Stewart Loses Court Battle, But Palmer Action Repaying Lenders May Win War; MN Prosecution Paints Schlangen As Going Business
Former Rawesome Food Club manager James Stewart received bad news today when a Ventura County judge rejected his request that charges against him in connection with the acquisition of Sharon Palmer's farm in 2008 be dropped.
Even though the evidence against Stewart appears flimsy at best--a flyer posted at Rawesome about the farm acquisition that included his name, and testimony that one lender dropped off a check related to the transaction at Rawesome in Venice Beach--the judge ruled that the evidence is substantive enough that criteria covering a California 995 motion to dismiss charges hadn't been met.
So as the 65-year-old Stewart, noticeably thinner and older looking than when he was arrested in late July, looked on from the prisoner docket, with two of his grown daughters in attendance, the judge sent him back to jail. His lawyer had speculated Stewart had a good shot at having the charges dropped.
Still, Stewart received a dose of potentially encouraging news that puts the case in even greater doubt for the prosecution. Sharon Palmer, operator of Healthy Family Farms in Ventura County, is understood to have repaid all seven investors she is charged with defrauding, to the tune of $800,000.
"Everyone has been repaid with interest," a source close to Palmer told me after the judge issued her ruling, and Stewart was sent back to jail. They were sent checks about six weeks ago, after Palmer received money from a judgment in in a suit she filed back in 2006 contending the owners of a previous farm she owned had failed to disclose information about a lack of water at the farm.
I spoke with one of the investors who said, yes, she and her husband had been repaid. "She (Palmer) made good on the whole thing." It would seem the prosecution would have difficulty establishing ongoing victim suffering under the circumstances.
The source said that Palmer's lawyer made the prosecution aware that the judgment related to the old farm was coming even before Ventura County filed more than 30 felony counts for fraud and securities law violations against her and Stewart, as well as lesser charges against Larry Otting, a real estate developer who helped Palmer get a $1.1 million mortgage on the Healthy Family Farms property.
Palmer "went to the DA and told him we had the money," the source said. But the actual disbursement was held up for many months by legal technicalities.
"Someone should call the DA and ask him, 'What are you holding this guy (Stewart) for?' "
I did that--I called Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Harman, and asked him about whether Palmer's repayment of the debt to individual consumers meant that Stewart should be freed and the case reconsidered. "You need to talk to the defense about that," he said, indicating that it would be up to lawyers for Stewart and Palmer to bring that information before a judge.
As for why Stewart continues to be held, he said, "Stewart is in jail because he is a flight risk," referring to his failure to appear for a court hearing in July that led to him being arrested and jailed.
Palmer can be expected to make the case about repayment of the lenders when she files a motion under California Rule 995 seeking to have charges against her dropped. Stewart's next court date is September 25 for a pretrial hearing.
**
The prosecution in the trial of Minnesota farmer Alvin Schlangen wrapped up today, having focused heavily on trying to establish, as the prosecutor, Michelle Doffing-Baynes, said, "This case is about a man...who chose his business over public safety."
The judge repeated to the six-person jury several times that they "must follow the law, even if you think the law is or should be different". Schlangen's lawyer, Nathan Hansen, has said he will be arguing that the law covering raw milk and private food sales is so vague as not to be understandable as to its particular prohibitions. About 30 Schlangen supporters were present during much of Monday's proceedings.
The prosecution seemed intent on trying to establish that Schlangen was running a conventional business, rather than a private food club entity. Adam Harmon (Minneapolis Police Officer for 22 years) said that he saw "coolers" and "shelves with food displayed on them" at a Minneapolis warehouse Schlangen used.
James Roettger, a Minnesota Department of Agriculture compliance officer, testified he conducted "a surveillance operation" to investigate Schlangen on March 9, 2011. Why was he investigating? An "anonymous complaint," he said, indicating Schlangen was participating in an illegal food operation.
The judge admitted about 80 or so exhibits-- mostly photos of the inside of the warehouse and Alvin's van and its contents- food, credit cards, "invoices", "drop tickets", a product and price list, cancelled checks, and even the Membership Agreement form .
As the trial continued today, Judge Robert M. Small complimented the behavior of the young children in attendance, who have been parading in and out of the courtroom over the past two days. One supporter said, "It's the raw milk."
