Time: Tue Nov 12 18:22:34 1996 To: libertylaw@www.ultimate.org From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: Is this the get-out-of-jail-free card? Cc: Bcc: At 12:58 PM 11/12/96 -0800, you wrote: >======================================================================= >LIBERTY LAW - CROSS THE BAR & MAKE YOUR PLEA - FIRST VIRTUAL COURT, USA >Presiding JOP: Tom Clark, Constable: Robert Happy, Clerk: Kerry Rushing >======================================================================= >Paul, > >You wrote: > >>I appreciate your "real" experience, Tom. >>I would only add that U.S. v. Griffith >>made it very clear that a Plea in Abatement >>is the correct procedural move to challenge >>the authority of a grand jury to issue >>indictments in the first instance. >> >>So, NOTICE OF PLEA AND PLEA IN ABATEMENT >>is actually an adequate substitute for >>a formal plea to the charges, without >>getting you into the jurisdiction. > >I would like to see an essay on "PLEA IN ABATEMENT" describing the process, >theories, and law behind it. Would you care to educate me? I would certainly like to, but I am too incredibly busy right now, trying to recover from the deliberate scuttling which has been done to the several key cases I have worked on in recent weeks. I don't believe I am tooting my own horn when I say that I have had my life threatened at least 12 times in the past 3 months. I must be doing something right, or they would not have bothered. :-) Maybe we can persuade one of the junior members of the list to investigate this issue. "Abatement" is not a term that was invented by Randy Lee and company; on the contrary, it is an ancient procedure which derives from the common law. I would expect Randy Lee to agree with my last statement. /s/ Paul Mitchell > >>Such a PLEA IN ABATEMENT is done by >>special appearance only, UNDER PROTEST >>(you might also add "AND BY SPECIAL VISITATION"). >>That makes it very clear that you are not >>making a general appearance, granting >>jurisdiction. Remember, the courts can >>only proceed, and only have legitimate >>jurisdiction, when the indictment is >>proper and the grand jury is lawfully >>convened. > >Well, there is no Grand Jury involved in driver's license cases. Still >where is the authority of the Prosecutor to bring foreign law and a foreign >court against a Citizen. It seems to me that the PLEA IN ABATEMENT might be >a vehicle to attack those issues. It always is, because it falls into the general category of demurrers, which have been abolished in federal courts, even though you can still file a Plea "in the nature of" a Demurrer. /s/ Paul Mitchell > >~Tom Clark > >
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