ACLU offers: But JADE-watcher fears retribution
Elisha Strom is out of jail.PHOTO COURTESY ALBEMARLE CHARLOTTESVILLE REGIONAL JAIL
Elisha Strom sat in jail for a month for publishing the address of a Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement officer. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is offering its assistance in the case.
"This is a classic free speech issue," says Kent Willis, ACLU of Virginia executive director. "Ms. Strom has taken information that's publicly available and put it on a website. A federal court has already struck down as unconstitutional a nearly identical law in Washington."
Strom was arrested July 16 for publishing the address and home photos of one of JADE's officers on her blog, i HeArTE JADE. She's tracked the activities of the drug task force since October 2008, published photos of them at work and given them nicknames like "Porn Star," "Longhead" and "Pringle."
She was charged under Virginia code §18.2-186.4 that prohibits publication of law-enforcement officers’ addresses or photographs with the “intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass.”
She was arrested by Special Agent Jason Trent with the State Police's Bureau of Criminal Investigations, who did not immediately return a reporter's phone call.
Strom disputes that her blog harasses cops, and the ACLU agrees.
She hasn't decided whether to accept the ACLU's offer of assistance, which could be legal representation or an amicus brief. "I'd be interested in talking to them," she says from her home in Bedford County. "The only thing I'd worry about is making JADE mad."
While she says she doesn't feel threatened by the drug task force, she does feel intimidated. "They're already upset with me," she says. "I don't want to end up with 40 new charges because I'm getting support."
Strom has said her interest in JADE stems from the arrest and trial of her estranged husband, white separatist leader Kevin Strom, who was charged with child porn possession, enticement of a minor and intimidation of a witness after Elisha found him masturbating in front of a photo of young girls. An investigator on the case also works for JADE.
The enticement and intimidation charges were thrown out of federal court in October 2007. Kevin Strom blamed the charges on "false accusations" by Elisha, but pleaded guilty to one count of child porn possession in January 2008 and served 23 months in prison.
Elisha Strom was released on $7,500 bond August 13 and is scheduled to appear in Albemarle General District Court September 17.
And the i HeArTE JADE blog is still up. "I'm not allowed to use a computer," says Strom. "It's not active– but it went from hundreds of viewers a week to thousands a day."
Correction: The court in which Strom will appear was misidentified in the original story and has been corrected.
38 comments
You haven't blown a hole in anything, Bozo, and it's highly unlikely that you ever could.
Shiffletts are just like cops.
95% good honest decent hard working people.
5% lying thieving scroundrels.
Hey Gasbag/Steve/SOTLR/etc.
Are you the same Steve Shifflett that was an Albemarle deputy that allegedly lied about being shot at a couple of years ago?
Waz matter, Cup Cake? Get upset cause I blew a hole in your "cop has more credibility than Strom" theory? I love the example I used. It includes a little slice of supervision, a little slice of rookie, a little slice of crime scene tech, and a little slice of community service cop. The conspiracy and lying starts at the top and goes all the way down the ranks of the entire department. If those 4 told me Chief Longo was on the moon having three way sex with a mental patitent and a Panda Bear, you're right, I would believe it. Because that's just how good they are at lying without cracking a smile.
Think about what would have happened to the girl in Florida if the Keystone Kops had been smart and remembered to turn off their video and audio equipment. It would have been 4 cops lying against one poor girl. Shameful!!
wangitus, you will find that anybody being critical of police are always singled out and harassed. Didn't this lady point out in her blog at one point a cop left his post and went golfing with a girlfriend? Or did I read something incorectly? I don't have time to go back and look.
Steve S and see your ****, raise you one *****,
is that you Sick??
I am sure that the prosecuters are wringing their hands over how to proceed with this not so brilliant plan of shutting this woman up.
I am surprized they even took it on, they usually are too busy picking on people for minor crap to make the conviction statistics look good.
Maybe if the prosecuters office got back to the original mandate of protecting the people, keeping society civil and do it without needless waste of taxpayer money, they wouldn't get into these messes.
