Posted on 06/26/2013 9:27:11 AM PDT by servo1969
The case of the rural West Virginia eighth-grader who was suspended and arrested in late April after he refused to remove a t-shirt supporting the National Rifle Association just keeps getting weirder.
According to local CBS affiliate WOWK-TV, the student, 14-year-old Jared Marcum, was back at the Logan County Courthouse on Monday for a hearing because prosecutors Christopher White and Sabrina Deskins were seeking an emergency gag order.
Earlier this month, Marcum had been formally charged with obstructing an officer. He was also suspended from school for one day. His crime was refusing a teacher’s request to take off the shirt, which was emblazoned with a hunting rifle and the statement “protect your right.”
“She said, ‘Are you supposed to wear that in school?’” Marcum had previously explained in an interview with WOWK. “I said, ‘I don’t see why I shouldn’t.’”
In court papers, the arresting officer, James Adkins, reportedly asserts that the criminal obstruction occurred because he couldn’t get Marcum to stop talking.
The school district’s policy doesn’t prohibit shirts promoting Second Amendment rights. Audaciously, Marcum returned to school after his suspension wearing exactly the same shirt.
The 14-year-old now faces a $500 fine and a maximum of one year in prison or juvenile confinement.
In seeking the emergency gag order, the podunk prosecutors argued that Marcum’s interest would best be served if he, his attorney and his father are prevented from speaking about the case in the press.
Marcum’s attorney, Ben White, and his father, Allen Lardieri, both say they find the argument strange.
“We were here because the prosecution filed a motion for a gag order,” Marcum’s attorney Ben White told WOWK. “My opinion is because, seemingly, they want to take it out of the court of public opinion.”
“It was for Jared’s better interest is what I was told, which seems to be a bit odd to me,” Lardieri told the station. “These are the same individuals that are trying to prosecute him, so as far as them knowing what is in his better interest, I have a lot of questions about that.”
At the end of the day, the motion for the gag order was likely a strategic maneuver by the state’s lawyers against the newly-minted middle-school graduate. They withdrew their petition provided that Marcum’s father agreed to waive the confidentiality that prevents the prosecutors from also speaking about the criminal case.
Prosecutors could not speak about the case without first cutting a deal because Marcum is a minor.
Both prosecutors as well as police declined to answer questions.
WOWK reporter Charlo Greene attempted to oppose the gag order on behalf of her employer. However, she was unable to deliver her petition, a Logan County Courthouse bailiff threw her out — twice. Greene was also threatened with arrest for obstructing an officer, the same charge Marcum currently faces.
The bailiff said the presiding judge, Eric O’Briant, requested Greene’s removal.
That source should have been DailyCaller.com
I messed it up.
Very interesting... I see some major pushback coming down the pike.
Land of the Fee, home of the Knave.
Hey, its a change.
Do any WV FReepers know if there is more to this story than meets the eye?
Some cases really make law enforcement look stupid and this is one of them.
Is this in the U.S.?
Gag the podunk prosecutors with a rope, permanently.
You gonna stand for something, stand for something noble and big.
The kid should start a blog.
Yeah, like what does the NSA have on this judge?
These prosecutors who are trying to imprison a 14 year old for having an opinion are not feds working on behalf the FBI, NSA, DOJ, ATF etc.
This is happening in a rural county in West Virginia (the capital of Logan County - Logan - has a population of less than 2,000) which is peopled by Americans whom the residents of DC or SF would likely consider "bitter clingers."
These are lawyers working for the elected county attorney to jail a kid on charges levied by a local policeman after a groundless and stupid complaint by a local teacher.
No. West Virginia.
Why did we ever bother resisting the old Soviet Union? This country is changing into the New Soviet Union. All hail godless communism, comrades!
Marcum was considered such a threat by the NSA that it collected information on his teacher, his local police, the local prosecutors and a local judge and insisted that these five individuals work in concert to railroad this kid or else their secrets would be revealed.
Or
In a small, rural community in which everyone likely knows everyone else's business, Marcum or his family have rubbed the wrong neighbors the wrong way.
Off Topic: I was at the PO yesterday to purchase stamps. I saw the WV stamp for the first time and wondered how this could be? WV (in my experience) is a beautiful, green state. Who came up with the idea to portray it as brown, dusty, and polluted?
If I were a West Virginian, I'd sue.
Not just the police, but the prosecutor/district attorney.
They must be stuck on stupid, not to drop this case like the hot potato it is.
Do any WV FReepers know if there is more to this story than meets the eye?
It is very pro-gun, however it is also one of the most politically corrupt counties in the state and probably the nation. (Think "Duke's of Hazard" Roscoe/Boss Hogg corruption). My guess is that this kid or his father manged to piss off one of the local bigwigs, who sent down the word to the principle, police and DA to put the screws to him. That's just how things work in that area...
Reminds me of an old joke:
How do we know that the toothbrush was invented in WV?
If it were invented anywhere else, it would have been called the teethbrush.
With apologies to all WV Freepers with all their teeth - couldn't resist.
That is the morning fog arising in order to display the beauty of West Virginia.
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