Freemen Denied Bail All But One Refuse Attorney Appointed By Court
Bail was denied for 13 freemen who appeared before a federal magistrate here Tuesday. They were ordered to remain in jail while awaiting trial on charges that include writing millions of dollars in bad checks and threatening the life of a federal judge.
Thirteen of the 14 freemen who surrendered Thursday after an 81-day standoff with the FBI near Jordan appeared before U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson. He held hearings for about 3 hours and ordered each person held without bond. Only one of the freemen, Ralph Clark, agreed to have a court-appointed lawyer.
The hearing for Steven Hance, 46, took place via closed-circuit television after he interrupted proceedings in the courtroom.
“You’ve disrupted my entire life,” Hance told the judge in one outburst. He was moved to a nearby cell, and only whistling was heard from there as his hearing continued and he was asked via intercom if he had a response to allegations against him.
Freemen leader Dale Jacobi also interrupted the judge several times. Another leader, Rodney Skurdal, asked Anderson to remove himself from the case and Anderson refused.
“I have filed a common law lien against you, Mr. Anderson,” Skurdal said. “I ask that you be removed.”
The freemen are anti-government extremists who claim their own system of justice. Some were wanted on federal charges at the start of their standoff with the FBI at a foreclosed ranch northwest of Jordan. Others were charged with alleged actions after the standoff began.
In court Tuesday, a state legislator who helped negotiate an end to the standoff testified on behalf of freeman Edwin Clark. Rep. Karl Ohs, R-Harrison, said that on the final day of negotiations, he agreed that if Clark would accept counsel, he could live at the Ohs ranch while free on bond.
Clark declined court-appointed legal services and remained in jail, but Anderson said that if Clark changes his mind and agrees to representation by a lawyer, the chance of a pretrial release will increase greatly.
The one freeman who did not appear in court Tuesday was Casey Clark, Edwin’s son. There was no indication why the younger Clark was absent.
The freemen arrested on warrants outstanding before the standoff were Ralph Clark, 65; his brother Emmett Clark, 67; Jacobi, 54; Cherlyn Petersen, 51; and Skurdal, 43.
Those arrested on federal charges related to alleged actions after the standoff began were Casey Clark, 21; Russell Dean Landers, 45; his wife, Dana Dudley Landers, 44; Hance, 46; his sons James Hance, 24, and John Hance, 19; and Jon Nelson, 40.
Two other freemen not named in the original indictments, Edwin Clark, 45, and Cornelius “Casey” Veldhulzen, 49, were arrested on charges related to a fraudulent financial instruments scheme.