How does the Cabin Boy know whether or not there are witnesses to my reading his tweets while in my own home? Does he think he can prove that I only read them when I was closeted away in my office with the door locked? Can he prove that I never sat at the kitchen table with my laptop showing friends his tweets? Can he prove that I never sat in the living room with my family while reading his tweets aloud from my iPad?

But all of that is probably moot. The elements of the crime of failure to obey a peace order are 1) that an order was in place and 2) that the person committed an act prohibited by the order.

Schmalfeldt has conceded the existence of the order by appealing it. That establishes the first element.

Schmalfeldt admitted during the hearing on the extension that he sent the tweets. Such an admission against interest can be used as evidence in a criminal trial, so his admission establishes that the Cabin Boy committed the acts in question. Judge Stansfield found that all 470 tweets placed in evidence violated the order. Since all of the 351 tweets covered by the four pending cases were among the 470, that establishes that the acts were prohibited by the order. That establishes the second element, and I suspect that a District Court judge would defer to the finding of a Circuit Court judge in this case. It’s been suggested to me that it might be possible for the State’s Attorney to obtain a conviction using only the transcript of the extension hearing with no need for further testimony from me.

At this point, the four cases are in the hands of the State’s Attorney’s Office. I’m waiting to see what they do this time.

UPDATE—The poor Cabin Boy’s angular momentum must be staggering considering how fast he’s spinning. He seems to think that I have to prove where I was. No. I don’t. If he files a motion for change of venue, he will have to prove his assertion that I was never in Carroll County when he violated the peace order. It’s the person making a motion who has to prove the “facts” backing it.

Oh, and the Cabin Boy also keeps insisting that Judge Stansfield didn’t find that his tweets violated the order.

Uh, huh.

In his findings, the judge described those tweets as contact “which Mr. Hoge should not have received.” The Cabin Boy’s ongoing violations of the peace order were the justification for extending it, the proof that he was likely to continue to engage in harassment.

Bill Schmalfeldt is now trying to spin his misunderstanding of the legal concepts of jurisdiction and venue into a story that I agree that he should be tried in Howard County instead of Carroll County. He posted this over at Patriot-Ombudsman (No, I won’t link to it.).Unfortunately for the Cabin Boy, harassment occurs where the victim is located. Since I was at home in Carroll County when I read his tweets, the crime that he seems to be admitting to in his post occurred in Carroll County and is chargeable and triable there.

For me, the most interesting thing about the Cabin Boy’s post is how I learned about it. But I’ll save that for later.

UPDATE—The rule about the crime occurring at the location of the victim is old, old case law. An example of its application to a Maryland harassment case can be found in Galloway v. State, 781 A.2d 851 (2001). Galloway was a prisoner in a state facility in Washington County who harassed his victim by mail. The victim was in Anne Arundel County. Galloway was charged, tried, and convicted in Anne Arundel County. He appealed his case, and the Court of Appeals upheld his conviction. He appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court which declined to hear his appeal.

UPDATE 2—The Cabin Boy is trying claim that since Galloway had lived in Anne Arundel County prior to his incarceration, that he was a resident of that county when he mailed his letters from prison. That is, of course, wrong. Both the state and the federal census view the place of incarceration as a prisoner’s residence. Since 2010, Maryland has been rejiggering the federal census data with the pre-conviction address of prisoners in order to “move” them from rural areas (where most prisons are) to the urban areas for the purpose of drawing legislative districts. This has the effect of reducing the apparent population of rural counties (Republican voting) so that they receive fewer seats in the Legislature. However, Galloway was charged and tired over a decade before that law was enacted, so he would have been considered a resident of Washington County even for legislative reapportionment at the time of his harassment trial. Indeed, a prisoner in Washington County is still considered resident there by the State of Maryland for every purpose except gerrymandering.

Here’s another excerpt from Bill Schmalfeldt’s whiny post at Patriot-Ombudsman (No, I won’t link to it.) about the possibility of his being held accountable for some of his violations of the peace order issued against him.Nothing threatening?That tweet is a threat to file a criminal charge against me if I were to take perfectly legal steps to attempt to have the peace order enforced. I’m told that the technical legal term for such a threat is extortion. BTW, that tweet was not the only one containing such a threat. Nor are threats of extortion the only kind I’ve received from Schmalfeldt.

