Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they generally include "guilty", "not guilty", and the peremptory pleas (or pleas in bar) setting out reasons why a trial cannot proceed. Pleas of "nolo contendere" (no contest) and the "Alford plea" are allowed in some circumstances.

In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, arraignment is the first of eleven stages in a criminal trial, and involves the clerk of the court reading out the indictment. The defendant is asked whether he or she pleads guilty or not guilty to each charge. This process is the same in Australian jurisdictions.

In federal courts in the United States, arraignment takes place in two stages. The first is called the initial arraignment and must take place within 48 hours of an individual's arrest. During this arraignment the defendant is informed of the pending legal charges and is informed of his or her right to retain counsel. The presiding judge also decides at what amount, if any, to set bail. During the second arraignment, a post-indictment arraignment or PIA, the defendant is allowed to enter a plea.

Form of the arraignment

The wording of the arraignment varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However, it generally conforms with the following principles: # The accused person (defendant) is addressed by name; # The charge against the accused person is read, including the alleged date, time, and place of offence; and, # The accused person is asked formally how he or she pleads.

Video arraignment

Guilty and not-guilty pleas

If the defendant pleads guilty, an evidentiary hearing usually follows. The court is not required to accept a guilty plea. During the hearing, the judge assesses the offense, the mitigating factors, and the defendant's character, and passes sentence.

If the defendant pleads not guilty, a date is set for a preliminary hearing or a trial.

In the past, a defendant who refused to plead (or "stood mute") was subject to peine forte et dure (Law French for "strong and hard punishment"). Today in common-law jurisdictions, the court enters a plea of not guilty for a defendant who refuses to enter a plea. The rationale for this is the defendant's right to silence.

Pre-trial Release

This is also often the stage at which arguments for or against pre-trial release and bail are made, depending on the alleged crime and jurisdiction.

United States Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

Under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, "arraignment shall [...] [consist of an] open [...] reading [of] the indictment [...] to the defendant [...] and call[] on him to plead thereto. He/she shall be given a copy of the indictment [...] before he/she is called upon to plead."

References

Category:Legal terms Category:Prosecution

ko:기소인부절차 id:Arraignment ja:罪状認否

Name	Sandra Cantu
Birth name	Sandra Renee Cantu
Birth date	March 08, 2001
Birth place	Tracy, California, USA
Disappeared date
Disappeared place	April 06, 2009Tracy, California, USA
Body discovered	San Joaquin County, California, USA
Death cause	Homicidal asphyxiation
Resting place	Tracy, California, USA
Resting place coordinates
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	Hispanic
Citizenship	US
Home town	Tracy, California
Height	4'0" (122 cm)
Weight	45 lbs (20 kg)

The Sandra Cantu homicide occurred on or about March 27, 2009, in Tracy, California. Sandra Cantu (8 years old) was reported missing on March 27, 2009, wearing a pink Hello Kitty t-shirt and black leggings. On April 6, 2009, local authorities reported farm workers found a suitcase in an irrigation pond that contained the body of the missing child.

Murder

On April 10, 2009, police arrested 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby and charged her with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Cantu. The black Eddie Bauer suitcase that contained the body of Cantu belonged to Huckaby, who reported to have left it in her driveway on the day Cantu went missing. Police did not at the time provide details as to why Huckaby was arrested, hours after a story written by 22-year-old reporter Jennifer Wadsworth was published in the ''Tracy Press'' in which Huckaby claimed ownership of the suitcase. She was placed under arrest after interrogation on April 10. Reports after her arrest indicated that in the days prior, Huckaby attempted suicide by swallowing knife blades; Huckaby reportedly denied this.

It has been reported that police in Tracy believe she murdered Cantu in the church where she worked as a Sunday school teacher for five children, and where her grandfather served as a minister. According to the pathologist's report, Sandra had been strangled with a torn piece of cloth that had been knotted into "a noose." The cause of death was determined to be "homicidal asphyxiation." Some of Sandra's injuries were also consistent with a rolling pin with a bent handle and bloody smudge found inside the church. The pathology report revealed that the smudge on the rolling pin matched Sandra's blood. The report also showed she was sexually assaulted with the object.

Huckaby was indicted by a grand jury on charges of kidnapping, murder, and rape in the death of Cantu. The prosecution subsequently announced that the death penalty would be sought at trial. However, Huckaby pled guilty to the murder on May 10, 2010, sparing her from a possible death sentence. All other charges were dropped as part of the plea deal. On June 14, 2010 Huckaby was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the crime.

Melissa Huckaby

name	Melissa Huckaby
birth date	February 23, 1981
birth place	Orange County, California, U.S.
charge	First degree murder, ''et al.''
conviction penalty	Life without parole
conviction status	Incarcerated in San Joaquin County jail
occupation	Sunday School teacher
children	Madison Huckaby }}

Melissa Huckaby (born February 23, 1981) is the American Sunday School teacher who pleaded guilty to the murder of Sandra Cantu. Born in Orange County, California, Huckaby is the granddaughter of Pastor Clifford Lawless of Clover Road Baptist Church, in Tracy, California. Before her arrest, Huckaby lived at the same mobile home park as Cantu, and she is the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, a close friend with whom Cantu played.