They over punish small frys to look good and do not realize that they are throwing away slightly thawed people who made a mistake and could redeem themselves if the prosecuter were not always out for easy kills.
I would venture to say that if the proesecuters office simply brought this woman in and discssed the situation with her she would have backed off and save the taxpayers a boatload of money.
So you've decided that there's no proof based on a newspaper article? No wonder you're not a cop anymore. What about statements she's made to other non-biased third parties? privy to those? Things found on her seized computer? any idea whats there? And you continue to think that the arresting officer may be subject to some potential personal civil liability even if she's convicted simply because the law itself *may* eventually be found wanting?? Spend at least 15 minutes in law skewl before you decide to be an internet lawyer, judge and court of appeals all rolled into one.
Did the public defender's office leave her in jail for a month?
Looks like the Washington state case was used to shut up somebody being critical of police. Why does this not come as a surprise to me? LOL!!!!!
http://www.aele.org/law/2003FPAUG/sheehan-complaint.html
ââ?¬Å?The only thing I’d worry about is making JADE mad.”
Just a guess, but it might be a little late for that
Why don't get the entire quote right?
"ââ?¬Å?The only thing I’d worry about is making JADE mad... they’re already upset with me,” she says. ââ?¬Å?I don’t want to end up with 40 new charges because I’m getting support.”
She's worried about more bogus charges being placed now that she is out on bond. Do certain loose cannon cops use the law to hide behind and retaliate against people - repeatedly? Yes. Myself, having had to file 8 lawsuits in the last 12 years, can tell you that once they get a case of the butt for you, it never goes away. It's an ego trip by which they just keeping digging their hole deeper.
Let review my currernt score. Steve S, 6 .... Cops 0.
To go into even more detail, 2 default judgements with interest until paid, 5 settled out court as we neared the court dates for a jury to hear my claims, and the best 1 still pending. This last remaining lawsuit will most definitely go to a jury, with other cops testifying against the defendant.
Don't even attempt to say Strom has nothing to fear now that she is out on bond. That dog don't hunt, Cup Cake.
I was going to stay out of this particular thread, but IMHO your choice of user name dared me to enter. :)
The most interesting thing that the media seem to be ignoring are the several references in the iheartejade blog to Elisha Strom's admitted emotional relationship with JADE officer Brian N. O'Donnell (who was an investigator in her husband's prosecution at the time) and her overtly sexual relationship with another JADE officer after her stalking had started:
http://www.iheartejade.blogspot.com/2009/04/put-camo-green-up-somewhere-...
and
.../2008/12/ghost-from-christmas-past.html
These relationships-gone-bad are right out in the open, in detail, on the iheartejade pages. Elisha Strom even dedicates the blog, in her very first post, to O'Donnell by name. There is more than a hint of woman scorned in the air.
My opinion: Neither the JADE men nor Elisha Strom can be trusted to tell the whole truth; both have things to hide about this case and the one that preceded it.
Nobody 'left' her in jail...she had a bond hearing and the judge set a $7500 bond....which means she needed about $750.00 to get out. And it's nobody's 'fault' she was in jail except her own! And Steve S. stop with all the 'damages' talk. You've made it very clear that you spend your life filing lawsuits...you're up to 8? Why don't you get a real job!
"You’ve made it very clear that you spend your life filing lawsuits”Šyou’re up to 8? " Steve S. ought to file them as long as he can win them. What's it to you? Are you being subpoenaed?
quote: "And you continue to think that the arresting officer may be subject to some potential personal civil liability even if she’s convicted simply because the law itself *may* eventually be found wanting??"
Nope.
If she's convicted, the game is over.
If she has the conviction overturned, it's a whole new ball game.
This is the way my drunken uncle explained it to my hick cousin, so it must be true. :)
Just remember that the Federal Circut Court that struck that law down is much more Liberal than the Federal Circut Court that would hear the case regarding Virginia law. Just something to think about.
Here's another credibility issue.