Nothing harassing?

Three obscene images were introduced into evidence during the hearing on my motion for an extension of the peace order. One was a picture of me in which the Cabin Boy had photoshopped an object into my hands. The other two were homoerotic porn into which the Cabin Boy had photoshopped my face. Schmalfeldt had posted the images on the Internet, on both Twitter and his various websites. The judge found that to be harassment and sealed the exhibit containing the pictures.

Those are just a couple of examples of the facts that contradict the Cabin Boy’s claim.

#Fail.

Bill Schmalfeldt has a whiny post over at Patriot-Ombudsman (No, I won’t link to it.) complaining that it appears he may be held accountable for some of his violations of the peace order issued against him.Poor Cabin Boy! He seems incapable of telling the truth.

Actually, I only filed two peace order petitions against Bill Schmalfeldt. The first was initially denied because Judge Rasinsky was not convinced that the Cabin Boy had proper notice to stop contacting me. The judge found that all the other elements were proven and warned Schmalfeldt to leave me alone or face the prospect of criminal charges.

The warning I want to give you is very specific, and it’s not an unusual warning for me to give. The battle line is drawn. He doesn’t want to hear from you, and that means no specific things addressed to him. If I was convinced that you had been put on notice and there were a course of conduct specifically addressed to him, I believe that that is something in the ordinary context of events that this statute would cover. Ah, I didn’t write the statute, but it’s constitutional up to this point, and it can circumscribe various freedoms that you might, in fact, have. Plus, it can also subject you ultimately, as it already has, to a criminal case where you may or may not win, I don’t know, [inaudible] look at the criminal case. I have it here. [inaudible] You’ve got to ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” You may conclude that it is. Some people, ah, are willing to go to jail for their beliefs, but I see that as a risk in this, ah, ongoing exploration of Internet First Amendment rights. Just a thought to share with you. I’m not going to grant the Peace Order for the reason I stated, but you are on notice, and hopefully, ah, you’ll abide by the conditions that Mr. Hoge has imposed in terms of your contact with him, and, ah, continue your debate in a peaceful, civil, and legal manner.

I filed a second peace order petition after the Cabin Boy ignored Judge Rasinsky’s notice to “abide by the conditions that Mr. Hoge has imposed in the terms of your contact with him.” Schmalfeldt’s lawyer offered a motion to dismiss based on the idea that the harassment had been via electronic means and that it was some how exempt from the peace order statute. Judge Green bought his argument and dismissed the case without a hearing. A careful listening to the court audio does not reveal any instance of the judge commenting that I should “man up” and take it if I’m going to dish it out.

Meanwhile, I found and confirmed airtight evidence that the Cabin Boy had not only received my notice to stop contacting me but had commented about it online. With that missing piece in hand, I appealed the first case to the Circuit Court. Judge Stansfield looked at the evidence and granted the first peace order. I didn’t bother to appeal the second case because there was no need for a redundant order. I should note that part of Schmalfeldt’s defense in the Circuit Court was the cockamamie idea that electronic harassment is exempt from the peace order statute. The Circuit Court ruled that electronic harassment, like telephone harassment, is included under the general statute even though it also has a special statute of its own and, therefore, can trigger a peace order. The Court of Appeals declined review of that ruling.

While it’s true that the Cabin Boy had to go to court three times before I was able to secure a peace order, there were only two petitions. He’s been to court two more times in the same case. Once, when he sought to have the order modified; he failed. And again, when I sought to have the order extended; I was successful.

He may have to go to court again on criminal charges related to his violations of the order. It will be up to the State’s Attorney’s Office as to whether those cases go forward. Given that Judge Stansfield explicitly found that the 470 tweets entered into evidence at the last hearing violated his order and that all of the 351 tweets cited in the charging documents are included in the 470, it will be interesting to see what the State’s Attorney’s Office decides to do.

