Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Inc.
P.O. Box 270143
Hartford, WI 53027
Phone (800) 869-1884
Fax (425) 451-3959
CHAPTER 1: BILL OF RIGHTS DAY
I had grown tired of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb’s, aka “Beef Wellington”, and his total disregard for the law and his persecution of those individuals who choose to openly carry weapons for the purpose of self defense and so I had decided to enforce the law on December 15th, 2001. Beef Wellington sent his goon squad, aka the Denver PD SWAT Team, to have me arrested for daring to challenge Webb and his illegal city ordinance, which was in violation of the Bill of Rights and the Colorado State Constitution.
About thirty other folks also attended a BOR rally that day to support the Bill of Rights in Denver’s “Veterans Park” located right in the middle of the state capital and the Denver County court house. Many of the folks who showed up in defense of the BOR were with the Colorado State Libertarian Party and a few others were with the Colorado chapter of the Tyranny Response Team. Only two of us choose to wear a gun openly while many others within our small crowd choose to wear their handguns concealed, unknown to the Denver Gestapo who were also present at our BOR rally. After one of the speakers who had been invited to speak at our rally had wrapped up his speech myself and the other man who was openly carrying a small .380 Beretta were both suddenly grabbed by the local copsters and our tools of self defense quickly removed from our persons. We had noticed that the copsters who arrested us had handguns on their hips for self defense and yet these are the same copsters who have been in a lot of hot water as of late for the killing of fifteen year old mentally disabled child and the killing of an old man you was sleeping in his chair with a beer can in his lap which had been mistaken for a gun by the copster who had killed him. It should also be noted that many of the copsters present to arrest us for carry a handgun at our BOR rally were the very same people who hid behind their cars at Columbine High School while student were being gunned to down by tow deranged teenagers. Not only will the copsters NOT protect us, but these cowards will arrest us if we try to protect ourselves.
We were both hauled off to the Denver processing center in separate police cars, but we both ended up walking together from the parking lot to the processing jail and the other fellow who was arrested with me had tried to preach to the copsters who were escorting us to jail about the BOR. I thought to myself what a waste of time as these clowns only care about keeping their tax-consuming jobs and getting their tax paid for pensions after twenty years of living off the government dole. Copsters don’t give a squat about freedom and human rights and it is waste of time to even talk to these goons. We were both taken into an office room for processing and the copsters asked us the usual line of questions. The copsters became puzzled over my handgun as they had no idea how to even unload a black powder pistol and they had to get me to show them how simple it is to unload this type if handgun. Oh brother no wonder they lost the war at Columbine and kill the wrong people.
This is the illegal ordinance I seek to remove from society.
38-117 (b) It shall be unlawful for any person, except a law enforcement officer in the performance of duty, to carry, use or wear any dangerous or deadly weapon, including, but not by way of limitation, any pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, machine gun, air gun, gas operated gun, spring gun, sling shot, blackjack, nunchaku, brass knuckles or artificial knuckles of any substance whatsoever, or switchblade knife, gravity knife, or any knife having a blade greater than three and one-half (31/2) inches in length, or any explosive device, incendiary device or bomb, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon.
I spent about 18 hours in their dirty stinking jail until they finally released me on a $1,500 bond. The real persecution was about to begin.
CHAPTER 2: THE CHARADE
On May 29th, 2002 I appeared in the Denver county court of one Judge Celeste for my trial. But rather than have a fair and impartial trial a “charade” took place. I had been charged on December 15th , 2001 for violating a Denver city ordinance that prohibits a person from carrying a gun openly for the purposes of self- defense. My defense in this case would have been the second amendment to the Bill of Rights and the Colorado State Constitution clearly which states that my “right” to carry a gun openly for the purpose of self-defense “Shall not come into question.” . My attorney Paul Grant was prevented from using this argument by Judge Celeste, and as such he was not allowed to give me a proper defense. So all that Mr. Grant and myself could do was just sit there and watch the judge violate my right to due process and to also watch this “charade” play itself out.
As any law student can tell you there can never be two conflicting laws and that when one law conflicts with another only one is superior to the other. And in this case State statute and the State Constitution are in fact superior to that of any city ordinance. The argument used by Denver county judges in this ‘charade’ was that Denver is a “home rule” city and Colorado is a “home rule” state. This according to county judges means that Denver can create any ordinance they please. Then this would mean that Denver could legalize murder, rape, theft, assault etc., and ignore Colorado State law.