Who's telling the truth? 5 cops or 1 girl?
http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127994
quote: "...deputies claimed that the waitress "asked to have her picture taken with their weapon, but acknowledged they should not have agreed," according to the police report. "Bambi," however, told investigators that "the Midland deputies asked her to go outside to take pictures of her holding the weapon on their marked unit."
Why on earth are any of you giving any credence to the words of a racist nut?! Just because she says it on her blog, doesn't make it true. Anybody crazy enough to tail these officers endlessly because she's "curious" about them, loses a lot of credibility in my book.
Heck, I could start a blog tomorrow and make all sorts of stuff up. The only idiots I can think of who would be gullible enough to swallow it hook, line, and sinker are people like Sick/SteveS/SeeYour et al.
quote: "Why on earth are any of you giving any credence to the words of a racist nut?!"
I don't recall seeing anything racist in her blog. I also have no idea who she is or her past. I don't care to know. This is about "innocent until proven guilty" But as we all know it's totally opposite nowadays... "guilty until proven innocent".
Furthermore, based on personal knowledge and experience, a cop has no more credibility in my book than any other citizen out on the street. I don't have time to look for the link right now, but I have posted it previously. The news link has probably expired by now. 4 cops toss a girl in the back of a patrol car. They immediately begin to create a tale taking the blame off the cop car that caused the wreck and conspire amongst themselves to make it appear as if the girl was at fault. One slight problem, they forgot their video and audio recorders were still on.
See if this link works for you, then we can discuss cop credibility further if you like, Cup Cake.
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=626877
Here's the actual news report. Don't ever assume this intentional lying and conspiracy doesn't take place nationwide. Has the "crime scene technician" in this story always told the truth in court? Has the sgt in this story always told the truth in court? Credibility, HaHaHaHaHaHa!!!!
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Four Hollywood, Florida, police officers and a crime scene technician are suspended with pay ââ?¬â? and probably contemplating career changes ââ?¬â? after being recorded by a police dashboard camera conspiring to frame a civilian driver for a crash. Alexandra Torrensvilas was arrested for driving under the influence only after a police officer rear-ended her at a traffic light, and that officer and his colleagues openly discussed, within range of the camera’s audio pickup, doctoring their stories and the evidence to blame the woman for the collision.
One of the officers can be heard saying, ââ?¬Å?I don’t want to make things up ever, because it’s wrong, but if I need to bend it a little bit to protect a cop, I’m gonna.”
Also recorded was, ââ?¬Å?We’ll do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop because it wouldn’t have mattered because she is drunk anyway.”Suspended in the incident are Officers Joel Francisco and Dewey Pressley, Sgt. Andrew Diaz, community service Officer Karim Thomas and crime scene technician Andrea Tomassi.
Besides blowing the DUI case against Torrensvilas out of the water (charges were dropped,) the officers have compromised every case on which they worked. Since they’re on record falsifying testimony, past and present cases in which they testified or were scheduled to testify will have to be reviewed. Some convictions may be overturned and pending charges will likely be dropped.
Broward County Chief Public Defender Howard Finkelstein has also called on state investigators and the FBI to get involved.
Gasbag, if you're putting links to Stormfront, then you know about Elisha Strom.
Mr/Mrs/Miss ****, Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford has already stated that she pretty much has to prove the intent to "coerce, intimidate, or harass”. After the recent murder case with a hung jury, this Strom case is going to be a close second in the difficulty of proof..... IMHO. What's her proof? Statements made to JADE cops by Strom? Like Elliot said above, and I quote, "Neither the JADE men nor Elisha Strom can be trusted to tell the whole truth; both have things to hide about this case and the one that preceded it."
I would like to see Elliot on the criminal jury. :)
I don't foresee a conviction. For that reason, many of my thoughts are based upon a conviction not being handed down. I don't think it's unreasonable to speculate on anything thereafter. If Strom is convicted, she will most likely appeal. If she appeals, she could possibly win. If she wins the appeal, she will most likely sue the trooper who placed the charge. None of this is in any way related to the O J Simpson case or the bus rides.
