Tag: John Miska

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In brief: Here come the judges, more candidates, another A12-related lawsuit and more

Matt Quatrara will take over the ever-busy Charlottesville General District Court when Judge Bob Downer retires in a few months. submitted photo

New kids on the bench

The General Assembly appointed four new judges for the 16th Circuit, which includes Charlottesville and Albemarle, and two are for new positions to handle swelling caseloads.

Juvenile and domestic relations court Judge Claude Worrell, 55, will move up to circuit court. Before his appointment in 2013, Worrell was a deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Charlottesville for 20 years, and prosecuted high-profile cases like William Beebe, the 12-step rapist. Worrell will serve an eight-year term.

Gil Berger, 60, a criminal defense attorney who lives in Orange, will take Worrell’s seat in juvenile court. Berger took on law later in life and graduated from Regent University in 2000. He says he’s “exuberant” about the appointment, and that while juvenile court is not the most sought-after court, it’s the “most intense” because it involves people and families.

Albemarle Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Darby Lowe, 52, will take a new juvenile and domestic relations court seat. During her 25 years as a prosecutor, Lowe focused on the type of cases she’ll now hear as a judge, and in 2017 she won the Virginia S. “Ginny” Duvall award for distinguished juvenile prosecutor. Lowe got a conviction for the I-64 teen shooter in 2008, but had less success with the notorious 2006 “smoke-bomb” cases in which four teens were prosecuted for allegedly plotting to blow up high schools—and one was acquitted.

Lenhart Pettit attorney Matt Quatrara, 46, is also a former Albemarle and Charlottesville prosecutor. He’s taking the seat of retiring Charlottesville General District Court Judge Bob Downer. Quatrara also served as a federal prosecutor and worked for McGuireWoods. Before returning to private practice, Quatrara prosecuted two well-known locals—including deceased journalist Donovan Webster—for involuntary manslaughter from drunk driving.

Berger, Lowe, and Quatrara will serve six-year terms.

Quote of the week

“Human beings since their creation have not been stopped by any wall.”
—Maria Chavalan Sut, a Guatemalan refugee taking sanctuary in Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, on the president’s declared national emergency

In brief

She’s back

Amy Laufer, a former City Council hopeful who was narrowly beat out by Nikuyah Walker and Heather Hill in 2017, stepped down from her position on the Charlottesville School Board in January and has announced a run for the General Assembly. The Democrat hopes to unseat Republican Senator Bryce Reeves in the 17th District, which includes parts of eastern Albemarle.

Eze Amos photo

He’s back, too

Former City Councilor Bob Fenwick, who served from 2014 to 2017 (when he was ousted by Amy Laufer and Heather Hill in the Democratic primary), will run again as a Democrat. He also ran two unsuccessful campaigns as an independent during the 2009 and 2011 elections.

Search and seizure

Janis Jaquith photo

When police had the Downtown Mall on lockdown over the August 12 anniversary weekend, John Miska was arrested for purchasing banned items—razor blades, Arizona iced tea, and bug spray—from CVS. The cops weren’t worried about the two pistols strapped to him. The Rutherford Institute, on behalf of Miska, says the arrest violated Miska’s Fourth and 14th amendment rights, and filed a federal lawsuit February 13.

Opponent arises

Patrick Estes, a former NFL offensive lineman, wants to be the new sheriff in town. Submitted photo

Former Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Patrick Estes has tossed his hat into the ring for the Democratic nomination for Albemarle County sheriff. The UVA alum, who serves as regional director for RMC Events, has also worked for Homeland Security and been a field training officer and a narcotics and special events detective. He’ll challenge Chief Deputy Chan Bryant, who already has Sheriff Chip Harding’s endorsement.

10,992 felons…

Can now vote, thanks to Governor Ralph Northam. Since he took office a little over a year ago, his administration has restored the civil rights of nearly 11,000 previously convicted Virginians, who may also now run for public office, serve on a jury, or become a notary public. Says Northam, “I believe in second chances.”