The city attorney claimed that I needed to prove an “immediate danger” to my life as an affirmative defense to open carry and that this is the only defense that can be used for the right to carry a gun for self defense in the city of Denver. There is but one little problem with this line of reasoning and that is if something like an “immediate danger” occurs to someone it is in most cases going to be a surprise to the victim. You will never know, in most instances, when a danger could be imminent. “Oh wait Mr. Bad Guy, the city of Denver prohibits me from carrying openly. Just give me a sec so that I can go home and get my gun before you rob and or kill me.” This would be the scenario under the illegal city ordinance of Denver.
The “charade” continued played itself out for the day, Mr. Grant’s motions and arguments had been denied by Judge Celeste. And then after denying Mr. Grant’s motions she made a closing statement, which clearly indicated that she was prejudice towards my case, “This is not the old west and we cannot have people walking around with guns strapped to their leg in Denver.” Gee but we can Denver police thugs running around with guns strapped on their hips so that they can kill innocent people like Ishmael Mena and students of Columbine High School. I find it interesting that the judge would trust Denver police thugs, but not ordinary taxpayers to carry a gun who also happens to be a military veteran that is proficient in the use of a gun and knows gun safety.
Shortly afterwards the jury was brought in for jury selection and the ‘charade’ continued and the jury was questioned by both lawyers. The city attorney crossed off the people he felt would find me innocent and then the list was handed to Mr. Grant who refused to participate in this aspect of the “charade”. The judge quickly dismissed the jury from the courtroom and demanded to know why Mr. Grant had refused to participate in the jury selection
Grant instructed the judge that he had a fifth amendment right not to participate. The judge read him the riot act from the book of court rules and instructed Mr. Grant to either select three jurors to be removed from the jury pool or else she would find him in contempt and have him arrested. Mr. Grant again refused to participate in the “charade” and the judge quickly ordered the court clerk to get the deputies. The judge again demanded that Mr. Grant select three jurors “or else”. Mr. Grant asked the judge to help make the selection for him and then she became even more incensed. It looked like they were going to haul my lawyer off to jail and I would have to continue on without him, but then suddenly three uniformed cowboys came into the courtroom and started “walking around with guns strapped to their legs”. Yea the deputies with the GUNS on their hips were sent to intimidate my lawyer and his very life was suddenly in “immediate danger”. So under threat of being gunned down by three of Denver’s finest goons my lawyer scratched off three jurors without even looking at the list.
We continued on with the ”charade” and the witness for the “persecution” was to take the witness stand. Capt. DiManna of the Denver PD was called to testify. I have No idea why since he wasn’t the arresting officer. Prior to my trial I had never met DiManna and I had only heard of him due to his infamous reputation at Columbine.. DiManna lied twice on the witness stand when he claimed that I had approached him at the “Bill of Rights Day” rally and asked him to arrest me. Since DiManna was in plain clothes and had no badge publicly displayed on his person then how would I have known he was a cop and as such why then would I ask someone who appeared not to be cop to arrest me? I never asked anyone to arrest me much less DiManna.
His second lie occurred when he stated that the “Bill of Rights Day” rally was nothing more than an attempt to get arrested and only a “Second Amendment” rally, yet at the other guy’s trial he testified to something much different and we now have both lies on record. When asked by Mr. Grant if DiManna was proud of what he had done, referring to the act of arresting me, he stated that he was indeed proud of his illegal actions. Yes indeed folks the cop was proud of arresting two military veterans in “veterans park” on the “Bill of Rights Day”. This cop was proud of destroying the ‘Bill of Rights”. The cop was proud of denying a person’s right to self-defense.
DiManna is the same cop who while at Columbine High, acting in the capacity of a Denver PD SWAT leader, hid behind a fire truck while a teacher bled to death. Harris and Klebold where already dead and even when some of the students who fled the building and had even told the copster such while he was hiding behind the fire truck he still refused to give aid and comfort to a dying taxpayer, Yes DiManna has much to be proud of. Not only did he refuse to protect the students and teachers of Columbine, but if any individual should dare to take the initiative to do so himself then DiManna will pull out his gun and arrest you for exercising what is a constitutional right.
After DiManna’s testimony the “charade” had pretty much ended and the six “shepple” of the jury had of course found me guilty, as this is what the judge instructed them to do.
I was then ordered by the judge to see a probation officer and come back on July 12th for sentencing. At which point Mr. Grant will of course file an appeal to Denver District court.
