Skidmark legal defense fund

[Mauler88]

Hi, folks got my e-mail alert today from VGOF. Here is the entire content of the e-mail. Help the fellow with donation if you can.

here goes....

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In This Issue
Open Carry Proponent Jailed - Background
Information and discussion topics for "Skidmark"
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Dear mauler88,

Thank you for being a VGOF member! If you have news or information that you think should be included in a future newsletter, please contact me - rick@vgof.net

This newsletter is dedicated to the Legal Defense Fund for Paul (Skidmark) from OCDO. He was recently arrested and charged with Brandishing a Firearm and Obstruction of Justice.

I have spent some time in the OCDO forums and I have seen that Paul is a strong proponent for the Second Amendment and the Open Carry movement. He has provided a great amount information to a great many people in the forum. Paul doesn't just talk the talk, he also walks the walk. He has been very involved with VCDL and has lent his support many times, at his own expense, and without feeling the need to be recognized for his efforts. Well - I would like Paul to know that I have recognized his efforts in the past, and I look forward to his continued good stewardship of the Second Amendment and the OC movement in Virginia.

Please consider supporting Paul's legal defense. Every little bit counts. This is a fight that he should not have to fight, but at this point, he has no choice. The legal system is moving forward with the charges, and this will be very costly, no only monetarily, but emotionally as well.

I wish Paul the best of luck, and I hope that our VGOF crew will pitch in to help out.

Skidmark's Legal Defense Fund
Anyone wishing to contribute should send a check to:

Virginia Legal Defense
P.O. Box 100
Broad Run, Va. 20137

(Paypal donation instructions are outlined further down in the main story)

Sincerely,

Rick Sandlin, VGOF Owner/Administrator
Open Carry Proponent Jailed - Background Story
Source: OCDO - 12/03/2010 20:06 hours

Several weeks ago, Open Carry Dot Org (OCDO) member "Skidmark" took a notion to drive to Williamsburg from his home near Richmond, thinking that he'd take the scenic route to enjoy the fall color in the leaves along the James River. His leisurely trip was interrupted at the Surry ferry crossing; a private contractor working for VDOT to "ensure security" ordered Skidmark to get out of his car, instead of asking if he could look inside the vehicle as he is supposed to do. Perhaps the "security" contractor noticed Skidmark's GSL and VCDL magnets on the rear of the car.

Skidmark asked the guy what authority he had for ordering him out of his car instead of simply asking him to pop the back open so they could look inside. The guy refused to answer that question, and simply reasserted his demand that Skidmark get out of the car. Skidmark elected not to take the ferry, and went to the turn-around point where he had a conversation with the "security" contractor's supervisor. When Skidmark asked him what authority the first guy had to order him out of the car, the supervisor basically called Skidmark a liar and told him that what had just happened never did happen. Skidmark pointed his finger at the supervisor, punctuating the word, "you", and said, "You don't know, you weren't there."

The supervisor took the finger-pointing as "a threat" and ended up calling the Sheriff's office. Now, Skidmark was openly wearing his Rohrbaugh 9mm at the time, but never made any reference to it during the course of these events. A deputy showed up after a while and interviewed everyone else who was involved before getting around to talking to Skidmark. By now, Skidmark had parked and locked his car, and was never "operating a motor vehicle" during the time the deputy was present. The deputy demanded that Skidmark produce a driver's license. The deputy threatened Skidmark with unspecified criminal charges if he failed to produce the driver's license as ordered. Since Skidmark was not in, or even near, a car, he declined to do so, orally identifying himself by giving the deputy his name and address.

At no time did Paul gesture towards, touch, mention, or make any reference to, his handgun.

The deputy demanded that Skidmark produce "paperwork for that gun". Skidmark asked what "paperwork" the deputy was referring to and was told "We want to make sure that gun is legal."

After finally getting the deputy to state that he was not detained and was free to leave, Skidmark got in his car and left. No attempt was made to stop him or to place him under custodial arrest for any offense.

Much later, having arrived back at home in Chesterfield County, Skidmark was placed under full custodial arrest by five deputies from the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office (who even brought their K-9 unit along). These men cuffed Skidmark, put him in the back of a cruiser and took him to the Chesterfield courthouse where he was fingerprinted, photographed and took him in front of a magistrate. There, Skidmark learned that he had been charged with obstruction of justice and brandishing a firearm. (Obviously, if either of these charges had been legitimate, Skidmark would have been arrested on the spot.) Skidmark had to put up a sizeable cash bond in order to secure his release, because the magistrate in Surry County had specifically marked the misdemeanor arrest warrants to prohibit release upon recognizance or by issuance of a summons. They clearly wanted Skidmark to have to go to jail pending trial.

Several members of this Forum attended the first hearing in Surry to set the trial date fully expecting both charges to be nolle pros'ed. We were not allowed in the court room - the hearing was CLOSED. Trial was set for Jan 4, 2011.

Let me consolidate this for you - Skidmark "brandished" his finger and didn't produce his papers on demand. He thought he had the situation resolved, but apparently underestimated the deputy's determination to punish him for contempt of cop - the "we can do this the easy way or the hard way" type of thing.

Like a lot of us, Skidmark is not in a position to comfortably afford the needed representation on his own. Something I think that the deputy was counting on - what they don't understand is our collective resolve.