Walk in these shoes

The Salvation Army is holding its 29th shoe drive February 23 and will distribute gently used shoes, which can be dropped off at the Salvation Army gym on Ridge Street. Past drives have collected over 100,000 pairs of footwear.

 

 

Oh, dear: City’s culling program ramps back up

Getty Images

It’s not a good time to be a four-legged woodland creature in Charlottesville. After what the city is calling a successful culling initiative last year, where sharpshooters took out 125 deer accused of creating hazardous driving conditions, Lyme disease-related health concerns, and wreaking havoc on local landscapes, the hunters are gearing up to do it again.

The same number of deer have been targeted this year, and are only being hunted in city parks during nighttime hours. “The operation,” as city officials call it, is “carefully coordinated” with the Emergency Communications Center and the Charlottesville Police Department. It started February 18 and is expected to continue into March.

Here are the results from the 2018 program:

  • 125 deer killed on nine city-owned properties
  • 11 nights of hunting
  • 2,850 pounds of deer meat donated to Loaves & Fishes
  • 0 albino or white deer shot
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In brief: Councilors’ credit cards, ACA sign-up perils, abusive language verdict and more…

JABA counselor Laurel Olson, center, helps Amy and Susan Hastings find the right health insurance. David McNair

Using ACA insurance? Read this first

Yes, the Affordable Care Marketplace is still here, and sign-up ends December 15. Counselors at the Jefferson Area Board for Aging have seen a few surprises in the process, and want residents to be aware they could face some unpleasant results if they simply auto-enroll this year.

One big difference: Optima was the only insurance carrier in the marketplace in 2018. This year Anthem is back, which provides more options, but also can affect the amount of the subsidy for those who qualify.

Joe Bernheim at JABA explains: With two carriers, the benchmark plan—that’s the second-lowest-cost silver plan—will be less than what consumers saw last year. That means that government subsidy will be lower, and those whose income allows them to qualify for the subsidy will see higher premiums.

What you need to know

  • Don’t auto-enroll. You may be able to get a better plan or lower premium.
  • Some people have received letters with estimates from the current carrier that are inaccurate and much lower than what the premium will actually be.
  • Consumers are being offered “direct” and “select” plans. The select plans exclude most of the doctors at UVA, while direct plans offer a broad network of local providers. If you auto-enroll, you could be put in a select plan.
  • People who aren’t eligible for the subsidy will see lower premiums and a broader network of providers.
  • If you’re signing up for newly available Medicaid, there’s no deadline, but JABA advises going to the Marketplace website (healthcare.gov) to cancel ACA insurance or you may be charged.
  • Can we say it again? Don’t auto-enroll, and do sign up before the December 15 deadline.

Quote of the week

“I feel like court’s going to be watching my daughter die again, over and over and over.”—Susan Bro, Heather Heyer’s mother, on NPR.

In brief

Tinsley sexual misconduct suit

Trumpeter James Frost-Winn’s $9-million sexual harassment lawsuit against former Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley is scheduled for trial September 9, 2019, in Seattle. Tinsley announced he would not be touring with the band in February, the same day he got a demand letter from Frost-Winn’s attorney.

Another pipeline delay?

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suspended a permit necessary for the 600-mile, $6 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross the 1,500 streams along its path from West Virginia to North Carolina, for concerns of harm to aquatic life. This is one of several setbacks Dominion has faced since it began building the pipeline this year, but a spokesperson says it’s still scheduled for completion by the end of 2019.

Censorship suit

Local attorney Jeff Fogel has filed yet another lawsuit regarding prison censorship. He’s now representing Uhuru Baraka Rowe, an inmate at Greensville Correctional Center, who claims his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when prison officials at the Sussex II State Prison censored essays he wrote about conditions in the facility.

Win for Miska

 

Anna Malinowski at a 2017 protest. Staff photo

Local anti-racists like to scream at John Miska, a veterans’ rights and Confederate statue supporter. Recently, in Albemarle General District Court, a judge found Anna Malinowski guilty of abusive language for accosting him outside a school board meeting. At an earlier hearing in the city, a judge let Donna Gasapo off the hook for similar behavior.

