Flesh and Blood Defense

Washington Monthly recently published a fascinating article written by Kevin Carey, the research and policy manager of Education Sector, an independent think tank in Washington, DC.

"Too Weird for The Wire," the article is titled, "How black Baltimore drug dealers are using white supremacist legal theories to confound the Feds."

Upon finding it I quickly found myself engrossed in the extensive article, but when I tried to tell people about the article, it was difficult to relay my fascination. Detailing the history of a legal defense, it reads less like a documentary and more like a mystery novel.

"I am not a defendant,” Mitchell declared. “I do not have attorneys.” The court “lacks territorial jurisdiction over me,” he argued, to the amazement of his lawyers. To support these contentions, he cited decades-old acts of Congress involving the abandonment of the gold standard and the creation of the Federal Reserve. Judge Davis, a Baltimore-born African American in his late fifties, tried to interrupt. “I object,” Mitchell repeated robotically. Shelly Martin and Shelton Harris followed Mitchell to the microphone, giving the same speech verbatim. Their attorneys tried to intervene, but when Harris’s lawyer leaned over to speak to him, Harris shoved him away.

Judge Davis ordered the three defendants to be removed from the court, and turned to Gardner, who had, until then, remained quiet. But Gardner, too, intoned the same strange speech. “I am Shawn Earl Gardner, live man, flesh and blood,” he proclaimed. Every time the judge referred to him as “the defendant” or “Mr. Gardner,” Gardner automatically interrupted: “My name is Shawn Earl Gardner, sir.” Davis tried to explain to Gardner that his behavior was putting his chances of acquittal or leniency at risk. “Don’t throw your life away,” Davis pleaded. But Gardner wouldn’t stop. Judge Davis concluded the hearing, determined to find out what was going on.

Link via The Washington Monthly