Smoke and Mirrors 2

   Well here I sit again in the middle of the night writing. I got about two hours of sleep after my last entry. It was a struggle to stay awake in the courtroom today. When I got home, I said "I'll just lay here for a minute", next thing I know I'm waking up at 1:30 in the morning.
   My last post was more about my friendship with Mike and reasons why this case is important to me. It was kind of like my own "opening argument". From here on I am going to try to concentrate more on what is actually happening in the courtroom.
On Monday, when the lawyers gave their opening arguments, the prosecution had set up about four tables and piled them with gear. Guns, ammunition, tac-vests, gillie suits, helmets, etc. It was an attempt to scare the jury, it was an attempt to impress them with this pile of gear and show them how dangerous these guys were. The thing is, none of those things are illegal to own. There is no quantity or limit to how many guns you can own provided in the second amendment. I know people who wear gillie suits for bow-hunting, there is nothing wrong with having these things. These guys are hunters, farmers, soldiers, some of these guys have been collecting guns for twenty plus years. It all looked really impressive, until you think about it for just a minute. How many guys did this stuff belong to, nine people were arrested, if you divide the display that they showed into nine piles instead of one, you suddenly have much smaller and less impressive view. And who's to say that all of the stuff they confiscated belonged entirely to the nine who were arrested.
   They showed a document that they confiscated that had the nine defendants broken up into teams. It was meant to show some kind of hierarchy, and they made implications towards certain individuals based on that, such as Mike Meeks is the heavy gunner, it is his job is to carry the .50 cal machine gun. Well, what they failed to mention, which the defense was quick to point out, is that the names associated with the positions on that paper changed from training session to training session, depending on who showed up that particular day. The defense was also quick to point out that Mike doesn't OWN a .50 cal machine gun. And hmmm, I didn't see one in that pile of weapons either...
   They made a big deal out of the guys, running military and police style drills. Running around in the woods wearing camouflage. OOOoohhh. What do you think ANY militia in this country does? And I hesitate to call the Hutaree a militia in the first place, but that's the way they've been labeled. It's more of a club if you ask me, a group of guys that get together once, sometimes twice a month, to shoot and train. There are no requirements for membership, anyone can attend their meets, no one was ever required to show up. If a group was truly intent on over throwing the U.S. government don't you think they might take their "training" and membership a little more seriously than once, maybe twice a month, if you feel like showing up?
   Come on...this whole deal is ridiculous.
   On Tuesday morning they finished up the opening arguments, and the prosecution called thier first witness, Leslie Larson the lead FBI agent in charge of the investigation. From the prosecution, she was asked about how she learned of the Hutaree, and what warranted the investigation. She was asked about how and when she introduced the paid informant (who received over $30,000 for his involvement) into the group. She was asked about when and how the under-cover agent was inserted into the group. She was asked a bunch of mundane questions about her training, her position in the FBI, her roll in the investigation. All to try to bolster her credibility. The day ended after her testimony to the prosecution.
   Wednesday, the defense began their cross examination of Larson. One of the first things she was asked was if she felt that she and her team had performed a ethical, non-prejudicial, investigation of the defendants. She stated that they had, however after citing email after email,( correspondances between her and her team) She was forced to admit that they had not.
   The defense also spent a good deal of time attempting to discredit the upcoming testimony of the FBI paid informant, Dan Murray. Showing that the only evidence of any violent actions in their two year investigation of the Hutaree was when their paid informant shot at his wife. And went on to describe that a felony firearms charge in Wayne County is a mandatory five year felony, and yet Murray recieved a year probation. The FBI and Kim Worthy, of the Wayne Co. prosecutors office both deny any foul play or favorable treatment. The defense also showed that he had alchohol and drug issues, and was receiving phsyciatric treatment. All of which Larson claimed she knew nothing about at the time of the investigation. It was also shown that either Murrays wife tried to stab him, or he tried to commit suicide, hard to say which because he lied to the cops and gave three seperate stories on how he was stabbed, first his wife did it, then it was an accident, then it was a suicide attempt. He lied to the cops!!! What says he's being truthful with the FBI, especially when he was recieving cash payments, totaling over $30,000.00. He's gonna say whatever he thinks will put another payment in his pocket. The defense cited one correspondence between Murray and Larson that took place shortly after he was inserted into the group. It showed that in the very beginning of thier investigation Murray told Larson the group is a bunch of hot air, they don't have resources. Pretty obvious to me that he didn't feel there was much of a threat from within the Hutaree. But the FBI thought maybe they might provide them with some resources...
   If you have watched any of the news or read anything in the papers, you may have heard of the trip to Kentucky, for the Kentucky Summit Meeting. It was a trip the guys wanted to take, a meeting of militias in Kentucky. However, they weren't going to go, none of them had any money...None of them had a vehicle capable of getting them all to Kentucky, just like Murray had said, no resources. So the FBI provided Murray with a vehicle, and money so that the group could make the trip. It was on this trip that Stone Sr. read a speech he had prepared, which spoke of things like, preparing for war, and getting ready for the revolution. I heard Sarah Palin make very similar speeches while she was campaigning to be the president. And by the way they never made it to Kentucky, they made it half way, decided not to go and turned around and went home.
   Larson was also asked to provide a target, a specific target that the Hutaree was going to go for, she could not provide one, she was asked for a specific plan that the Hutaree was going to implement, she could not provide one. The only thing that I have seen any hard evidence of is that these guys said some stupid stuff. There is nothing illegal about saying stupid stuff. These guys are pissed off Americans, they are pissed off at the government, and they have every right to be. Things are messed up within our government, I don't think there's anyone out there that can argue this point. We have a right as Americans to speak out against our government. I've done it. And sometimes when I'm really pissed I say stupid things, with no intent of any action, it's called blowing off steam...And we are ALLOWED to do that.
   These guys are facing life sentances.. Think about it... Life in prison. Some of these guys are barely out of their teens. They had no intent to kill cop's, they had no intent to overthrow the government. They did not even have the ability or resources to go to Kentucky. Come on, use a little common sense, how much of a threat do you think these guys really are. None of them even have prior convictions for anything.
   People have said to me that I must be able to relate to Mike's position as he sits in prison, that I must know how he feels or something. But I don't. When I was in prison I always had the knowledge that I broke the law. I did the things I was convicted of. I was held responsible and accountable for my actions, and knew that I was going to get out when my time was done. That's not the case with these guy's, they ran their mouths, and now they sit behind bars wondering if they are ever going to go home. It's not the same, I don't understand, It is not right. I can't imagine what these guys must be feeling. They have been sitting in prison for two years and haven't even been convicted of anything.
   I have to wrap this up for now. I have to get myself ready for another day in court. I didn't and can't cover every detail of this, I would have to write a book for that. But I want to share what I can. If you want to know all the details, come on down to the courtroom. It starts every morning at about 9:30. If you sit in the courtroom and listen to what happens it doesn't take long to start clearing away the smoke and mirrors that this case seems to be founded on.