Councilors’ credit line

In a much-discussed story that appeared in the November 25 issue of the Daily Progress, reporter Nolan Stout examined the $26,784 in charges (and taxpayer money) that city councilors have racked up on their city credit cards over the past year and a half. All five councilors have one, and four of them have a limit of $20,000—except for Mike Signer, who as mayor inherited the council’s original card, with a credit limit of $2,500.

Vice-Mayor Heather Hill hasn’t used her card, and Councilor Wes Bellamy, who has traveled extensively for various conferences, has spent the most, charging more than $15,000 from September 6, 2017, to October 29 of this year. Local activist group Solidarity Cville has called the article a racist “hit piece” on Bellamy, and said it wouldn’t have been written if white Councilor Kathy Galvin were the highest spender. All councilors were within budget and mostly used their cards for out-of-town meals, hotels, and travel, but here’s what some of the specific charges looked like:

Charged up

  • $1,418 spent by Bellamy at a Le Meridien hotel for a National League of Cities conference in Charlotte
  • $15.52 spent by Bellamy at Kiki’s Chicken and Waffles
  • $41.17 spent by Bellamy at Hooters
  • $1,000 spent by Signer on a hotel to speak on a panel called “Local Leadership in the Wake of Terror” at the SXSW Cities Conference in Austin, Texas
  • $307.19 spent by Signer, mostly for meals and Lyfts in Austin, “many of which were at midnight or later,” notes the reporter
  • $101.09 spent by Mayor Nikuyah Walker at Ragged Mountain Running Shop ahead of her event called “Get Healthy with the Mayor”
  • $132.22 spent by Walker at Beer Run
  • $706 spent by Galvin on a Hyatt hotel for a two-day forum in Washington, D.C.
  • $4.99 spent by former City Council chief of staff Paige Rice on an iTunes bill
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Gasapo not guilty, veteran gets protective order

Donna Gasapo called John Miska a Nazi as he left the courthouse in September. Staff photo

Veteran and activist John Miska, who was followed by a group of protesters and called a “Nazi” after a recent court hearing, filed a criminal charge for abusive language against a member of what he called a “mob.” On November 5, a judge found her not guilty.

Anti-racist activist Donna Gasapo is known for hurling insults and flipping middle fingers outside local courtrooms, but Judge Robert Downer ruled that her speech is protected and noted no evidence showed Gasapo making physical contact with him.

“As you know, in this community, we have been pushing the limit of the First Amendment,” said the judge.

Miska, who has a disability that requires him to use a cane, said Gasapo spit on him and that her behavior intimidated him. He said he asked for police to preserve their footage of the incident, but they did not.

With no video corroboration, he called an officer who observed the interaction to testify. The cop confirmed that a large crowd followed Miska and screamed at him, but said he couldn’t remember the details.

“Unfortunately, we’ve dealt with a lot of these recently and they all run together,” the officer said.

Judge Downer said he did believe Miska’s testimony—including that Gasapo allegedly encouraged the crowd to “kill Nazis”—and entered a two-year protective order against her.

Said Gasapo, “I’ve never said those words in my life,” and she said she never threatened Miska. (In June, she was found guilty of screaming insulting words at Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler, who wanted $500. The same judge fined her $495 less than that in that case.)

Miska, who wore a Denver Riggleman campaign sticker to his trial and is an outspoken supporter of Charlottesville’s Confederate memorials, said, “They’ve taken it to their mind that I’m the devil incarnate because of my political stance.”

 

Updated November 6 at 12:30pm with additional reporting.

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Too broad: Judge dismisses August 11 charge against CVS shopper

John Miska was arrested for possessing the razor blades he'd just purchased at CVS. Photo Janis Jaquith

A judge today said the city’s lengthy list of prohibited items on the Downtown Mall over the August 12 anniversary weekend swept “far too broadly,” and he dismissed a charge against a disabled veterans activist for possession of razor blades that were purchased August 11 at CVS.

