(originally launched into cyberspace on 09/18/2007)Dear Subscriber,
I have the details of the oral arguments which will occur in the
appeal of my conviction. Again, it will be happening at the federal
courthouse (844 N. King Street) in downtown Wilmington, Delaware
(NOT in Philadelphia*). The case is U.S. v. Larken Rose (case
number 05-5199), and the hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m., on
Thursday, September 27th, in courtroom 6A (on the sixth floor).
The hearing should be fairly short. The court has given each side
15 minutes for argument, though if the court wants to hear more, it
often goes longer than that. And again, only the search warrant
issues (First and Fourth Amendments) will be addressed at the
hearing, though my appeal raises other issues in the written
motions. As I understand it, a ruling in the case should happen
within a few days of the hearing.
So if you want to come along, feel free. As in any appeal, the only
question before the appellate court is whether the trial court
judge (Judge Michael Baylson) did what he was supposed to do. We're
arguing that he should have granted my motion to suppress, which he
didn't. While I'm at it, let me mention a few more points which
people have asked about:
1) If the appeal is successful, I get "unconvicted," but the
government could try to prosecute me again. Since I've already
served the sentence, they wouldn't have much to gain by doing so,
except for the "making an example" propaganda routine. (On the
other hand, they'd have a lot to lose if they tried again and lost.)
2) There are several issues raised in my appeal, any one of which
can be the basis for the conviction to be thrown out. If we win on
the issue of suppression, however, the government wouldn't be
allowed to use anything they got from the 2003 raid of my house
(including e-mails in which I say nasty things about the IRS--as if
that is proof of a crime). In theory the government could still try
me again, but they could use almost nothing they introduced at the
first trial.
3) If I win (either the government doesn't take it to trial again,
or I get acquitted the second time), my conviction disappears, but
all I get for the year of wrongful imprisonment is an official
"oops." Only very rarely does is a suit for wrongful incarceration
successful. (In addition to the wrongful imprisonment, the court
also fined me $10,000, which I'm almost finished paying off. If I
won I'd get that back.)
4) If I win the appeal, am tried again, and convicted again, I
expect I would just get sentenced to "time served" (what I already
did). Since I was coerced into giving them returns pretending I
owed the tax, and giving them lots and lots of money I didn't owe
(and entering an installment agreement for what's left), I can't
imagine why the sentence would go up the second time around. So the
second time around I'd pretty much have nothing to lose.
Sincerely,
Larken Rose
http://www.larkenrose.com(* Apparently the Philadelphia appeals court is so backlogged that
some cases, including mine, are being sent to other courthouses.
That's why my appeal is happening in Delaware, and it's also why it
took so long to happen at all.)
