The man who claims to be the third and current king of Hawaii was back in Dane County Circuit Court Friday, but his appearance didn't seem to give any help to his adherents.
One of them was sent to prison for two years and the other was put on probation for five years.
It was the final chapter in court here for Janice Kay Logan, 46, of Catham, Ill., and Jason Zellmer, 23, of Oconomowoc, who are followers of David Wynn Miller and his complex new language and the Unity States of the World.
Logan and Zellmer were facing sentencing on six counts each of simulating legal process, a fancy way of saying they served bogus lawsuits on six public servants who had a hand in convicting Zellmer of resisting arrest after a scuffle outside a campus area bar in January 2001.
As always, the court appearance turned into high comedy for the audience and severely tested the patience of court officials, particularly when Logan engaged in an unintelligible filibuster in the language called "The Truth," refusing to stop despite repeated warnings by Circuit Judge Steven Ebert. She was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of extended supervision after she finally quit talking.
The language is the invention of Miller, and is based on mathematics and maritime law. It has a puzzling syntax, and meanings of words vary depending on what word is used before them.
Users of the language pronounce all punctuation, and use it in uncommon ways. So Miller introduced himself as Davidhyphenwynncolonmiller when he took the stand.
Ebert had barely opened the hearing for Logan when she began to read from an inch-thick document. She continued to read despite orders from the judge to stop.
Ebert finally convinced her to quit, and Assistant Attorney General Roy Korte then had a chance to put forth his sentencing argument, relying on usual language, in which he asked for a prison term of 18 to 24 months to be followed by extended supervision.
Korte noted that after Zellmer's conviction for resisting arrest, he and Logan prepared the phony lawsuits, used fake court seals, and served them on the judge, prosecutor, clerk of courts and three police officers who were involved in Zellmer's trial.
Those lawsuits threatened fines and imprisonment, Korte said, and amounted to attacks on public officials doing their sworn duties. "It was revenge and retaliation for lawful acts," he said.
Logan then called Miller, the self-described king of Hawaii and head of the Unity States of the World, to the stand, but his stay was brief.
After explaining how all people have dual identities, a volition identity and a corporate identity, Miller discussed his new language a bit and commented on President Bush's speech before the start of war in Iraq.
"Do you have any questions that relate to the sentencing hearing?" Ebert asked.
Instead, Logan asked Miller to explain such things as "the treaty situation," and to explain when a lawsuit is not really a lawsuit, and discuss Unity States.
"You're testing my patience at this point, Ms. Logan," the judge said.
When Logan proceeded to ask Miller if he had been to the Pentagon recently, Ebert called a halt to the testimony.
Logan then continued her long and torturous speech, until the judge finally cut her off and handed down his sentence. Along with the prison term and extended supervision, he also levied $3,000 in fines.
By comparison, the hearing for Zellmer was calm and to the point. Zellmer, according to letters from his parents to the court, has distanced himself from Logan and Miller, his uncle.
Zellmer called friends and family members to the stand to show he has a job, is going to school and, in the words of his parents, had changed dramatically since a jail term he served in conjunction with his conviction for resisting arrest.
Although the judge referred to Miller's language as "mathematical gibberish" and "incomprehensible babble," he told Zellmer that "you have a right to that belief and a right to advocate for it."
Ebert also said Zellmer was "a victim of your own youthful zeal" and a "victim and a pawn and a lackey to David Wynn Miller."
The judge imposed a one-year prison term and five years' extended supervision, but stayed that term in favor of five years' probation.
Published: 10:27 AM 3/22/03