"I didn't hear that," Small replied.
(Still to come, the prosecution's cross examination of prosecution witnesses and presentation of its own witnesses.)
This site's mission is to provide news and analysis about food rights and raw milk. Increasingly, our access to privately available food is under attack by government and industry forces that seek to impose their choices on us. The Complete Patient seeks to provide up-to-date information and encourage the development of community to maintain traditional food acquisition options.
""You need to talk to the defense about that," he said, indicating that it would be up to lawyers for Stewart and Palmer to bring that information before a judge. "
A good example of how prosecutors are not public servants with public service obligations (like to reassess their prosecutions in light of new evidence), but aggressive cadres on behalf of the system's interest.
Another thing to consider when one ponders what this government really is, and whether it's "of the people" at all, rather than alien to us and against us.
Needless to say, the innumerable banksters, corporate cadres, and government officials accused of vastly worse crimes are almost never touched by these prosecutors.
"The judge repeated to the six-person jury several times that they "must follow the law, even if you think the law is or should be different". "
The judge is lying. A citizen has the right and duty to disregard unjust laws. Jury nullification is one of the time-honored ways of doing this.
And I'll repeat that it's self-evident that Monsanto, the USDA, Wall Street, the "president", and so on, don't "have to follow the law". So neither do the people. We're in the Hobbesian state of nature.
I really have to compliment David for suffering the slings and arrows of hosting this blog AND continuing to provide such good reporting on food choice. This is indeed a critical issue and crucial to human health.
We are inextricably linked with microbes. We can either choose to promote the beneficial ones or sterilize ourselves and our environment and take pot-luck. The recent NIH fiasco with multiple drug-resistant klebsiella is just the latest wake up call that the age of anti-biotics is drawing to a close. It is time to choose pro-biotics - not ones made in a factory, but our own, personally cultivated ones.
To this end, I feel that Mr. Schlangen's case is very important in that it helps determine if people can choose to consume potentially microbial-laden foods. The statement by the prosecutor in the current post: "This case is about a man...who chose his business over public safety." is simply not true. Contrast it with this statement from Howard McGee, a scientist and food expert “Academic microbiologists have not taken an interest in small-scale fermentation, focusing on food safety rather than food quality."* Compare these statements and you will see that there is a real sea-change in understanding about microbes, microbe communication and cooperation, and human health.
The time is coming when we will not be able to rely on antibiotics to cure our ills. Rather, we will have to rely on our carefully cultivated terrior to fend off pathogens. Fortunately, if treated well, most microbes are glad to assist us. Hopefully the scientific community will be become more broad-minded and help this process along. Entrenchment in germ-theory mode is Dark Age thinking. Trying to sterilize microbes out of existence is a fool's errand.
*http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/dining/for-gastronomists-a-go-to-micro...
That quote from Howard McGee captures a big part of why we are witnessing such a huge battle over food rights: “Academic microbiologists have not taken an interest in small-scale fermentation, focusing on food safety rather than food quality." The academic microbiologists have the power to change the agenda, by promoting research in the quality arena. They are up against powerful forces in business and government that want to continue the existing paradigm, and few of them are willing to take on a battle that requires risking their academic positions.
So if she bought into a farm without water, how did she take care of her animals? How did she turn up to farmers markets week after week with fresh product from a farm that had no water? That's what I'd like to know.
P.S. I get to meet Sandor Katz today and I'm really excited. He is a food rights activist that I feel comfortable supporting.
on my website photogallery, see a photo of the Amazing Sandor, when he gave us a seminar in Vancouver, a few years ago < www.freewebs.com/bovinity >
You might ask Sandor Katz what he thinks about raw milk, and the debate over food rights. (I am suggesting this not knowing the exact answer you might receive, except that he is the fermentation expert, and he provided a very positive comment about my book, "The Raw Milk Revolution", for the cover.)
I could have also asked him what he thinks about gay rights but I didn't. It wasn't appropriate for the evening. I was there to learn about his experience with fermenting many things, including but not limited to raw milk. His new book is 498 pages and the section on raw milk is 27 pages. I appreciated his infectious attitude about fermenting food of all types, period.
Palmer trucked water in. At that point, she was mostly making cheese, under license from CDFA.
You seem to be a sympathetic supporter, David.
