http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20100504/NEWS02/5040411/-1/NEWS
A judge has suspended a decision that would have allowed nine members of a Michigan militia to leave jail while they await trial.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts on Monday evening granted a request by the U.S. attorney's office to delay their release. Prosecutors have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to file an appeal.
The nine were supposed to be transported to the federal courthouse in Detroit where they would have been released Tuesday after completing paperwork.
Roberts set many conditions on the nine, who belong to a southern Michigan group called Hutaree.
They're charged with conspiracy to commit sedition, or rebellion, against the government. Prosecutors say they're too dangerous to be free, but the judge disagreed after holding a two-day hearing last week.
Article appeared in earlier versions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.
Judge orders Hutaree freed to await trial
DETROIT - After being jailed more than a month and accused of plotting to kill area police officers, a federal judge ruled Monday the nine members of a Lenawee County-based militia should be released from custody until their trials.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts rejected arguments f
Showing posts with label Hutaree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hutaree. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Judge asks feds to show militia did more than talk
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100429/D9FCD8I00.html
A federal judge challenged prosecutors Wednesday to show that nine members of a Michigan militia accused of plotting war against the government had done more than just talk and should remain locked up.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts heard nearly 10 hours of testimony and arguments over two days. She did not make a decision about whether the nine will remain in custody, saying only that a ruling would come soon.
The members of a southern Michigan group called Hutaree have been in custody for a month. An indictment accuses them of weapons violations and a rare crime: conspiring to commit sedition, or rebellion, against the government by first killing police officers.
Prosecutors say the public would be at risk if the nine are released. But defense lawyers claim the government has overreached with a criminal case based mostly on hateful speech.
An undercover agent infiltrated the group and secretly made recordings that have been played in court. While there is talk about killing police, it's not specific. In one conversation, there are many people talking over each other and laughing.
Roberts pressed that point more than once as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet argued in favor of keeping the nine in jail. The judge suggested she didn't hear or read in the transcripts any indication that violence was imminent.
A federal judge challenged prosecutors Wednesday to show that nine members of a Michigan militia accused of plotting war against the government had done more than just talk and should remain locked up.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts heard nearly 10 hours of testimony and arguments over two days. She did not make a decision about whether the nine will remain in custody, saying only that a ruling would come soon.
The members of a southern Michigan group called Hutaree have been in custody for a month. An indictment accuses them of weapons violations and a rare crime: conspiring to commit sedition, or rebellion, against the government by first killing police officers.
Prosecutors say the public would be at risk if the nine are released. But defense lawyers claim the government has overreached with a criminal case based mostly on hateful speech.
An undercover agent infiltrated the group and secretly made recordings that have been played in court. While there is talk about killing police, it's not specific. In one conversation, there are many people talking over each other and laughing.
Roberts pressed that point more than once as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet argued in favor of keeping the nine in jail. The judge suggested she didn't hear or read in the transcripts any indication that violence was imminent.
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