Kokesh pleads guilty
We’ve been following the case of Adam Kokesh, a former and vocal member of the Iraq Veterans Against the War who loaded a shotgun a few blocks from the White House on July 4th this year for a video camera. He’s been languishing in jail for about four months after Virginia police raided his house and seized a measure of illicit drugs.
ROS sends us a link to the Washington Post which reports the latest developments;
Kokesh’s impromptu plea came during an unscheduled hearing, just two weeks after Kokesh pleaded not guilty Oct. 24 to the charges and told Judge Patricia A. Broderick that he was exercising his constitutional rights. Kokesh, who had grown a long, thick beard while in custody, also announced that he was replacing his attorney, who had been involved in the case since Kokesh’s arrest.
A trial was set for Nov. 18, and Kokesh’s supporters had been advocating for jury nullification in his case.
But on Wednesday, standing next to his new attorney, Kokesh pleaded guilty to carrying a rifle or shotgun, possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. In a separate case, Kokesh pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of marijuana in the District.
Kokesh is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 17. Broderick ordered Kokesh to stay out of the District and said he must report in with supervising authorities weekly. The judge also ordered that Kokesh not possess any firearms. Kokesh faces a maximum of more than six years in prison on the combined charges.
I guess that four months in the hoosegow did him good – he’s finally owning up to his misdeeds and taking his punishment. All of those other things that we’ve watched him do over the years enticed him to up the ante with each new antic. I’m sure the judge will probably just give him time served, but maybe that was enough.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Iraq Veterans Against the War
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe he had a “come to Jesus” moment with his new lawyer who convinced Kokesh that being a dickhead wasn’t going to score him any points with the judge or jury. By pleading guilty and throwing himself on the mercy of the court while showing a little bit of contrition, it might keep him from getting assplowed by Bubba for the better part of a decade.
A few months in jail would kind of give a glimpse into what lies in store. Here’s hoping Davie-boi learns from the experience, regardless of the sentence he’ll get.
I generally detest libidiot judges. But here, kinda I hope Kokesh’s judge is a died-in-the-wool gun control freak who was raised in Berkeley by a couple of flower children and who p!sses his/her pants on seeing a picture of a water pistol.
That would indeed be Karma in action. (smile)
“Kokesh, who had grown a long, thick beard while in custody, also announced that he was replacing his attorney becuase he was a bad bad man. He sat there sullen and childlike with puffy tearful and sorrowful eyes, as though he was in the principal’s office awaiting a ruling on his age inappropriate behavior.”
Poor little thing!
Can’t help but think you are giving Kokehead too much credit for seeing the light. My guess is that he’ll be back with his hippie doper commie pals, and back doing stupid stuff real soon.
Incurable bedwetter
Reality has sharp edges. Sounds like Kokesh found a couple of them.
I don’t know much about Kokesh but isn’t he a gun guy? If so then the real punishment will be the lifelong prohibition on gun possession that will likely follow his conviction, presuming that what he’s convicted of is a felony (with a possible six year sentence, I don’t see how it’s NOT a felony.)
Of course, the whole felon-prohibition-on-gun-ownership has yet to be tested in court following Heller and McDonald, so who knows, maybe Kokesh is playing a long game here and figures that after his conviction, when he posts a youtube video of himself handling a firearm and gets arrested for being a felon-in-possession, he will take that case to the SCOTUS.
martinjmpr: not sure, but I think Kokesh was “against it before he was for it” regarding gun rights. I could be wrong.
Let us all hope he makes it. Far to many veterans have taken their own lives we don’t want anymore. I want you around even if you disagree with me. Love not hate is the anwser! Peace.
Seems to me, that Kokie learned to like dick and wants to share his new passion with others…
@ 8. I will agree with you on that. Not much else!
Maybe Bubba & Thor straightened his ass out while he was in jail?
