The other day while on the porch, Raleigh county sheriff pulled up and began to read a list of names. Unfortunately Laura Steepleton was second on the list. Without a formal warrant or even a reason for arrest (a mumble about failure to appear) the sheriff carted Laura away. As it just happened to be just after 4, there was no magistrate on duty. From there, without arraignment, Laura was booked and jailed, and told that she would be held until her hearing on charges from the DEP lock-down for violating her bond agreement. Might I mention this action was in Kanawha.
All night and the next day we got the run around from cops, judges, secretaries, and jail personnel trying to clear up Laura's charges.
After getting Laura's original public defender on the case, we got the charges dropped and Laura released that evening.
She is now safely at home, no worse for wear, and claims to have recruited new folks while in jail.
Taking water samples from a massive blackwater spill in the Clear Fork of the Coal River today. Spilled from a surface mine up Horse Creek owned by Pioneer Fuels.
The last photo is of the affected river, running into an unaffected river. You can really see the contrast between the green water vs. the blackwater.
$9,625 total bail cost, please donate to legal fund
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Amber Nitchman, Eric Blevins, David Aaron Smith, David Baghdadi, Benard Fiorillo, Josh Graupera and Isabelle Rozendaal stopped a blast site on Coal River Mountain for nine days, now their total bail amounts to $9,625.00. Nitchman and Blevins are still in jail, held for a combined cash-only total of $5,000.
Please donate to the Mountain Justice legal defense fund: Paypal, or another method.
Thank you everyone who has supported us for almost a year on the front lines. Friends have loaned thousands of dollars to get people out of jail, but those loans must be repaid soon. Some people are also not able to pay all the fines that judges gave them after arrest.
It’s equally important, in order to maintain a robust action agenda, to continually raise legal funds as we stick it to mountaintop removal and the largest coal mine operator in Appalachia: Massey Energy.
Day six is beginning to pass more quickly than I thought it would. A sleepless night and a light snow find me today. I hope our tree friends are safe and warm.
Eric Blevins sent us a photo from inside his tarped platform yesterday. It seems that he has been spending his time fasting and praying.
Keep he and Amber in your thoughts, they are brave, and they have halted blasting on Coal River Mountain for nearly a week now.
For anyone interested in following my legal battles, here is an update on my case. The prosecuting attorney filed a motion to combine not only the 8 Kanawha haul road cases but also the 5 auxiliary arrests linked to the Senior March and the Walker Cat banner drop.
These five persons were arrested on warrants that were filed months before they had ever heard a whisper of them. The five allegedly trespassed on Walker Cat property the day of the banner drop during the Senior March, however we have video evidence proving that several of them were not. Regardless, as it goes Jacqueline Quimby is the proud owner of both sets of charges and therefore seems to be the crazed justification for the mass consolidation.
After a meeting with some public defenders on the case, I have learned that the prosecutor plans to not offer us any pleas in an attempt to force us all to trial. I don't know what his reasoning is, but it seems that he does not understand the circus that he is about to induce with his actions. He is gathering 12 of the most stubborn and uncooperative persons I know in the same room, at the same time, for what is intended to be a session in a court of law.
If you understand West Virginian law in the slightest, you can understand this: February 8th at 1:30pm there will be a performance like no other I've attended in the Kanawha County Magistrate Court. We would appreciate as many fans as would like to attend. No tickets necessary.
