FBI searches for growing number of Jan. 6 fugitives
FBI searches for growing number of Jan. 6 fugitives
Six of the more 1,100 Jan. 6 defendants became – or were — fugitives over the course of this summer.
For one of the biggest moments of his life, Eric Bochene wore a faded white t-shirt and sat in an empty, green-walled conference room, straining to hear the volume from the computer. He grimaced as the virtual conference technology glitched. And he frequently voiced his frustration with his situation.
Bochene pleaded guilty in late August to a federal criminal charge for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack. But he didn't stand in a courtroom. His lawyer wasn't standing next to Bochene. Instead the attorney was on a separate virtual conference connection. And Bochene wasn't permitted to choose his own outfit.
Though he was pleading guilty to only a misdemeanor charge, Bochene was required to appear remotely for his hearing from a holding room in the Broome County jail in Binghamton, NY. He wore his jail outfit, sitting beneath fluorescent lights, because Bochene isn't a typical Jan. 6 defendant.
Bochene is one of a growing number of U.S. Capitol riot defendants who absconded and became fugitives after their arrests or initial court appearances.
The prosecution related to the Jan. 6, 2021 siege is the largest in American history, with approximately 1,100 criminal defendants from nearly every state. Though more than 600 of those defendants have pleaded guilty and dozens more have gone to trial, at least six became – or were — fugitives over the course of this summer. Some are still wanted by the FBI. Eric Bochene was one of them
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He was defiant during some hearings, invoking language consistent with the sovereign citizen movement.
How you signal that you’re a complete piece of shit and that you’re guilty guilty guilty.
I thought the sovereign citizen thing fizzled out in the early 2010s. Also, it most of all signals that you're incredibly incredibly annoying
It's a mail order scam that targets poor, criminal defendants with no education.
They think they are buying law books of magic phrases that let them do whatever they want in court.
There's a great decision on it from a chief judge in Canada. I'll try and find it.
E - Meads v. Meads by Justice Rooke. Called to decide a simple legal dispute, he wrote a 100+ page treatise on sovereign citizens. It's the seminal work. https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abqb/doc/2012/2012abqb571/2012abqb571.html
Oh right, yeah I only really knew about it from videos of people being ticketed for speeding or whatever and them shouting about being a so sovereign citizen. It makes total sense that these people would be very easy to scam though