I later appeared in court on July 12th, 2002 for sentencing by Judge Celeste. The probation department recommended six months informal supervised probation and a fine. The public persecutor demanded that I receive 10 to 20 days in jail along with a fine. And my attorney asked that the judge accept the advice of the probation department. Celeste gave me 20 days of in home detention, no fine, no court cost and six months unsupervised probation or thirty days in jail if I can’t comply with the initial sentence. My lawyer filed an appeal in Denver District court and while on appeal the sentencing was stayed.
CHAPTER 3: THE CHARADE CONTINUED
Denver District Court Judge Joseph E. Meyer III... had affirmed the decision of Denver County Court Judge Mary Celeste and decided like Celeste that no one has the right to carry a gun for self-defense in Denver. Here are some of his comments as to why he defended her actions.
"Defendant argues that he was entitled to present a defense and have the jury instructed that he 'had the right to openly carry a weapon, even not perceiving a direct threat,' for general self defense purposes. I disagree. Philp wanted to expand the scope of the allowable affirmative defense set forth in 38-118 by eliminating the need for the 'direct and immediate threat' requirement. Philp's proposed self-defense instruction was equivalent to instructing the jury that everyone can openly carry a firearm in Denver if he or she claims it is for self-defense. That is not the law." -- Judge Meyer
I didn't want to expand on the Denver City ordinance, I simply ignored it because it is in violation of the law. The law being Colorado state law, which clearly says that I have a right to carry a gun for the purposes of self-defense.
"The right of no person to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or in aid of civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall be called in question: but nothing herein contained shall be construed to justify the practice of carrying concealed." -- Colorado Constitution, Art. II, Sec. 13.
I don't just see the words "direct and immediate danger" and I suspect the reason we don't see those words written into the state constitution is because no one can predict the future or be able to determine when or where their lives might be in "direct and immediate danger." A person doesn't need to be a philosophy professor or even a half-wit judge to understand this concept. A person need only spend one day in Denver to discover that they are in "direct and immediate danger" from either the local gang-bangers the Denver PD and Denver's finest, the drunks who live in and around Denver Civic Park, which by the way is located right in front of Judge Meyer's court room.
"An ordinance is presumed to be constitutional. In order to attack the constitutionality of the ordinance, Philp had to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the restrictions imposed by the ordinance are so severe as to render the ordinance unconstitutional. Philp did not meet this burden of proof." -- Judge Meyer
What a joke when you consider the fact that Judge Celeste wouldn't allow my lawyer Paul Grant to talk to the jury about Article II section 13 of the Colorado State Constitution. Even a paralegal knows that you cannot have two laws which conflict with one another. A greater law is always given precedent over the lesser law and of course a city ordinance is the lesser of the two laws. The leftist judge denied me the ability to meet this "burden of proof."
"Denver City Council has determined that allowing anyone to carry a gun for self defense would endanger public safety." -- Judge Meyer
But the state legislature, which vastly outweighs the Denver City council in numbers and in authority, has recently decided otherwise and reaffirmed the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self defense just this past session. A law which has instructed that all cities within the state of Colorado do not have the authority to write any ordinances that are in conflict with state law. The legislature passed SB-25, and the governor signed it into law. The law strips localities' ability to restrict firearms more severely than what state law allows.
The Denver City council never did offer any proof that people carrying for the reasons of self-defense would be a danger to public safety. Certainly the Denver County prosecutor was never able to prove that I was a danger to the community when I carried openly that day on December 15th. I thought the burden of proof was upon the prosecutor, and not the defendant. I never even touched my .40 caliber black powder Uberti pistol the day I showed up to enforce state law and I certainly never threatened anyone's life that day. I have had a gun in my hands since the age of six and I was a Gunner’s mate in the United States Coast Guard. Funny how they trusted me with a .50 caliber Ma Duce in the military but all of the sudden the city of Denver does not trust me with a black powder pistol in Veterans Park. Go figure... But according to the people who never even bothered to inquire as to my background with guns I'm a danger to the public safety and can't be trusted with a gun, yet the copsters who are trusted with guns by this same city government are in trouble for the killing of innocent Denver citizens.
Judge Meyers ignores the fact that this same illegal city ordinance allows for people who are not residents of Denver to carry in their cars concealed because state law allows them to do so. And why would someone who carries a gun concealed on their person or in their car be any less or anymore of a danger to the public than a person who carries openly?