UPDATE—Stacy McCain has his take on the Cabin Boy’s post here.

Bill Schmalfeldt seems to think … no, that’s the wrong word … Bill Schmalfeldt seem to believe that I am under some obligation to block his various accounts on Twitter and other social media.Schmalfeldt is an adjudicated harasser who has had a peace order (see below) issued against him. It orders that he SHALL NOT contact (in person, by telephone, in writing, or by any other means), attempt to contact, or harass me. What does that mean?

Contact means any sort of interaction not just communication.

In person requires that he stay away from me. If, for example, he were shopping in a store and I walked in, he would be required to leave if necessary to avoid me. He is the one obligated to break contact.

By telephone means no phone calls. The Cabin Boy is supposed to refrain from calling me. I am under no obligation to change my phone numbers or leave my phone off the hook. Aside: the case law that makes each separate contact a separate violation stems from the case of a jerk who kept hitting the redial button on his phone, Triggs v. State, 852 A.2d 114 (2004).

In writing includes all forms of written communication. No notes slipped under the door. No mail. He not supposed to send me anything. I don’t have to stop my mail delivery or start using a blind post office box.

Any other means means just that. Contact via smoke signals, ham radio, semaphore flags, even Twitter and blog comments, are all prohibited. He is supposed to refrain from contacting me. I don’t have to change my email address. I don’t have to stay off the 20 meter amateur radio band. I don’t have to disable any functionality on my blog comment system. I don’t have to block him on Twitter.

The Cabin Boy is supposed to leave me alone. Moreover, he isn’t even supposed to try to contact me, and that includes getting someone else to deliver a message for him.

There are very few exceptions for such things as service of legal process and in-court communication.

Finally, he not supposed to harass me. That includes engaging in the sort of behavior which caused the peace order to be issued, i.e., continuing to contact me without a legal purpose after having been told to stop. Note that the judge explained to him that meant and that the Cabin Boy has chosen to ignore those instructions.

But the net is this—Bill Schmalfeldt’s criminal behavior resulted in a peace order. If he is inconvenienced by it, that’s his problem and not anyone else’s.

Apparently, Bill Schmalfeldt doesn’t think very much of the petitions I filed with the Circuit Court last week. Here’s 21 seconds from a video he posted commenting on them.

Video Credit: pupsoc dot com. Fair use for commentary and criticism.

That’s the copy of my petition for a show cause order (contempt of court) that he rips up. I wonder … is he trying to set up an insanity defense?

UPDATE—Well, well, well, … Everything is not proceeding as I have foreseen. I had no idea that the Cabin Boy would do something this mind-bogglingly stupid.

—-> FIFY <—-

As of 11 pm ET, tonight—

Hoge v. Schmalfeldt, Md. 06-C-13-063359, cert. denied.

On 16 October, there was a hearing in the Circuit Court on Bill Schmalfedt’s motion to modify the peace order issued against him. The motion was denied, and the original order was left in place. The next day, the Court of Appeals denied Schmalfeldt’s appeal, essentially upholding the Circuit Court’s rulings. The peace order says that Schmalfeldt SHALL NOT (My caps lock didn’t stick; the order is all caps at that point.) contact me by any means. Period. @mentions and @replies on Twitter are within the scope of the order.

So what did the Cabin Boy do? He began tweeting to me within an hour-and-a-half of the judge’s ruling on the 16th, and he’s kept it up. Last Friday, I showed what he’d been doing to a District Court Commissioner. The Commissioner charged Schmalfeldt with one count of electronic mail harassment, one count under the general harassment statute, and 36 counts of failure to comply with the peace order—one for each tweet. (n.b.: The Commissioner has charged Schmalfeldt. I haven’t.)

So how has the Cabin Boy responded? He’s begun tweeting to me at an even greater rate. As of 11:45 ET last night, here’s how serial harasser Schmalfeldt was doing:

Gentle Reader, the possible penalties for the first count of violating a peace order is 90 days in the slammer or a $500 fine. All subsequent offenses can bring up to a year or up to 2500 bucks.

145 X $2500 + $500 = $363,000.

Hmmmmm.