Prelude__
At an irresolute Vision Council in Utah the prior year, a clumsy ‘consensus’ came out for the 2015 Gathering to go somewhere in a wide swath of states across the northern tier of the U.S., from the East across the upper Midwest. It was generally expected to land in New England or Michigan — then in late May trusted scouts turned up in South Dakota, the westernmost place on the long list.
The Forest Service there already knew of them, and posted a meeting request on Facebook… waiting gatherers were confused, and some a bit irate: The ‘process’ was off the rails, working unpredictably; moreover a Gathering in South Dakota would go the Black Hills, where it had not gone before, out of caution and respect — for these lands are sacred to the Lakota and other First Nations.
Controversies kicked up among concerned gatherers, especially after it was announced that Spring Council would convene in that region in mid-June.
[ link to discussions ]
We shared some observations & concerns in a post on 5jn15:
Re: Info on Black Hills
Opposition & Harmony__
[ on Native & Rainbow outcries, the right people praying together, the pristine cleanup & help on the Rez… ]
LEO’s & Trailer Court__
[ more targeted enforcement, hassles & mandatory appearances; upon those who travel to speak, carnage on the court dockets, again… ]
DeMars Defense__
— Val DeMars was cited for setting up a temporary waterline for a council site, going into the 2015 Rainbow Gathering in Black Hills National Forest… he also got a “parking” ticket for his camp by a remote road, part of the campaign of harassles against early gatherers by USFS LEO’s.
He took the fight to court, standing up for serving the health & safety of peaceful assembly,
‘walking the talk’, and First Amendment infrastructure as protected speech.
U.S. v. DeMars Case 5:15-mj-00130-DW
U.S. District Court – South Dakota, Western Division
___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___ . ___
DEMARS CASE~ PUBLIC INFO RELEASES:::
•• DeMars Defense in South Dakota (6/10/16)
~ Introductory news on the case, analysis of the historic Motion to Dismiss.
•• DeMars Trial Set: Rapid City, August 4 (7/29/16)
~ Update on case status: Trial re-set for August 4, 2016.
•• Val Wins in Court, Mostly (8/12/16)
~ Acquitted on the waterline, paying the parking ticket… the paradoxes of partial victory.
DEMARS CASE DOCUMENTS:::
(^routine procedural filings are excluded)
• DOCKET-US_v_DeMars-4au16 — Court record of proceedings – FINAL
• OFF-RECORD:
_ DeMars.WaiveAppearance-23se15.pdf — DeMars’ Waiver of Personal Appearance, per Rule 10(b).
_ Def.DiscoveryRequest-19oc15.pdf — Defense Request to US Atty for disclosure of documents.
_ DiscoveryList_rcvd-2fe16.pdf — List of Discovery items received by defense counsel.
01_DeMars.Citations-16jn15.pdf — 2 citations issued to Demars on June 16, 2015
03_Notice-PubAuthDefense-10de15.pdf — Notice of Public Authority Defense, per Rule 12.3
04_MoCompelDiscovery-10de15.pdf — DeMars motion to compel discovery re: Incident Command
05_Memo-MoCompel-10de15.pdf — Memorandum in support of motion to compel
09_USA.RespMoCompel-16de15.pdf — Govt Response to motion to compel
10_Demars.ReplyMoCompel-30de15.pdf — DeMars Reply to Govt Response re: motion to compel
11_USA-2ndResp_MoCompel-5ja16.pdf — Govt 2nd Response to motion to compel
12_Order.Grant+Deny_MoCompel-19ja16.pdf — Order Granting motion to compel and Denying in part
16_Demars.MoReconsider_discovery-28mr16.pdf — Motion to Reconsider Ct. Order on discovery
17_Demars.Memo_MoReconsider-28mr16.pdf — Memorandum supporting Motion to Reconsider
18_Gov.RespReconsider-4ap16.pdf — Govt Response to Motion to Reconsider
19_CtMins.MotionHrg-11ap16.pdf — Court Minutes, Hearing on Motion to Reconsider
23_DefMoDismiss-25my16.pdf — DeMars’s Motion to Dismiss Citations
24_DefMemo_Dismiss-25my16.pdf — Memorandum of Law supporting Dismissal (amended: Doc. 30)
Exhibits: (see Doc. 30)
25_DeMarsAff-25my16.pdf — Defendant’s Affidavit on the facts
28_GovMoLimine-6jn16.pdf — Govt opposes ‘Public Authority’ defense…
29_GovMemo_Limine-6jn16.pdf — Motion in Limine + Memo in support
30_AmdMemo_Dismiss-7jn16.pdf * — Deft’s Amended Memo re: Motion to Dismiss (23)
Exhibits: (*definitive statement of the defense)
30.1_PriorDelegnsAuth_’05-14(o.pdf
30.2_DelegationAuth-2015.pdf
30.3_PriorOpPlans_’09-14(o.pdf
30.4_OpPlan-2015.pdf
30.5_CampPhoto-16jn15.pdf
30.6_WaterDevt-NFS.pdf
31_GovResp_MoDism-8jn16.pdf — US Response opposing Motion to Dismiss (23)
32_DefResp_MoLim-8jn16.pdf — Defendant’s Response to Gov Motion in Limine (28)
36_DefReply-22jn16.pdf — Defendant’s Reply to US Response (31)
41_OrderDenyTransptn-2au16.pdf — Order Denying motion to transport defense witness
44_OrderGrantAmdTicket-3au16.pdf — Order Granting U.S. motion to amend citation
45_OrderDenyMoDismiss-3au16.pdf — Order Denying DeMars’ Motion to Dismiss
48_TrialMinutes-4au16.pdf — Court Minutes of DeMars trial proceedings
49_ExhibitList-4au16.pdf — List of Exhibits presented at trial
52_JudgmtBlockRd-G-4au16.pdf — Judgment: Guilty of blocking road, $100 fine + $25 costs.
53_JudgmtWater-NG-4au16.pdf — Judgment: Not Guilty of diverting watercourse, Acquitted.