References

External links

Obituary by the Associated Press on Legacy.com retrieved April 7, 2009.

by the LA Times on latimes.com retrieved April 14, 2009.

Woman suspected in 8-year-old's slaying grew up in O.C. by the ''Orange County Register'' retrieved April 24, 2009.

Category:2001 births Category:2009 deaths Category:2009 murders in the United StatesCategory:2000s missing person cases Category:Child sexual abuse Category:Kidnapped American children Category:Murdered American children Category:People from San Joaquin County, California Category:Rape in the United States Category:Tracy, California

Craig Cobb (born on 9 October 1951 in Maryville, Missouri, United States), also know as Craig "corn on the" Cobb, is a longtime anti-semitic white supremacist activist who operated a now-defunct video sharing website named Podblanc. He claims "racism is my religion" and advocates "racial holy war" in accordance with the tenets of The Creativity Movement. Cobb gained notoriety within anti-racist and anti-fascist movements and legal advocacy organizations that investigate hate speech and hate crime for his "celebration of violence and murder committed against minorities" as documented in his videorecordings, online activities, and disruptions at public events. For this same reason he is admired by some, but not all, neo-Nazis. Supporters herald him as a "brave, dedicated, and highly effective White activist" while others consider him a "pseudo-Nazi" and agent provocateur whose website is a "false front dedicated to data-mining".

Life

Cobb is reported to have grown up in a wealthy family and attended a private school in Boston, Massachusetts where he graduated in 1968. After serving in the armed forces he moved to Edmonton, Canada for five years then relocated to Hawaii where he lived for another 25 years and earned a living as a taxi driver. In 2003 he relocated to Frost, West Virginia where he opened a grocery store and subsequently registered a business called "Gray’s Store, Aryan Autographs and 14 Words, L.L.C." During this time he was involved in unsolicited inter-state deliveries of a neo-Nazi newspaper published by Alex Linder, distribution of Project Schoolyard CDs to local children, and attended an invitation-only leadership conference of the National Alliance.

In late 2005, after receiving an inheritance of $85,000, he moved to Tallinn, Estonia, established Podblanc, met with white power skinheads, and purchased land thirty miles south of the capital where he hoped to establish an "International Office of White Diaspora". He also attempted, unsuccessfully, to find an Estonian wife and came to public attention after conducting an interview with a former Estonian Ministry of Justice employee whom he introduced as the leader of the Estonian Nazis. On August 25, 2009 he was issued a ten-year ban from Estonia and deported to Canada, where Cobb claims to hold citizenship, for "endangering state security, public order, public safety, moral standards, health, other public interests" and promoting racism. During his period of incarceration before deportation his supporters in the US made contact with Canadian neo-fascist Paul Fromm in order to prepare for Cobb’s anticipated arrest under Canadian hate speech laws. In March 2010, after posting videos of anti-racist activists online, he was discovered to be living in Vancouver where he also made an unsuccessful attempt to register a non-profit society called Whitepeace. Cobb has expressed interest in emigrating to South America, Serbia or Belarus but U.S. anti-racists have called for his repatriation so they may "take care of our own garbage".

In June 2010 Cobb was arrested by police in Vancouver but released with a summons after which he left Canada to return to the United States. As of July 2010, Cobb is living in Flathead Valley, an area in Montana which has become a recruiting target for several white nationalists. Cobb is engaged in a feud with another local neo-Nazi, Karl Gharst, against whom he recently obtained a restraining order. His activities are opposed by the local pro-tolerance group Love Lives Here. At the end of December 2010 Canadian authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on the charge of willful promotion of hatred after a failure to appear. Cobb responded to the warrant by stating "You can find me in the orange easy chair near the elevator" at the library in Kalispell, Montana. As of mid-January 2011 Cobb (in his words) has relocated to Wyoming.

Videorecordings and disruptions

Cobb’s videorecordings fall into two types of productions. The first consists of unedited presentations of antisemitic canards and commentary featuring close-up shots of himself, often presented as part of his "Deprogram" series on YouTube and Podblanc. The second consists of street interviews gathered at events where Cobb presents himself as a journalist for Vanguard News Network, asks a series of provocative questions laced with racial slurs, typically sparking outrage from targeted individuals. Documented incidents include a rally in Kingston, New York in 2005 and a 50 Cent concert in Tallinn in 2008. The most well-known of these disruptions occurred in October 2005 at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as civil rights leader Rosa Parks was lying in state. Cobb confronted visitors, referred to Parks as a "shitskin communist", and stated that he was there celebrating her death.

