PRESS RELEASE 2/9/2016 REGARDING MIKE HANSON & THE FIRST AMENDMENT On October 6, 2015, Mike Hanson was arrested for disrupting a meeting, a Class B misdemeanor. Law enforcement also sought charges for resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor. The possible punishment for a Class A misdemeanor conviction is up to a year in jail and a $4,000.00 fine. The possible punishment for a Class B misdemeanor conviction is up to six months in jail and up to a $2,000.00 fine. When he was arrested, Mike was addressing the Gonzales City Council about the problem of local law enforcement joining efforts with Federal agents to raid homes and seize property. After his arrest, and perhaps because of his arrest, not a single other person stood up to speak at that City Council meeting. The actions of the Mayor and police chief that day not only squelched Mike's First Amendment rights, but also had an instant chilling effect on the rights of others that were signed up to speak. After more than four months, the County Attorney’s Office finally filed an official charging instrument, officially starting the criminal case against Mike Hanson, last Thursday, the 4th of February. Before that charging instrument was filed, Mike and his lawyer could do nothing but sit on their hands and wait. The Case Number is GC-29878. The case is pending in the Gonzales County Court at Law, Honorable Judge Bird, presiding. Mike is well-known in Gonzales, Texas. He ran for City Council, and he ran for Mayor. He is a vocal opponent of local law enforcement coalitions with Federal agents, asset forfeitures, and generally demands that public officials be held accountable for harm done to their constituents. Mike is represented by attorney Millie Thompson, whose office is located in Austin, Texas. Ms. Thompson has represented activists across the State of Texas, including Tarrant County, Harris County, Travis County, and Gonzales County for charges arising from the activists’ exercise of their First Amendment protected rights. In 2015, Ms. Thompson tried two jury trials in Gonzales, Texas. The first ended in a mistrial. The second trial ended in a mistrial when the jury hung 3-3. At issue in those two trials was whether the accused person, Antonio Buehler, committed the offense of disorderly conduct by telling Gonzales Police Department Officer Gayle Autry to “go fuck himself.” Thompson’s record for activists is 1 Not Guilty Verdict, 2 Mistrials, 7 Dismissals, 3 Pending Cases. VIDEO OF THE ARREST: You can find the YouTube video of Mike’s October 6th arrest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkbEKghuabk here. After you watch the video, consider the law applicable to these offenses as described below: APPLICABLE LAW: Regarding disrupting a meeting: The high court in Texas for criminal cases is the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“CCA”). The CCA limited the ‘disrupting a meeting’ offense to conduct that substantially impairs the ordinary conduct of a lawful meeting. This means that you cannot be criminalized under Texas Penal Code Section 42.05 unless you do something that “rises far above public inconvenience, annoyance, or unrest.” Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U.S. 1, 4 (1949), cited in Morehead v. State, 807 S.W.2d 577, 580 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991). The CCA decided that Given the competing First Amendment freedoms at stake, Section 42.05 can be rendered constitutional if it is construed to criminalize only physical acts or verbal utterances that substantially impair the ordinary conduct of lawful meetings and thereby curtail the exercise of others’ First Amendment rights. Regarding resisting arrest: The law is crystal clear. Pulling away from an officer is not resisting arrest. In Dobbs v. State, 434 S.W.3d 166 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014), the CCA reversed a conviction for resisting arrest. The CCA explained that the offense requires a use of force against the police officer attempting to make the arrest. We define “force” consistent with its dictionary definition of “violence, compulsion, or constraint exerted” against the officer. To be criminalized under the resisting arrest offense, you have to use violence or aggression and direct the violence or aggression to the officer to prevent him from arresting you. If you simply pull away, or don’t use violence or aggression, you did not resist arrest. Given the state of the law on these two offenses in conjunction with the objective facts, it should be unsurprising that Mike is demanding a jury trial, and is asserting his right to Speedy Trial under the 6th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Mike’s attorney Millie Thompson also filed a Motion to Transfer Venue on the case. Contacts: Mike Hanson, phone: 512-656-0521 Millie Thompson, phone: 512-293-5800, email: millieaustinlaw@gmail.com

• published: 13 Feb 2016
• views: 733