John Miska, 64, bought two cases of Arizona iced tea, a can of bug spray, lightbulbs, and a pack of razor blades, and was arrested outside CVS for possessing prohibited items in the downtown area, where access was limited to two entry points on Water Street. Citizens attempting to enter the mall had to have bags and wallets searched before they were allowed to enter—although Miska was able to open carry a firearm. Metal beverage cans, aerosols and razor blades were prohibited, although Miska was only charged for the blades.

Miska entered a not guilty plea and was represented by the Rutherford Institute, a local civil rights organization.

Virginia State Police Sergeant S.W. Johnson, one of the 700 state police in town for the weekend, testified that he’d been alerted to Miska’s plans to purchase the forbidden items because the vet “made certain statements about his intentions to go to CVS” to the checkpoint staff. Johnson stopped Miska when he came out of the store with his walker, which carried the cases of iced tea, and he said he could see the other alleged contraband in the plastic CVS bag.

“He said he had common items for household use,” said Johnson. “He said he likes tea.” Miska declined Johnson’s offer to help him take the items to his car, and the officer took him into custody, Johnson testified.

Other people on the mall were drinking out of cans in restaurant patio areas, but Johnson did not arrest them because they appeared to be “part of private establishments,” he said.

Judge Bob Downer ruled in favor of Miska’s motion to dismiss and seemed to take a dim view of the city’s ban of certain items while allowing businesses on the mall to sell those items, commenting, “If the city really wanted to prohibit these items, they should have shut down all the stores that sold them.” He also said the restrictions were “too much” and that the ban was too broad.

“This case—in which a dozen police swarmed a disabled veteran with a walker buying cans of iced tea and bug spray from a CVS—is far from the only example of a dysfunctional, excessive government that overreaches, overspends, and is completely out of sync with the spirit of the Constitution,” said constitutional attorney and Rutherford president John W. Whitehead.

Also heard in Charlottesville General District Court were five other cases of those arrested over the anniversary weekend.

Former C-VILLE Weekly contributor Toby Beard, who was charged with “obstruction of free passage” August 12 during a march from Washington Park to downtown, pleaded guilty to a lesser infraction of walking in the street when a sidewalk was available. He was given a $15 fine, which was suspended.

His attorney, Janice Redinger, said after the hearing that the commonwealth dropping the charge from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a traffic infraction “was an acknowledgement that no crime took place.”

Chloe Lubin was charged with assault and disorderly conduct, and was ordered to do 50 hours of community service by January 31 for each charge. An obstruction of justice charge was dropped, with the condition it could not be expunged, and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon also was dismissed.

North Carolina resident Algenon Cain, who was charged with two counts of trespassing, did not appear in court. He was found guilty and fined $250 on the first count, with $200 suspended, and $250 on the second charge.

Veronica Fitzhugh was charged with misdemeanor assault and entered an Alford plea, which is a guilty plea that acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to convict but the defendant maintains her innocence. She was sentenced to complete 20 hours of community service by January 31.

Spotsylvania resident Martin Clevenger was charged with disorderly conduct following an encounter with Fitzhugh at Market Street Park. According to state trooper J.M. Hylton, who was standing behind a barricade in front of the Lee statue, Clevenger walked up to the statue and saluted.

“A female approached him and begin to scream and curse,” said Hylton. Clevenger “snapped and leaned over and shouted” at Fitzhugh.

Video showed Fitzhugh screaming “go home” and  “get the fuck out of my town” at Clevenger.

He replied multiple times, “If history is forgotten, you are bound to repeat it.” He also said that Fitzhugh was touching him and asked officers to arrest her. In the video, he stands saluting the statue while Fitzhugh continues to shout at him, until he suddenly turns to confront her, which, he testified, was because she insulted his father’s military service.

“I was there peacefully protesting,” said Clevenger. “You can see her spitting at me. That’s assault.” He said he acted in self-defense when she disparaged the “honor of my father.”