Online activities

Cobb uses the online pseudonyms "No 1965 Chain Immigrants" (on Stormfront) and "Chain" (on Podblanc), references to the abolition of the National Origins Formula in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. While his internet activities center upon "tireless propaganda" for Podblanc he is also active in far-right discussion boards where, after the arrest of Matt Hale in 2003 for soliciting the murder of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, Cobb posted the judge’s home address, family photographs and a map to her house. Lefkow’s husband and mother were subsequently murdered. In reply to a reporter’s question "What were you feeling when the double murder happened?" Cobb stated "What was I feeling? Emotions are not yet illegal. I was just fine with it. I think it was well done."

References

External links

Craig Cobb YouTube channel

"Rassismipreester visatakse Eestist välja" ("Priest of Racism Thrown Out of Estonia"), an article by Mihkel Kärmas in Eesti Ekspress on Cobb’s deportation

English translation of Kärmas’ article by One People's Project

"Paradise Lost", an editorial by Abdul Turay in Estonia Today on Cobb’s time in Estonia

Photographs of Craig Cobb

Category:Living people Category:White supremacy in the United States Category:Creativity (sect) Category:1951 births

image name	John Albert Gardner III.jpg
name	John Albert Gardner III
birth date	April 09, 1979
birth place	U.S.
charge	2 counts of first-degree murder, assault with the intent to rape
conviction penalty	Two life sentences without parole, one term of 25 years to life, and an additional 24 years imprisonment
conviction status	Sentenced May 14, 2010
nationality	American
alias	}}

John Albert Gardner III (born April 9, 1979) is an American convicted double murderer and sex offender. He confessed to the rape and murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois from Escondido, California, the February 2010 rape and murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King from Poway, California, not far from Gardner's mother's home, where he lived, in the Rancho Bernardo community. Additionally, Gardner attempted to rape Candice Moncayo of San Diego County, and had been previously incarcerated for the molestation of a 13-year-old girl.

Prior conviction

Gardner had been convicted in 2000 of molesting a 13-year-old neighbor girl. He spent five years in prison and completed his parole in 2008, although it was determined that he had violated the terms of his parole seven times, including living too close to a school in 2007. Gardner was also investigated by his parole officer for possession of marijuana, though this incident was later dismissed. He was also being tracked by a GPS anklet up until 4 months before the murder of Amber. He was too close to schools, in front of a daycare at one point, and also on prison grounds dropping off a friend according to the GPS data.

Murders

Gardner's first murder victim was 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who disappeared in February 2009. Her skeletal remains were later recovered by police in March 2010, after the police had questioned Gardner about her murder. Gardner had been arrested on February 28, 2010, in the Del Dios district of Escondido, California, when his DNA matched discarded clothing from Chelsea King, a senior from nearby Poway High School. King had disappeared on February 25, 2010, while she was jogging in the early evening at the Rancho Bernardo Community Park, near Lake Hodges. FBI divers found her body five days later (on March 2, 2010) buried in a shallow grave on the southeast corner of the lake's inlet, where some of her clothes had been found.

DNA evidence from King's clothing, along with a December 2009 attempted attack on a female jogger who managed to fight him off, led Escondido and San Diego police to patrol the area for a man fitting Gardner's description. He was arrested on February 28 at a bar and restaurant in Del Dios, at the western shore of Lake Hodges in Escondido. A witness has indicated that Gardner returned to the park subsequent to King's disappearance.

Guilty pleas

On April 16, 2010, Gardner pleaded guilty to the murder and rape of both Dubois (who disappeared on February 13, 2009, and whose skeletal remains were found on the grounds of the Pala, California Indian Reservation on March 6, 2010) and King, after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. He admitted to kidnapping, raping, and stabbing Dubois. He also admitted dragging King to a remote area where he raped and strangled her, and then buried the body. In addition, Gardner pleaded guilty to attempting to rape Candice Moncayo in December 2009. Sentencing was set for June 1, 2010, although it took place on May 14, where Gardner was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The parents of Amber and Chelsea, and the surviving victim Candice Moncayo, made impact statements prior to sentencing describing the impact Gardner's crimes had on their lives, and their determination to see to it that "Chelsea's Law"–signed into California state law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 9, 2010–was passed to help prevent similar crimes in the future. During the trial, the Kings retained Michael Fell, a California criminal lawyer and former prosecutor, who specializes in representing victims under Marsy's Law, the state constitutional amendment that guarantees legal rights for victims of crime for victims of crime. Fell successfully prevented sensitive crime scene and autopsy photos from being released to the public.

Sentencing

On May 14, 2010, Judge David Danielsen sentenced Gardner to two terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, one term of 25 years to life imprisonment, and an additional 24 years of imprisonment.

External links

Women in Crime Ink'', "Accused Killer: Just Who is John Gardner?," by Cathy Scott">''Women in Crime Ink'', "Accused Killer: Just Who is John Gardner?," by Cathy Scott, April 9, 2010

References

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American criminals Category:American murderers of children Category:American people convicted of child sexual abuse Category:American people convicted of murder Category:American rapists Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California