“What the hell is going on here?” Ravonne said through his teeth. “Tell me that you are in on this?”
“I am not, and I resent the accusation. He seems to think that he should not be on trial because the federal court is not real. All of a sudden, he thinks that the criminal laws were not enacted into law because the Congress was not in session when they were written.”
“Well, of course you explained that that was impossible. This is nonsense.”
“Actually, there is a little case law and material to support his claim, but no court has honored it.”
“Whaaaaat? Am I missing something here?” Ravonne was confused.
“No, this is absurd. There are some radicals who seem to think that we as people are not subject to criminal laws and we can write a check to pay our way out of going to jail. I can point you to research on this, but it’s a waste. This theory has been rejected on all federal levels. There have been inmates that have brought law suits against judges and prosecutors and sometimes even had liens placed against them for outrageous amounts in the billions. And these assholes are so smart that they know that it is very, and I mean very, difficult to get them lifted.”
“Well, do you blame them? They have nothing but time on their hands, so hey let’s file false liens on the people that prosecuted us.”
“That’s not the end of it. If there is a lien placed on the judge, then there lies some prejudice. How could the judge rule on any post-trial motions if the defendant has a lien on them?”
“They can’t.”
“They shouldn’t, but they do.”
“So what’s happening with Andre here?”
“He wants to call into question the federal court and file a lien against the judge and Barnswell. I absolutely refuse to get involved here. There was a big sting in the FDC and they locked nearly 30 inmates who possessed any material in the SHU . They then banned the material from coming in, but you know inmates, they get everything that they want someway somehow. I am not playing this game, but he has threatened to fire me and represent himself.”
“He’s not competent, so that’s not going to happen. The judge would not grant his request.”
“And he knows that, but I have surmised that he wants to preserve the record for appellate review. He wants to get that denial and then use it as grounds to get back.”
“I see. What I am thinking is that the judge will rule that he is not mentally ill and the motion to change plea will be denied. So when the Judge denies his request to represent himself, he won’t really have a reason too. But in the end, he’s hoping that the appeals court rules that he should have given him a chance to present evidence that he was mentally insane, and since he didn’t, how could he rule against him in representing himself?”
“This all imaginative. Pure fiction and I am at wits end with this. Can you have Kareem talk to him? He listens to him. This is just not going to happen the way he wants. If he plays with fire and gets convicted, it’s going to be a wrap, Lemmelle. There is nothing that he will be able to do, as I am going to give this my all and avoid many of the ineffective counsel grounds that he could potentially take advantage of.”
“Well do your job. I am going to run this by Kareem. In the meantime...”
“All rise,” the courtroom deputy said. “The Honorable George E. K. Martin presiding.”