Downer said the case is one of the most difficult to decide because of the latitude required by the First Amendment. But he said  “the conduct of Ms. Fitzhugh certainly provoked” Clevenger’s reaction, and found Clevenger not guilty.

Outside the courthouse, anti-racist activists followed Clevenger into the Market Street Parking Garage and shouted at him and the police officers there. Clevenger sped out of the garage on a motorcycle.

Miska was screamed at with shouts of “fuck you racist” as he left the courthouse with his attorney, Elliot Harding.

Said Miska, “Perhaps we’ve shown the screaming meemies there is a way to protest government overreach within the system.”

Veteran John Miska was called a Nazi as he left the courthouse. Staff photo

Updated October 1 with comments from Whitehead, Redinger and Miska.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gun-carrying vet arrested for scraper blades

John Miska was arrested for possessing the razor blades he'd just purchased at CVS. Photo Janis Jaquith

John Miska frequently shops on the Downtown Mall, especially when CVS has two-for-one sales on cases of Arizona iced tea. Today, he ran afoul of the city’s list of prohibited items after he made his purchases, and was arrested for possessing the single edge blades he bought for his ice scraper.

Miska, 64, says he was both open- and concealed-carrying handguns, which are not prohibited during the Downtown Mall lockdown that limits pedestrian access and requires a search of purses, bags and backpacks belonging to those who wish to enter the mall.

“I clear the checkpoint, I’m Second Amendment friendly, I go into the store and make legal purchases,” says Miska. A police officer picked up his bag and asked to search it, he says. “I didn’t give him permission to search. He did it anyway.”

The list of prohibited items in the city during the August 10-12 weekend includes metal beverage cans, aerosol cans and razors, but Miska says he was not charged for possessing the two cases of canned green tea and mango iced tea, nor was he charged for possessing the bug spray he purchased.

He questions why businesses were allowed to sell the banned items and says while he was getting arrested, he saw a woman at a cafe drinking a beer out of a glass bottle, which is also a prohibited item. “They didn’t arrest her,” he says.

Miska, who is a disabled veteran, says he cut his knees and arms while police “were trying to stuff me into a paddy wagon too small for a disabled person.”

More injurious, he says, are the “hypocrisy and sheer stupidity of what they’re doing downtown.”

Says Miska, “I was challenging the authority of the director of public safety, the governor and the new city manager that they could abrogate my civil rights when there was no known threat. There was no Nazi demonstration, yet they turned downtown into a no-go zone. The Supreme Court says in public, a citizen has a right of free passage.”

City spokesman Brian Wheeler says, “People entering a store within the security area would have already been through an access point and been informed about the prohibited item restrictions.”

After three hours, Miska was released with a notice that he would be considered a trespasser if he appeared in the restricted downtown area before 6am Monday and with a class 4 misdemeanor arrest for failure to comply.

Miska, who on August 23 of last year attempted to remove a shroud that was placed over the Robert E. Lee statue in Market Street Park, knows it could have been worse. “They could have charged me with 48 counts of having soda cans,” he says.

Also arrested was Algenon Franklin Cain, 28, of Red Springs, North Carolina, for trespassing on two separate occasions. He’s being held without bond. And William Erbie Hawkins Jr., 53, of Amelia, was arrested for being drunk in public after a Virginia State Police officer noticed him walking unsteadily and gave him a field sobriety test, according to a press release issued by the City of Charlottesville.

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In brief: Smear season, Kessler’s farewell and more

John Miska runs as the "Don Quixote" candidate. Courtesy Miska

Big John’s run

Fewer than two weeks before the November 7 election, veterans advocate John Miska launched a write-in campaign for Albemarle supervisor in the Rio District, where Dem Ned Gallaway is uncontested. Miska says he’s running as a conservative because he hates to see just one person on the ballot.

