Lemonade Fugitives (detailed)

On October 4th, my fellow “Lemonistas” and I were scheduled to appear in a Washington DC court, and enter our plea for our criminal charges over an “illegal” lemonade stand.  The first charge of “vending without a permit” was to be addressed in courtroom #115 at 8:30am.  We entered the courtroom, and were instructed to sit on the right side of the room, along with the dozens of others facing charges.  A man stood up front and began reading off names, instructing us to move to the left side of the room when our name was called.  Once he finished moving almost half of us to the left, he announced that “the government has decided not to prosecute your cases.”  We were handed some paper work [see images 1 & 2], then told we could leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went downstairs to the second courtroom, where we expected to deal with our “failure to obey” and “unlawful conduct” charges.  When our names were called, we walked to the front.  It was at this point three men we had never seen or spoken to walked infront of us, and claimed to be our lawyers.  Before we could even speak, the clerk began reading off the charge we were facing.  To our surprise, this was not the charges we thought we had, but a new charge none of us had ever heard of (I have since been informed it is one count of illegal Sale of Goods, pursuant to D.C. Code §10-503.14 and §10-503.18).  Completely confused at this point, I tried to ask what was going on, only to be yelled at by the judge [see image 3] for talking.

The judge, prosecutor, and our “lawyers” began moving forward with the proceedings.  The “lawyers” entered our “not guilty” pleas without even asking us our names, let alone our plea.  The the prosecution requested we be required to go through the approval process for the deferment program, which the judge approved of.  She stated we would be banned from the capitol grounds; we would be required to take a drug test that day, and continue weekly drug testing along with a substance abuse program (that we would have to pay for out of pocket, or get tax payer funding if we couldn’t afford it).  It was at this point we all spoke up, despite having been warned not to talk; because these terms were unacceptable to us.  We didn’t want to be part of this program, and didn’t see how they could demand we be tested for drugs when we were arrested for selling lemonade.  After another stern talking to from the judge, she allowed us to leave the courtroom so our lawyers could get us to stop acting up in court.

Will and I sat down with our “lawyers” as Kathryn chased her’s down the halls.  I tried to explain that I would not take a drug test under any circumstance, and my “lawyer” just kept interrupting me and lecturing me as if I were a small child.

“It’s my job to get you through court with the least amount of damage to you” he told me.  He just didn’t understand that I wanted someone to defend my innocence.  I had done nothing wrong and I was being treated like a convicted criminal.  It wasn’t until this point he asked, “So what is this about?”

“I was arrested for selling lemonade.”

He was shocked.  He didn’t even know why I was there, yet he had just stood before a judge and claimed to represent me.

He opened up my court file (I was not allowed access to a copy) and began reading the police report.  As I read it over his shoulder, I was alarmed to see a flat out lie written in it.  It said something about giving us multiple warnings about “vending without a permit” AND “demonstrating without a permit”.  I tried to tell my “lawyer” this wasn’t true, only to be shushed and ignored.  I asked Kathryn, Will, and Eddie if they had heard the cop’s warning about “demonstrating”, and they all said, “no”.  In fact, we were told that had we simply not charged people 10cents for a cup of lemonade, we would have been left alone.

The police report was a lie.

We re-entered the courtroom, having made clear to our “lawyers” we would not drug test, we didn’t want our case deferred, and we wanted a trial by jury.  As we waited to go infront of the judge again, I got out my ipad to update my facebook status, and Kathryn whispered something to Eddie.  Immediately a bailiff instructed all of us to follow him outside the courtroom, where he informed us only lawyers were allowed to whisper or have electronics out.  He also warned us to stop “pissing off” the judge; because, “She is already in a bad mood”, and that could effect her treatment of our case.  We were instructed to re-enter and remain seated in the back of the courtroom.

Not being allowed to speak, I wrote “Did the bailiff just admit the judge’s mood could effect her treatment of our case?” on a slip of paper and showed Eddie, who nodded.  The bailiff then kicked Eddie out of the courtroom.

When we were called upfront again, it took a few minutes to locate Kathryn’s lawyer.  Once we were all accounted for, the judge quickly dismissed all our requests, and restated the conditions of our release, to which our “lawyers” made no objection.  We were given a map of the capitol with a square drawn around it, and told we were banned from entering the property in that square [see image 4].  We were also handed a paper [see image 5 & 6] that listed the conditions of our release.  This included our ban from the capitol grounds; a requirement to be drug tested that day at 2:30pm, and to attend weekly testing, should our tests come out positive (or “dirty” as my “lawyer” called it); and we had to agree to return to court on October 24th for a status hearing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clerk indicated where we had to sign our names, and we began reading the documents.  When I got to the section about drug testing, I leaned towards my “lawyer” and said, “I told you I wasn’t going to do this.”  The clerk overheard me, and instantly ripped the papers from me and Kathryn, and wrote “Refused” where our signatures were supposed to go.  When I said, “I never refused anything!”, the judge stopped what she was doing and yelled at me again for talking.  Will’s paper was taken as well, then we were ordered to “get out”.

Out in the hallway, Eddie was able to ask the prosecutor how he feels about putting peaceful people in cages.  He replied something to the effect of, “Those white suburban kids need to learn they are not above the law.”

So here we are.  Facing jail time for selling lemonade; seeking justice from a judge whose mood can determine our guilt or innocence; being prosecuted by a racist who expresses enjoyment in ‘teaching us a lesson’ through threats of violence from the state; being “represented” by people who don’t want to defend our innocence; and now in violation of a court order that violates our 4th amendment rights.

We are now Lemonade Fugitives.

We are currently seeking a liberty oriented lawyer, willing to actually defend us.  Ideally pro-bono would be great, as we have little money between us.  However, if people would like to help our chances of getting a good defense (or ANY defense), we will soon have a chip-in to help defer our costs.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us, and/or continues to help us in the future.  I will continue to post updates as they come in.