Pioneer, I don't know all of the facts in either case. But the former law in Washington and the current law in Virginia are very similar. I'll look into it later and let you know if I find anything. Wouldn't it be funny if Washington had used the law to hush up some girl half a police department had slept with? (Not saying that's what happened in Virginia though of course.) Maybe a blog entry stating the author had gone by Officer Ben Dover's house on Bottoms Up Lane and was sleeping with him several times a week while his wife was at work. That would be hilarious!
Simply because the law *may* prove to be unconstitutional doesn't guarantee her some future payday for potentially violating it. Separate but equal wasn't (in the end) constitutional, but it didn't mean a windfall for every black person who had to ride in the back of a bus. And just because a judge may decide she didn't in fact commit any crime and acquit her doesn't mean she'll be cashing in either. OJ was acquitted, did he sue the State of California? No. HE got slapped with a civil suit, and I'd think Strom (assuming she's not convicted) would be looking at civil litigation from the defendant's perspective if she didn't have so much dirt on the officers involved.
I consider myself a reasonable person, and you'd have a tough time, based on the facts as explained in the story, of convincing me that the arresting officer didn't have reasonable cause to believe that she may have violated the law whether said law will in fact survive constitutional scrutiny or not, so lets stop speculating on what kind of damages she'd get in some hypothetical future suit. Do you suppose individual law enforcement officers get to decide for themselves whether the General Assembly properly took into account first amendment protections before enforcing laws on the books?
Somebody did.
But in a way, it's all good. Being held a month in jail will maximize her damages if she is found not guilty and sues the trooper.
Eyespy, as usual, you're just another user name that has no clue of what you speak of. Where you people learn this stuff I will never know. A $7,500 bond does not mean she needs to post $750 in cash to get out. She can't post the $750 cash, it has to be done through a bail bondsman. The bond can also be posted by somebody putting up their land for example, which of course means the land has to worth at least $7,500. No money exchanges hands then unless Strom fails to appear in court. If I had condoned what she did I could have bonded in less than 10 minutes without a dollar being posted anywhere by anybody. I should have bonded her just to diss you off. :)
We disagree on whose fault it is that Strom is in jail. You think she has committed a crime. I don't. The State of Washington had their law overturned as unconstitutional. If Strom challenges the charge against her far enough here in Virginia, it will probably be overturned in this state too.
Now let's discuss "fault" in my filings lawsuits against cops. Whose fault is it? Do you think I woke up one spring morning of 1997 and decided to go out for the next decade and trick cops into doing things that would surely get them sued? I must be dayum good at what I do if you really think that how the events played out.
If the judge determines Strom has committed no crime , I wish her all the luck in the world if she chooses to sue over a false arrest and her sitting in jail for a month. Put me on the jury and I will award her $250,000 just for the month she spent in jail.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/215811
quote: "The law under which Strom was charged is similar to a law that Washington state enacted in 2002 that forbids the publication of police officers' home addresses and phone numbers with the intent to harm or intimidate. A federal court struck down that law."
"The State of Washington had their law overturned as unconstitutional. If Strom challenges the charge against her far enough here in Virginia, it will probably be overturned in this state too"
how are you so sure that the Strom case and the Washington case are the same? Do you know all the facts of both of these cases?
You're wasting your time, ****. This gasbag is all over the local news blogs like a rash. You can't tell him anything because he's a self-ordained expert of the worst sort. He's like the drunken uncle or hick cousin that shows up at every family gathering, thinks he has a captive audience, and starts bloviating. He certainly doesn't let the facts stand in his way when he's in the mood to make a point, and has thus turned into a local joke (albeit a very tiresome one).
Ok, wrong Shifflett. I almost painted all Shifflett's with the same broad brush you paint cops with.
Mr/Mrs/Miss Question, of course not! Geesh!!!