Let's put it this way, Kristen...I get upset when law enforcement singles out individuals to be treated like terrorists when they are, at worst, minor offenders, and more likely, innocent. It's the most serious misuse of the law I can think of. Everyone should be outraged when that happens, because if it happens to one or two individuals you may not happen to like, it could happen to you at some point down the road. So I'm a supporter of her right to be treated as innocent till proven guilty.
What is she innocent of, David?
Didn't she sell produce back then too? Maybe a local will remember. Seriously, if she trucked water in to water goats and produce, that's a story I'd like to hear. We've been without water on our five acres during the summer for up to two weeks and it is full time work just keeping very basic homestead crops watered under those circumstances.
"The source said that Palmer's lawyer made the prosecution aware that the judgment related to the old farm was coming even before Ventura County filed more than 30 felony counts for fraud and securities law violations against her and Stewart..." -------- Ehem... WOW. This is more than just a little important, I think.... Does Chris Harman, as prosecutor, NOT have a duty to disclose this information to the court?? I sat there during the hearing yesterday and watched the judge point to the flimsiest of possible evidence as sufficient reason for holding James Stewart - a flyer with his name and phone number on it (whose creator was never identified and may as well have been my kid sister acting without permission) & the fact that one of the investors left his investment funds with a member of Rawesome's volunteer staff at a time when Stewart himself wasn't even present (totally circumstantial, by the way, and demonstrative proof of nothing more than an assistant relaying a message, the full meaning of which s/he may or may not have knowledge). But what the judge blatantly overlooked was the fact that every witness the D.A. called in the Ventura preliminary hearing either a) had NO idea who James Stewart was, or b) (as with the very investor who dropped his funds at Rawesome) very clearly stated that James had nothing to do with any financial transactions relating to Healthy Family Farms... The judge indicated, too, that the "standard of review" for a 995 Motion to Dismiss are so high as to be nearly insurmountable (to quote my college Journalism Law professor, "Any damn fool can sue any other damn fool for any damn fool thing"), which tells me the system very clearly favors any prosecution who can bring any charges, however flimsy, to court and make a big show, with apparently ZERO accountability. This type of system, of course, presumes the guilt of the accused, long before the case would ever reach trial (which seems to be the only time prosecutors must bring more to court with them than just hearsay or circumstantial evidence), where the accused may finally work to prove his/her own innocence... Take Harman's response to Gumpert's inquiry, for example: ""You need to talk to the defense about that," he said, indicating that it would be up to lawyers for Stewart and Palmer to bring that information before a judge." What the what?? Shall we translate that as "I can go around town wherever I want, accusing, intimidating and ruining whomever I choose, and proving me wrong is up to them"? I think the smirks on his face and the faces of his 3-person entourage after yesterday's ruling help to indicate as much... And in the meantime, while their wildly unfounded schemes play out (at the great expense of the accused and the taxpayers), they declare any number of dishonorable victories - including, but not limited to, successfully running farms and private food clubs out of business, and dissuading/terrorizing others from speaking out for, or starting their own, healthy food pursuits under the threat of similarly biased prosecution and character assassination. And so the system runs... round and round, unchecked by We the People, whose duty it is to hold folks like Chris Harman and his team accountable... If the investors have been repaid in full, then WHERE, pray tell, is the injured party in this case?? WHY was the judge not notified of this yesterday?? Isn't the fact that she was NOT notified clear evidence of prosecutorial misconduct?? And if these charges had been dropped, as they presumably ought to have been (at the very latest) 6 whole weeks ago, WHY is my friend James still behind bars?? Missed court appearances or not, the new details now coming to light at last reveal these charges as the absurd charade they are. It seems clearer than ever now that Harman and perhaps the Ventura County DA in general, are pushing their own agenda here, which has nothing at all to do with the law or protecting the people... And if we don't intervene ASAP and insist they be called out on it, we can likely count on these unlawful actions to persist indefinitely.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:KjXhZVRCTfoJ:www.courts.ca.go...
I can't imagine buying property with no water especially when you intend to not only live on, but also to support farm/ag business. That makes no sense.
She bought the property together with her mother and daughter, and admits they were all very inexperienced, and didn't examine the property as well as they should have.
She got skinned on the price of the property if it didn't actually have water.
Thanks Sylvia. That does provide detail about how they managed with a holding tank.
