Mr. and Mrs. Blue Rammefeld |
“...Lord,
we have a great friend in liberty. It is perhaps our greatest
friend...” - a lay preacher leading a prayer circle while waiting
for a verdict in the case of M/Sgt. C.J. Grisham
Belton –
Blue Rammefeld stood up to the gaffe; he squared off with the bench
and belted it out as he told Judge Neel Richardson how the cow ate
the cabbage.
He had
just come out of the judge's chambers – mud in his eye, hot, tired,
and frustrated – after an extended conference with prosecutors
about pesky disgreements over the jury charge. He reminded the judge
that he had not ruled on a motion he made for the Judge's recusal
after hearing “your previous statement you made referring to my
client and his wife as yokels and how you will teach them a lesson in
parenting...”
From
that upside down attitude, he continued to gain altitude, adding “You
may call me a liar, and it's true I do stand up to bullies. In fact,
you can hold me in contempt of court. I brought my toothbrush.”
Toothbrush hair-do |
With
that, he tossed the implement of oral hygiene on the defense table as
the judge promptly said, “Overruled,” thus nixing the motion for
his own ouster.
There
were other colorful remarks, including the one about how Officer
Steve Ermis of the Temple Police Department discovered the sergeant
and his son, Chris, Jr., committing a traffic violation by walking
down the wrong side of the country road, their backs to the traffic,
and said, “Oh, I get to shoot somebody today because he's walking
down the wrong side of the road!”
As to
the reactions of his client, a 22-year Army veteran with many
deployments overseas to his credit – one of them to Iraq, the other
to Afghanistan – he told jurors, it will “have to be up to you to
interpret...“This is really about an ordinary person and his son
walking down the road – right after someone puts a gun to the back
of his head...”
After
closing statements, the gallery, the attorneys and the judge settled
down to wait while the jury deliberated and, as if by magic, many in
the crowd that stood by in the corridor outside the courtroom
suddenly obtained toothbrushes – toothbrushes brandished, worn in
lapels, carried in shirt pockets, thrust into ladies' hair buns,
pinned to blouses.
The
entire adventure started off as a Boy Scout hike to earn a merit
badge, a father and son out for a stroll on a sunny Saturday in
mid-March, patrolling around family farms operated and owned by
members of Grisham's extended family where anhydrous ammonia tanks
stood as targets for local methamphetamine cooks who operate illicit
labs making the foul stuff.
There
were dead ringer tip-offs galore, a man and a boy walking together,
the man with a red bandana draped under his boonie hat, protecting
his neck from sunburn, carrying a prototype semiautomatic assault
rifle originally developed by Armalite Arms, the one that morphed
into the standard select fire combat carbine, the M-16. A straight
arrow picture in a sunny world.
Royal
Army General Sir Baden-Powell made the innovation of the Boy Scouts
organization for dependent civilian sons of colonizers at war when he
was in command of a beseiged garrison at Marfak during the Boer War.
Someone had to keep the boys busy in those perilous times, so the
general organized their days to keep them out of trouble by carrying
messages by bicycle, standing observation posts, fetching, carrying
and otherwise making themselves useful under his formidable
supervision.
With
classic British resolve, the general took the attitude that war is
really just all a big part of growing up.
Their
uniform – a neckerchief made from a bandanna – is still in use
today by Boy Scouts on every continent and in every civilized
country. It was used as much for recognition then as much as it is
now for at least a hundred and one other purposes in any situation
that may crop up in the outdoor life.
When the
jurors finally got their final instructions, they were told that they
must determine if C.J. Grisham interfered with a public official
while in the performance of his duty by acting with criminal
negligence, defined as “a gross deviation from the standard of care
an ordinary person would exercise” when he “interrupts, disrupts,
or otherwise interferes” with a cop who is doing anything -
anything at all – most especially disarming a refractory armed
citizen.
What did
Grisham do? He grabbed his gun and held on when Officer Ermis
attempted to take it. He also refused to immediately put his hands
behind his back to put on handcuffs when the 30-year veteran of
police work said that's what he wanted him to do.
Toothbrush honor guard |
Who's
counting? Lead prosecutor John Gauntt, Jr., told jurors he could see
where Grisham did not do what he was told to do with his hands - by
his count - at least six times.
Grisham's
defense lawyer pointed out it's the third change of charges, charges
which were orginally filed by police as resisting arrest, then
morphed into carrying a firearm in a rude display calculated to cause
alarm, and finally wound up as interfering with a public official
while going about his official duties.
“The
fact that our office changed the charges is of no consequence,” the
prosecutor said; prosecuting attorneys do that routinely.
When you
look at the Dashcam video that plainly shows Ermis pulling his
semi-auto pistol out of its holster, pressing it to the back of
Grisham's neck, then using the leverage to bend him over the hood of
the squad car where it came to rest against his upper rib cage while
he took his rifle, you are seeing something very distinct, very
wrong, said Mr. Gauntt.
“What
you see on Officer Ermis' face is fear, the controlled fear of
someone who has been an officer for almost 30 years,” Mr. Gauntt
declared. “The police didn't create this issue; Sgt. Grisham
created this issue.”
Who will
represent Sgt. Grisham in the civil suit for official oppression and
wrongful arrest that is entirely likely to follow the criminal
misdemeanor case?
Larry Kleiberg, NationalSelfDefense.com |
Larry
Kleiberg answered with alacrity. He's put up a million dollar defense
contingency fund from his insurance service, NationalSelfDefense.com,
a legal defense organization that has agreed to pay for Grisham's
court expenses and for those who subscribe to his service if they are
hassled by cops for carrying their loaded firearms with them.
“Blue
Rammefeld is the lead attorney in my organization,” he said with a
smile. “He'll probably be the one to handle it. I hold the leash on
a whole bunch of junkyard dog lawyers.”
When
jurors still had not agreed on a verdict by 6 p.m., the judge sent
them home for the evening. They will begin deliberations again at 9
a.m. - the fourth day of jury trial in a Class B Misdemeanor case.
It's wrong! He did nothing illegal and they are using him as an example to scare other military from carrying.
ReplyDeleteSo many comments and quotes here are lies or at best a result of poor memory. CJ did not have an assault rifle. Please learn your guns. Blue said "If I am wrong about your bias in this case you can call me a liar and hold me in contempt. I'm ready. I have my tooth brush" Very different words. Finally you quoted the lies of the prosecuting attorney and did not tell the truth when you said " Mr. Gauntt declared. “The police didn't create this issue; Sgt. Grisham created this issue.”" The truth is the exact opposite. Ermis and his stupidity and arrogance created this whole issue. The result of today's decision with an overwhelming majority in favor of CJs innocense proves this. The wife of a policeman in the area was a huge reason there not an acquittal today.
ReplyDeleteThis bozo Grisham had his weapon pointed every which way but lose. I realize they pay guys to re-enlist, but when you get a M/Sgt like this our military is broken.
ReplyDeleteVery useful information, and you represent your article a very nice way.
ReplyDeletePersonal Injury Attorney Ct & Accident Attorney Connecticut