Anothermoor bites the dust

[Judge Roy Bean]

http://www.dailylocal.com/article/DL/20 ... /160339956

Anti-court protester changes tune

By Michael Rellahan, Daily Local News

WEST CHESTER >> A Common Pleas court judge on Thursday agreed to reduce bail for a West Chester man accused of scuffling with borough police during a confrontation over an abandoned vehicle.

But this was no ordinary defendant, and his case no ordinary legal dispute.

Eric Benefield has been bedeviling court officials in Chester County for some time, disrupting court proceedings with anti-government rants and speeches, mostly over his belief that the courts have no jurisdiction over him, and others like him. He is — or perhaps was — a follower of the Moorish Sovereign Citizen movement, an offshoot of the Posse Comitatus or Freeman camps of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, that draws its roots from a black nationalist perspective.

Benefield, 31, of South Adams Street, usually appears in court wearing a tall, deep red, fez atop his long, braided hair. He has in the past refused to identify himself as “Eric Benefield,” contending that the name does not represent who he is as a “natural person.” Judges have attempted to deal with him — sometimes with success, sometimes not — but he has continued to be a thorn in the side of the criminal justice system because he generally refuses to accept that it has any authority over him.

Until this week.

On Monday, Benefield appeared in Mahon’s courtroom on the seventh floor of the county Justice Center for a “call of the list” in which his case — he is charged with obstruction of justice and resisting arrest — was listed for trial. With him was his mother and several supporters, themselves wearing distinctive fezzes signifying their association with the “Moorish Divine and National Movement of the World,” as the group refers to itself in documents.

When Mahon asked whether anyone was present to address his case, Benefield stood up, and began lecturing Mahon on the lack of jurisdiction the court had in his case. When Mahon asked whether he was the defendant, Benefield responded that he was “the one asking question” not the judge.

After several minutes of what Mahon on Thursday labeled a “circus,” the judge ordered sheriff deputies to take him into custody, for contempt of court and, ironically, failure to appear, since he refused to acknowledge his identity. Benefield became agitated and resisted attempts by the deputies to place him in handcuffs. He had to be wrestled to the courtroom floor by a group of five deputies. The courtroom erupted in chaos, or what Mahon later referred to as “WWF.”

Later Monday, Benefield was brought back to the courtroom in handcuffs and asked by Mahon whether he would identify himself. Again, Benefield refused to do so. However, a representative of the county’s Pretrial Bail Services Department, Clifford Downward, was able to confirm Benefield’s identity, showing Mahon a police booking photo. After much back and forth, Benefield was taken from the courtroom and ordered sent to Chester County Prison, where Mahon said he would be undergo a mental health evaluation.

Mahon increased Benefield’s bail from 10 percent of $2,500, which had been posted with a bail bondman, to $25,000 cash.

When Benefield returned to Mahon’s courtroom on Thursday morning, some things had changed. First, he was now represented by Assistant Pubic Defender Erin Bruno. Second, he was not wearing the distinctive fez. Third, he was vocally remorseful. And fourth, he responded to the name “Mr. Benefield.”

“I just want to be forgiven,” Benefield said softly in response to questions from Mahon. “I am sorry. I have definitely learned from this. I ask you for your mercy, please. I’ve learned a lot the last few days.”

Reminded that three days before Benefield had insisted that he did not need to recognize the authority of the court or of Mahon, he demurred. “I recognize it. I respect everybody in this building.”

Benefield had been arrested on Sept. 16 by West Chester Officer Jason O’Neill, who wrote in a criminal complaint that around 8:30 a.m. that day he was towing cars that had been identified as being abandoned, one of which was a black BMW that was registered to Benefield. O’Neill said the car lacked a current registration or inspection sticker.

(Those anti-government groups such as the Moorish sovereigns often refuse to comply with state and local vehicle codes, contending that they are relevant only in terms of commercial or merchant automobiles.)

When O’Neill approached the BMW to begin towing it, Benefield confronted the tow truck operators and began spouting “sovereign citizen-related phrases,” the officer wrote. Benefield got between the tow truck and his car to prevent it from being hooked up, and when another patrolman, Officer Jerry Ferriola attempted to move him, he resisted by pulling away. When O’Neill attempted to place him in handcuffs, he refused to put his hands behind his back and yelled, “Get off me!”

Eventually, the officers had to use a Taser to subdue Benefield and take him into custody.

The scene in Mahon’s courtroom Monday was reportedly much the same. As deputies approached him, he shouted, “Don’t touch me!” And stiffened his body so that the deputies could not place him in handcuffs. Although he did not punch or kick at the deputies, he struggled with them to the extent that they had to bring him to the floor, according to those who watched.

Mahon, on Thursday, castigated Benefield for his conduct, but told him that he had been concerned for his well-being. “That stuff shouldn’t have happened. I don’t enjoy that. If you want to see that kind of stuff go to a WWF (wrestling) match. I thought one of the sheriffs or you were going to get hurt.”

Mahon said that a preliminary examination of Benefield by prison psychiatrist Dr. Robert Davis showed that he had signs of paranoid schizophrenia, and may not have been competent to aid in his defense. But Benefield insisted that he was not schizophrenic, and Mahon — along with Bruno — suggested that he appeared competent enough to deal with her in dealing with the criminal changes against him.

Assistant District Attorney Alexander Gosfield, who is prosecuting the case, said he could see no real reason Benefield should continued to be held in prison, since the possible sentence he could receive was less than one month.

Mahon eventually reduced Benefield’s bail to $2,500 cash, and he was taken from the courtroom to arrange bail.

“Mr. Benefield, the whole (justice) system does not want this,” Mahon said in concluding. “Neither do I. You and the whole system would be better off if we never see each other.”

“Thanks,” Benefield said. “I appreciate it. I really do.”

One can only wonder if they wind up seeing each other again.

[noblepa]

The judge's information is out of date. I doubt that the World Wildlife Fund has or wants anything to do with this case. The World Wrestling Federation changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment several years ago, after losing a lawsuit to the WWF.

[KickahaOta]

But the pandas hitting each other with folding chairs are adorable.