Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Four anti-government Freemen arrested after an 81-day standoff with the FBI were ejected from a courtroom today as they cursed the judge and a prosecutor on the first day of their criminal trial. Federal marshals had to drag three of the defendants in and out of the courtroom because they refused to walk and pushed the fourth in a wheelchair. Two defendants were allowed to remain at the defense table. The six are among two dozen people charged in connection with the Freemen's two-year operation from their isolated farm compound in a remote area of eastern Montana. The FBI says some 800 people from around the country took lessons at the rural stronghold on issuing the worthless liens and ``warrants'' the Freemen claim are legal tender. People also heard lectures on what the Freemen claim as their legal principles, a hodgepodge of odds and ends from the Bible, the Constitution, the Magna Carta and the Uniform Commercial Code. Members of the group deny that U.S. courts have any jurisdiction over them. Today's fireworks began even before prospective jurors were brought into the courtroom. Federal marshals said the Freemen refused to change out of their jail coveralls or to leave their cells. Marshals forcibly changed their clothes. As marshals dragged Steven C. Hance, 48, across the courtroom, he shouted insults at the judge and prosecutors. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ordered Hance and his son James E. Hance, 25, along with Jon Barry Nelson, 42, taken to a holding cell to watch the proceedings on closed-circuit television. James Hance joined in the outburst, saying he was placing the judge under arrest. He jeered at U.S. Attorney Sherry Scheel Matteucci, calling her an obscene name that is derogatory toward women. John R. Hance, 21, another son of Steven Hance, was taken into court by wheelchair. He was ejected from court later when he ripped up his name plate. Only two defendants -- Edwin F. Clark, 47, the original owner of the farm that became the Freemen compound, and Elwin Ward, 57, of Salt Lake City -- walked into the courtroom without disruption and were allowed to stay. The Hances are all from Charlotte, N.C. Nelson has been identified only as being from Kansas. All six are charged with being accessories by aiding federal fugitives, other Freemen in the stronghold, to avoid arrest during their 81-day standoff in 1996. Clark also is charged with attempted bank fraud for trying to deposit a $100 million Freeman check in the Garfield County Bank at nearby Jordan and writing checks on the account to pay real estate loans. Matteucci has said she expects the trial will last several weeks. -- Kathy E "I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow isn't looking too good for you either" http://members.delphi.com/kathylaw/ Law & Issues Mailing List http://pw1.netcom.com/~kathye/rodeo.html - Cowboy Histories http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2990/law.htm Crime photo's Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