Accordingly, we are setting up a legal defense fund for Skidmark and hope that many of you will contribute and plan to attend the trial. The following from his attorney:

Skidmark's Legal Defense Fund
Anyone wishing to contribute should send a check to:

Virginia Legal Defense
P.O. Box 100
Broad Run, Va. 20137

*** Personal Check ***
Checks should be made out to "VLD Attorney Escrow", with a notation on the memo line that it's for Skidmark (Paul Henick). Just writing "Henick" will be sufficient. All such checks will be deposited into the attorney-trust account on Paul's behalf and as his property;
******************

Click to Donate to the Skidmark Legal Defense Fund with PayPal

Send your contributions via PayPal to:

Aksar-ben@hotmail.com (Dale Welch - grapeshot on OCDO).


Be sure you click the PERSONAL tab, and then click the GIFT button, This will eliminate PayPal taking a cut of your contribution.
******************

Anyone who contributes should understand that this is not tax deductible, and that it's an irrevocable gift to Paul. If there's money left over at the end of all this, it will go to him.


Economical and Practical - Maglite Flashlights
Information and discussion topics for "Skidmark"

There are many places where discussions are being held regarding the incident identified in the story above this one. Following is a list of several places where these discussions are occurring. The primary discussion topic is at OpenCarry.org, where "Skidmark" (Paul) is a frequent contributor to Open Carry (OC) discussions, provided sage advice to many in the OC movement.

OpenCarry.org discussion topic for Skidmark Legal Defense

In your online discussions, please be considerate of the situation and understand that any information that is released with regard to this case must be properly vetted by Paul's attorney (VGOF and OCDO member "user").

http://vagunforum.net/general-discus...967-65441.html

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1290732

http://www.vaguntrader.com/forums/ub...at/topic/15540

http://thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=84322

[Curmudgeon]

Here is the fund-raising thread on OpenCarry.org started by GrapeShot...

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/sh...or-Skidmark-**

And here is a discussion thread started by his attorney, "user"...

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/sh...fingerpointing

.

[3per]

Understand yet?

[Grapeshot]

Some of you will remember me from my previous trips - always my pleasure.

This is a travesty of justice running wild over our rights. Skidmark (Paul) was to accompany my GF and I on our last trip, but took ill just out of Richmond.

The originating post and the administrating of the funds collected are my responsibility with full disclosure/transparancy to Dan Hawes - the very knowledgeable and capable lawyer.

Anything that anyone chooses to do will be acknowledged and appreciated. We are getting responses from many different states and have seen/heard from European and Middle Eastern contacts.

Primary OCDO thread - there are others in the Virginia sub-forum.
http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/sh...or-Skidmark-**

[Robert Kayland]

At the risk of being flamed, I have to say... when OC'ing a gun, getting in heated conversations and pointing one's finger aggressively is not the way to go... especially with LEOs.

I've always felt that, by carrying a gun, you pretty much have to take your demeanor with people down a notch... even if it means swallowing some of their guff... I drolly refer to it as the "Christianizing influence" of firearms... the whole "an armed society is a polite society" thing.

Not polite merely because everyone knows everyone else has the power of a firearm... but also, those with said firearms understand the awesome responsibility that the bearing of firearms bears (pun not intended) in which there are now additional reasons for leaving one's ego at home.

Because, as per this case and others like it, you see where "contempt of cop" gets you.

Of course, if you want to flash your ego and stubborn pride, that's your business... better then, however, to have the means to pay your own freight... jes' sayin'.

Eventually I'm sure this guy is going to go free with a clean record and perhaps even a bit of a settlement... but what a hassle in the meantime.

That said, I'll kick in $50 on the principle of the thing... and because my eldest son is now a resident of VA.

/no, you don't have to pay me back when the settlement comes in.

[Zyler12]

At the risk of being flamed, I have to say... when OC'ing a gun, getting in heated conversations and pointing one's finger aggressively is not the way to go... especially with LEOs.

I've always felt that, by carrying a gun, you pretty much have to take your demeanor with people down a notch... even if it means swallowing some of their guff... I drolly refer to it as the "Christianizing influence" of firearms... the whole "an armed society is a polite society" thing.

Not polite merely because everyone knows everyone else has the power of a firearm... but also, those with said firearms understand the awesome responsibility that the bearing of firearms bears (pun not intended) in which there are now additional reasons for leaving one's ego at home.

Because, as per this case and others like it, you see where "contempt of cop" gets you.

Of course, if you want to flash your ego and stubborn pride, that's your business... better then, however, to have the means to pay your own freight... jes' sayin'.

Eventually I'm sure this guy is going to go free with a clean record and perhaps even a bit of a settlement... but what a hassle in the meantime.

That said, I'll kick in $50 on the principle of the thing... and because my eldest son is now a resident of VA.

/no, you don't have to pay me back when the settlement comes in.

I agree the situation probably could be avoided but lets face it, no one is perfect. He is definitely getting screwed on those charges though, I don't see how any of them could hold up. I hope not anyway, I don't know Virginia law and IANAL.

If the fund is still up after Christmas I'll make a contribution. I'm way short on cash right now and I have a lot of presents to be buying.

[Grapeshot]

I agree the situation probably could be avoided but lets face it, no one is perfect. He is definitely getting screwed on those charges though, I don't see how any of them could hold up. I hope not anyway, I don't know Virginia law and IANAL.

If the fund is still up after Christmas I'll make a contribution. I'm way short on cash right now and I have a lot of presents to be buying.

Would really like to say soo much more, but I think you'll understand why it can't be done right now. There is more detail than has been posted and suffice it to say that all appeared to be resolved on a local level, that day, before leaving. That bucket didn't hold water.

Thanks to all for listening, sharing and doing whatever you deem appropriate.