge Ellis
said that he did not have the authority to do anything but set my
release conditions or lack thereof. He said that there were four
possibilities:
Hold me in prison with no bail
Set bail for my release
Release me under bond for failure to appear at future court appearances
Release me unconditionally.
He decide to release me under bond. The prosecuting attorney requested
that the bond be for $10,000. My stand-by counsel argued for $1,000.
Judge Ellis set the bond for $2500.00 to be paid if I failed to appear
at court appearances on Thursday, February 24, 2011 in Newark, NJ and
on Friday, February 25, 2011 in Manhattan.
The
court gave me the copies of documents relating to my case which Ms.
Mermelstein, but not I, had received. I signed the bond and was
released at 6:45 pm. I arrived home at 8:00 pm, at which point my wife
and daughter noticed a hole that the police had made in my pants.
My daughter Judy gives her story
This morning the Teaneck Police knocked on the door about 6:15. They
told me that someone had broken into our car parked on the street (a
lie) so I opened the door. Five agents from the Federal Protective
Service (DHS markings on their coats) barged in and demanded to see
Julian Heicklen. They had a warrant (which they did not show me, but
they did show him) and they went up to his bedroom to wake him.
Special Agent Badge 27 and the four Teaneck Police officers (Detective
Hayes, Officer Caruso, Officer Ortiz, and Detective Fisco) detained me
downstairs so I don't know exactly what happened upstairs, but my
understanding is that he was cooperative (e.g. got dressed, etc...)
until they refused to tell him their names and badges, at which point
he fell to the floor. They called the ambulance and four medical
attendants carted him off about 6:55.
The
warrant was for jury tampering and was issued by the Southern District
of NY. I believe he was taken to Holy Name hospital in Teaneck, to be
transferred to 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan when ready.
My wife Susan gives this story
She coninually called the court throughout the day. She reports this timeline:
1:35 pm: Janice informed her that I was in pre-trial.
2:45 pm: Jim told her that I was about to go into the courtroom now. Call back in 45 minuted.
3:30 pm: Doing the case now. Call back in 25 minutes.
3:53 pm: Vinny told her that I had not seen the judge yet. Court stays in session until 5:00 pm.
4:26 pm: Gilbert says that I am seeing the judge.
4:55 Jim told her that I am seeing the judge.
5:25 pm: Court told her that I am being released on bond.
6:07 pm: I have been released.
The Indictment
"The Grand Jury charges:
From at least in or about October 2009 up to and including in or about
May 2010, in the southern District of New York, Julian Heicklen, the
defendant, attempted to influence the actions and decisions of a grand
and petit juror of a court of the United States, to wit, the United
States District Court for the Southern District of New York, upon an
issue and matter pending before such juror, and before a jury of which
he was a member, and pertianing to his duties, by writing and sending
him a written communication in relation to such an issue or matter, to
wit, HEICKLEN distributed pamphlets urging jury nullification,
immediately in front of an entrance to the United States District Court
for the Southern District of New York, located at 500 Pearl Street, New
York, New York."
Signed by Breet Bharara, United
States Attorney. Of course, the U. S. Attorney committed perjury. I
could not possibly have been a juror in the U. S. District Court for
the Southern District of NY, because I do not live in its
jurisdiction. My name cannot even be on the eligible juror list.
I never knowingly sent any juror a written communication, because I do
not know who was juror , or even what trials were in progress, except
for my own. I suppose that the U. S. Attorney will get someone to lie
and say he received such a communication by promising him a reduced
sentence. That is why it is important that I have witnesses at the
hearing.
Court dates
My court appearance at which I have agreed to appear are at the:
U. S. District Court, Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 50 Walnut Street, Room 4015, Newark NJ 07102, Telephone: 973-645-3730 at 10:00 am on Thursday, February 24, 2011.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, Room 120, New York NY 10007-1312. Telephone: 212-805-0136 at 10:00 am on Friday, January 25, 2011.
I would appreciate it if as many of you that can appear at the
hearings, so that I can have witnesses to counter the court lies. The
courtrooms have not been assigned, so that the room number given above
are for the Clerks' offices. Also a demonstration outside the
courthouses would be useful to generate publicity.
Yours in freedom and justice - Julian
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