Four months in that monkey house is quite the stint. Prison is much better than jail. Jails are full of your run-of-the-mill amateur punks, crazies w/o treatment, and all sorts of stink and noise beyond belief. The turnover is great and the food sucks. Me, given the choice, I’d do a year in prison before I did four months in a city jail.
I hardly think this idiot is going to commit suicide, he’s wayyy too in love with himself.
Whatever else he’s done, I can’t classify “carrying a rifle or shotgun, possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition” as “misdeeds” worthy of punishment. A duty of every Citizen or Citizen-in-the-making, yes…..
#8 VWP
That’s one in a row. . . . ..
I’m with OldSargeUSAR on this one. Kokesh is an incurable “bed wetter” and will likely spin this experience to his deranged agenda one way or another. Just wait, watch and see.
I’m sure it is a felony simply because he did it in the District. I believe most crimes committed in the District are referred to federal court. And truth be told, if he ends up serving time in a federal prison, the time will be much easier for him than state prison.
Anonymous. Please say you’re kidding. You are kidding, right? Tell you what. If you are not kidding, I’ll leave it for anyone else to clue you in. The task is too much for me.
The thing about Kokesh is that I remember when he put up racist anti-Muslim posters at George Washington University and he made it appear as if the posters were posted by a Conservative Student group. His motive was to make conservative students look racist. I can’t help but think that he pulled this stunt in downtown DC to make gun owners look bad.
“I’m sure the judge will probably just give him time served, but maybe that was enough.”
Don’t count on it. That shit bird is nothing if not self promoting to the point of doing anything to avoid getting a real job.
Anonymous in Jax:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3559
Federal courts try both felonies and misdemeanors.
I hope he gets community service.
Inspecting manholes around one of DC’s public clinics.
Right up his alley, so to speak.
Kidding about what? Our federal penitentiary gets tons of DC inmates because crimes committed in the District are tried in federal court. So if he gets sentenced to prison time, he’ll serve it in federal prison. What exactly did you not like about my comment, 2/17?
At least that’s the way it was explained to us
@24. If it was a course, ask for a refund.
Okay, Jax, in the spirit of whateverhood, I’ll take a stab at explaining this. You wrote,” I’m sure it is a felony simply because he did it in the District.” Geography has nothing whatsoever to do with this. Felonies and misdemeanors are established by code. And in DC, the crime is either a local or federal offense. Then you wrote, “I believe most crimes committed in the District are referred to federal court.” ALL crimes that are committed in DC are prosecuted by the US Attys Office–the feds. However, they will prosecute the crime either as a local one or a fedaral one. It’s a unique arrangement. There is no “state” prosecutor. You finished up with, “And truth be told, if he ends up serving time in a federal prison, the time will be much easier for him than state prison.” First, there isn’t a state prison available unless DC is contracting with a state to house local inmates. Second, whether one’s prison experience is difficult or relatively easy depends on what his crime was, what he is classified as for security purposes (e.g., minimum/medium/maximum), and which of the many state and local facilities he is assigned to. There really is no way to say, with authority, that federal prison is easier or harder than state prison without knowing many particulars. And as reps go, generally, fed time is regarded as easier than state time. But, again, it depends.
So, there you go. Yes, I’m a meanie but I occasionally can be nice, too.
Anonymous in Jax: one point that 2/17 Air Cav didn’t explain in detail in his otherwise excellent summary. As noted, whether or not a crime is a “felony” has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not it’s tried in Federal court. State and Federal courts try both felonies and misdemeanors.
Here’s the distinction: a crime with a maximum sentence in excess of one year is by definition under Federal law a felony. If the maximum sentence is one year or less, it’s a generally misdemeanor (if the max sentence is 5 days or less, under Federal law technically it’s an “infraction” vice a misdemeanor). The actual sentence given is, frankly, immaterial – it’s the maximum that can be imposed that’s pertinent.
For the specific Federal law that defines “felony” and “misdemeanor”, see my previous comment.