And why don't you get it right? The white deputy claimed he was ambushed and shot by a black guy. The then Sheriff Robb jumped on it with both feet and immediately called it a hate crime. What really happened? Nobody knows the complete story to this day. Whatever happened, the commonwealth's attorney refused to pursue any charges against him. Did they find out a few truths they didn't want to expose to the public after labeling Shifflett a lair? Or was Shifflett really lying? Brings up another good point about today's law enforcement... you know ONLY what the cops want you to know. Nothing more, nothing less.
He's also the one who was sued for police brutality and lost while employed as a deputy sheriff in the Louisa County Sheriff's Office. If I recall correctly, that fiasco cost Louisa County over $500,000. Don't quote me on that though please, I just don't recall the exact amount.
Any good detective can find him easily. Let me give you a link.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveshiflett
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Reality Check, do you want to have a discussion about credibility or not? You brought up the subject and commented on Strom's lack of credibility. I then proved just how much credibility cops can be given as well. The point I clealy made was that 4 cops vs an innocent girl in Florida may not be much different than a handful of cops vs Strom in Virginia. When the case is over locally the question still remains as to exactly who told the biggest lies while under oath in court. Welcome to the year 2009, where cops have no more credibility than the average citizen nowadays. They made their bed, let them sleep in it.
Mr/Mrs/Miss Question,
Here's another link to the person. Very good and informative reading.
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304064644348&z_Issue_ID=18925100...
ps - I wasnt' real clear above - my last remaining lawsuit will most definitely go to a jury, with other cops testifying against the defendant. The defendant now being a former cop.
How would I? I simply entered "4 FLORIDA COPS CONSPIRE" in Google, and it returned about 5 trillion hits. I simply clicked on one of the hits. I didn't study the website of the hit, or what has been posted on it previously.
Steve, don't bother playing coy with me "cupcake." You know exactly who Elisha Strom is, as well as her history as a white supremacist. You're incredibly stupid to think that anybody would fall for your "who, little ol' me?" ingenue act.
A mental patient could post that she's having three-way sex with Chief Longo and a panda bear on the surface of the moon, and you'd swallow it. Why? Because you're desperate for validation. Your persona as a litigant is all you have.
Question-- surely Steve must be the cop who's related to Elvis & Jeffrey Shifflett?
Nope, but he is indirectly related to a cop that got fired for domestic abuse.
Strom sat in jail for 3 or 4 weeks? But, by God, here's a tale that tops hers. Absolutely amazing what's going on in this country now! Unbelievable!!!
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A man is suing the Kissimmee Police Department for an arrest over mints. When officers pulled Donald May over for an expired tag, they thought the mints he was chewing were crack and arrested him.
May told Eyewitness News they wouldn't let him out of jail for three months until tests proved the so-called drugs were candy.
May said he was just minding his business, driving home from work, when a Kissimmee police officer pulled him over near 192.
"I don't know how it occurred," he said.
May was pulled over for an expired tag on his car. When the officer walked up to him, he noticed something white in May's mouth. May said it was breath mints, but the officer thought it was crack cocaine.
"He took them out of my mouth and put them in a baggy and locked me up [for] possession of cocaine and tampering with evidence," May explained.
The officer claimed he field-tested the evidence and it tested positive for drugs. The officer said he saw May buying drugs while he was stopped at an intersection. He also stated in his report May waived his Miranda rights and voluntarily admitted to buying drugs.
May said that never happened.
"My client never admitted he purchased crack cocaine. Why would he say that?" attorney Adam Sudbury said.
May was thrown in jail and was unable to bond out for three months. He didn't get out until he received a letter from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney's Office that test results showed no drugs were found.
"While I was sitting in jail I lost my apartment. I lost everything," he said.
While May was behind bars, the Kissimmee Police Department towed his car and auctioned it off. He lost his job and was evicted. Now May is suing the city for false arrest and false imprisonment. He wants to be compensated for the loss of his car and job.
May's attorney and the city of Kissimmee discussed a possible settlement last year, but failed to reach an agreement.