“Call me Don Quixote. I’m just tipping at windmills because people have not looked at the real issues and they have been distracted by identity politics.”—Albemarle supes write-in candidate John Miska

Remove ’em all

City resident Pat Napoleon and Albemarlean Richard Lloyd are gathering petition signatures to recall all current City Council members following the summer of hate. For Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy, it’s the second petition calling for his ouster, but the one carried by Jason Kessler earlier this year fell short on signatures.

Don’t remove ’em all

A circuit court judge extended an injunction in the Confederate statues lawsuit prohibiting the city from getting rid of generals Lee and Jackson while the case is active.

Pointing the finger

Charlottesville has refused to turn over documents to the governor’s task force investigating the events of August 12 because the state has stymied city-hired former U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy’s requests for information for his independent review. City spokesperson Miriam Dickler says the city won’t comply until the state does.

Teacher indicted

Former Charlottesville High School environmental science teacher Rick Wellbeloved-Stone was indicted October 25 on three charges of producing and one charge of possessing child pornography. He has pleaded not guilty.

Spate of attempted abductions

Two women were grabbed from behind and had hands clasped over their mouths over the weekend. Around 2am October 27 on Wertland Avenue, the stocky white assailant fled when the woman he’d knocked to the ground screamed. Another woman was accosted around 8pm October 29 on Water Street. That suspect, a short black male in his mid 20s, wearing a black hoodie with maroon sleeves, also ran when the victim screamed.

 

 

Mud bath

The white supremacist or the gang sympathizer? Pick your poison.

This mailer that surfaced last week lists the entire Democratic ballot on the back. Despite its harsh criticism, Ralph Northam’s campaign has stood by it.
An Ed Gillespie campaign commercial links Ralph Northam to local MS-13 gang violence, but the ad allegedly uses stolen photos of non-MS-13 members in an El Salvador prison.

Virginians relying on smear campaigns to inform their opinions on the state’s gubernatorial candidates likely think the deck is stacked against those living in the Old Dominion.

An ad that surfaced last week shows a downright shocking image of Republican candidate Ed Gillespie and President Donald Trump superimposed above a photo of torch-wielding white nationalists. It reads, “On Tuesday, November 7, Virginia gets to stand up to hate.”

We’ve all heard Trump call known white supremacists “some very fine people” in response to the August 12 Unite the Right rally, but Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, denounced them and said, “having a right to spew vile hate does not make it right.”

The mailer hit close to home, and wasn’t received well. Says a Daily Progress editorial, “We don’t need state candidates trying to use our pain to their political advantage.”

It came after a barrage of Gillespie campaign attack ads that tie Democratic candidate and current Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam to MS-13 gang violence.

In one TV commercial, a man wearing a black hoodie and holding a baseball bat appears as the gang’s motto, “Kill, rape, control,” flashes on the screen. A female narrator then chronicles Northam’s casting the deciding vote in favor of sanctuary cities “that let illegal immigrants who commit crimes back on the street, increasing the threat of MS-13,” she says, not mentioning that Virginia has no sanctuary cities.

Another ad with photos of Northam interspersed with images of alleged members of the gang with tattooed faces has been put on blast by multiple news outlets for using photos stolen from a Central American news site of members of a rival gang photographed inside an El Salvador prison—not MS-13 gang members in Virginia. D’oh.

Kessler on the move

A bearded Jason Kessler, arguably Charlottesville’s least popular resident after organizing this summer’s deadly Unite the Right rally, was given a bond modification in Albemarle Circuit Court October 31 that will allow him to move to Carrollton, Ohio, to take a job with an online marketing company.

Kessler testified that his new boss, who was here for the August 12 events, is flexible and will allow him to return to Charlottesville for court dates, which include a felony perjury charge stemming from filing a bogus assault complaint in January.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci expressed concerns that Optimus Marketing had no physical address in Carrollton.

However, Judge Cheryl Higgins agreed with Kessler’s lawyer that if he came to court to ask permission, he’s likely to come back for his March 20 perjury trial, and she noted that he’s not likely to find work in Charlottesville.

Jason Kessler walks out of court and toward a new life in Ohio, with a parting question to reporters: “Y’all can’t get enough of me, can you?” Staff photo