How do you know that pasteurized milk is in trouble? and has serious problems and is not the solution????
When the Western United Dairymen and WIFFSS ( UC Davis FDA backed anti-raw milk consortium ) start to promote access to dairyman suicide hotlines and offer treatment for the clinically depressed dairyman!!
http://cdrf.org/2012/08/01/stress-depression-suicide-prevention-resource...
This would be funny....except this is a tragedy.
My advice to all dairymen....join forces and dump all of your milk for two days...the processors will pay you your price and you will become sustainable at least economically. As long as dairymen allow individual greed to drive their businesses, the greater good for all dairymen will be calling "Suicide Hotlines" for help as they contemplate jumping into their TMR machines...they literally can not afford feed and they are killing themselves to feed their cows.
What a sick world....tommorrow I attend a meeting of CA dairymen in Tulare. At that meeting an expert will explain the Federal Milk Marketing Orders. Sounds like farmers have the backing and support of their congressmen to completely jump ship and leave the CDFA Milk Pool system and join the Federal System. At least the Federal System allows for local negotiations for increases in prices and the federal system has a better pricing structure that pays more fairly. I support this move as well. Under the Federal orders...small bottlers like OPDC are exempt...and OPDC would no longer pay $30k per month to the CA Milk Pool and we could start working on reducing our prices to the consumers. I am supporting the other CA dairymen like crazy to junk the CA Milk Pool and make the Federal Orders happen for CA farmers.
When I read the comments on the dairy blogs...it is sorrowful and tragic. The bleeding stories are just terrible. Perhaps this tragedy will create the right conditions for a frickin dairy revolution and the dairymen can learn to stand together or their option.... die off one by one.
Why is James still in jail???
He is still in jail because he has listened to the wrong advice from non professionals wack jobs that lead him astray. He should not be in jail....at worst he should be on house arrest with a leg GPS band to assure that he is not a flight risk. At no time has James ever been a danger to the public with any of his actions.
His attorney needs to hurry up and get him liberated...this is rediculous.When the others go free with a tap on the wrist...and James languishes...that is a travesty. Justice is not being served here at all.
Where are all the RAWESOME customers. Are they that shallow? Seems to me that Hollywood can do better than this. I know his close friends are trying their damndist....but where are all those that enjoyed all the wonderful raw fruits collected into one place at RAWESOME for all these years???
For those monitoring the Alvin Schlangen trial...Testimony and arguments ended mid-afternoon Wednesday, and the six-person jury deliberated for several hours afterwards. Jurors then left for the evening without having reached a verdict. The jury is due to reconvene Thursday at 9:30 am Central.
http://gma.yahoo.com/non-medical-vaccination-opt-outs-rise-204101241--ab...
http://gma.yahoo.com/arsenic-rice-report-finds-worrisome-levels-05045024...
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/french-study-finds-tumors-in-rats-fed-...
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/cancers-on-the-rise-in-pregnant-women-...
http://news.yahoo.com/study-suggests-tie-between-bpa-child-obesity-14121...
As more and more stories/studies reach the public, the movement for healthy foods will only grow.
Thank you for the updates to these important court cases, David.
I am rooting for Alvin Schlangen! I fervently hope he prevails.
I know Sandor Katz and he loves raw milk and especially fermented raw milk....
He is a huge supporter of OPDC, organics and raw everything and what we have done in CA....I am also a huge supporter of his and have been for many years.
Kristin, your vendetta and negativity against raw organic milk in CA is rediculous and unfounded.
Mark,
I could have also asked him what he thinks about gay rights but I didn't. It wasn't appropriate for the evening. I was there to learn about his experience with fermenting many things, including but not limited to raw milk. His new book is 498 pages and the section on raw milk is 27 pages. I appreciated his infectious attitude about fermenting food of all types, period.
As for my so called raw milk vendetta, well, honestly? Who is responsible for sending children to the hospital with some barely staying on this side of the living? My angry voice and vitriol on the internet hardly come close to that damage.
Just in...Alvin Schlangen NOT GUILTY...more to come.
That is terrific!
This is so wonderful!! This is exactly what we've all been waiting for, a trial by jury – what jury of our peers will convict someone for providing a product that somebody wants and is willing to go out of their way to acquire? I look forward to details when you have the time to post!
Great News!