TO BE CONTINUED (and on, and on, and…)
An angry crew of Scott’s supporters gathered twice in mid-March at our “new second home”—the Thurston County Courthouse—to hear arguments for and against an initial “Dismissal Motion” proposed by Yoos’s Attorney, Larry Hildes, of Bellingham, Washington.
Lacking only Rod Serling’s cool-toned narrative at the beginning and the end of each episode, these hearings remarkably continue to appear as though they are (perhaps) newly-discovered, long-archived film clips…once cut from the classic television series, “The Twilight Zone”!
The primary focus of this first motion has been the crude injustice of the arresting policemen’s brutal and clearly-discriminatory treatment of our friend. Scott Yoos is mute and has been so since 1984 when an unfortunate hitchhiking misadventure—a violent assault & robbery—left him with T.B.I. (traumatic brain injury).
Scott has bogusly been accused by the State of Washington on 3 counts: Criminal Trespass, Resisting Arrest, and, most-grievously, “Assault” of a Peace Officer, which is a “Felony” charge. Allegedly, the arresting policeman witnessed Scott’s ‘crime’ of throwing a small sack containing some damp paper towels from his pocket into an open dumpster. When confronted and accused, Yoos responded both in writing and through the (civil, though perturbed) use of sign language. This strange effort to communicate was deemed to constitute “possibly assaultive” behavior, so three other supporting officers were called to the scene, where they swiftly stole Yoos’s bike from underneath him, tackled him to the ground, and brutally handcuffed and arrested him. (The “assault” charge appeared some 26 days later when it became clear Yoos was not going to agree to plead “guilty” to either of the initial charges.)
For further gory details in this absurd case, which will be two-years old this June, and has required approximately 20 court appearances and hearings thus far, please follow our fairly frequently-updated blog site, http://www.scottysupport.blogspot.com and/or “Scott Yoos Ldf” on Facebook.
Most unexpectedly, the latest hearing was cut short and postponed due to some nasty “unforeseen circumstances.”
We will (again) convene at the Thurston County Courthouse (2000 Lakeridge Drive SW in Olympia) on Tuesday, April 16 (the very day after our “National War Tax Resistance” Day!) at 8:15 am for a pre-Hearing Support Vigil. Court begins promptly at 9 am.
Please join us there, if you’re able!