"Philp also asked the Court to interpret the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution to guarantee an individual the right to possess and use firearms. The Fifth Circuit in, United States v. Emerson 270 F #d 203 (2001), is the only federal court to hold that the "Second Amendment guarantees to individual private citizens a fundamental right to possess and use firearms for any purpose at all, subject only to limited government regulations." Other courts have declined to interpret the Second Amendment as conferring a fundamental right, holding rather that the amendment protects the right to bear arms in context of formation of militias for the common defense. See, Silvera v. Lockyer 312 F3d 1052 (9th cir.20020: U.S. v Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939). This court declines to follow the Fifth Circuit and holds that the ordinance does not violate the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution." -- Judge MeyerSo this judge no longer respects the practice of accepting the most recent case decided on this issue and has set his own precedent by ignoring precedent. This is very odd considering the fact that Judge Celeste held up Trinen v. the City and County of Denver and rubbed it my face repeatedly citing Colorado State Supreme Court precedent in this regard. And neither of the two cases that judge Meyer references even suggest that a person does not have the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, not to mention the fact anyone between the ages of 15 and 45 is in the militia.
Well, it looks like what Paul Grant had told me what would happen in a Denver District court did. A Denver District court judge will never overturn the decision of a Denver County court judge...
I continued on with this case to the State Supreme Court where my writ of certortia was denied. Since six of the seven State Supreme Court Judges are leftist appointees this comes as no surprise to me. My lawyer recently filed a writ of habeas corpus in Federal District court.
CHAPTER 4: THE IDIOT
Actually this chapter should be titled “The Idiots”, but I will talk only about one idiot for now. The idiot in question is the other guy who was arrested with me on Bill of Rights Day. I’m not even going to bother to mention his name I am only going to mention his idiocy. The idiot went to trial in Judge Patterson’s court and got pretty much the same treatment I received only he received a much harsher sentencing than did I. And the reason for this is that when he went on the witness stand he starting rambling on about some stupid nonsense involving a gold fringe flag being placed in the court room which made the court a court of admiralty and due to this fact the judge had no jurisdiction over him. This may have all been true but I doubt it and if it was true then why then did the idiot bother to even show up for court ? I mean if the judge has no jurisdiction over him then of course there would be no need to even show up to court. The idiot had tried to preach to the judge and jury much in the same manner that had he tried to preach to the copsters who had arrested us on BOR and what a waste of time as the idiot only dug himself a deeper grave. The idiot received 60 days in home detention or six months in jail and a $500 fine.
We both used the same lawyer and agreed to ask for donations of off his website and by any other means to help defer any legal costs and split the monies in half. The idiot explained to me that he was a libertarian and I took him at his word, he lied to me. He also told me that what donations could not pay for he would pay for it all to go towards my legal defense, he lied. He told me that he would continue to use the same lawyer and follow thru with this case to the bitter end, he lied. He had announced publicly and expressed this same sentiment on the TRT forum in which he clearly stated that anyone who gets arrested with him on BOR shall have all of their legal cost paid for by him, he lied. He lied about a lot of things and I was an idiot for accepting his lies at face value without checking into it first, but it really doesn’t matter I would have done it all over again as my sole purpose was to defend the Bill of Rights in defiance of an illegal city ordinance. After the first trial the idiot suddenly decides to drop the lawyer and leave me holding the bag. When I talked to him about it he refused to pay my lawyer and he wanted all of the donations sent to him. My lawyer then refused to accept nay donations that where made to both the idiot and myself. My plea for donations had ended it was solely up to me to pay for my legal defense. The idiot told me that he would defend me in court and that I would have no need of a lawyer. The idiot has no back ground in court or the law, but according to the idiot he knew it all and I could trust him to argue about the gold fringe flag. The idiot filed his gold fringe flag appeal in District Court and lost. The District Court Judge was so pissed off that eh wanted the idiot to go to jail right away, but instead the State Supreme Court upheld the idiots stay of execution penign his exhausting of all appeals. After the idiot had realized his gold fringe flag argument had failed he decided to plagiarize the arguments of my lawyer. He literally stole my arguments form my lawyers briefs used in District Court and field them with eh State Supreme Court who in turn denied his writ and refuse to hear his case anyway.
The idiot then went to the Colorado Court of appeals. We have a four court tier system here in Colorado which is the following, County court, State District court, Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado State Supreme Court. A person can bypass the third tier and go directly to the State Supreme Court which does not have to hear your case at all if they so choose. The only remedy after this is to go thru the Federal Court system which is a three tier system, but you must first go thru the process to see if you can have your case resolved before going to federal court unless there is an issue that crosses state lines that involve civil actions. You can’t go form the State Supreme court back to the Court of Appeals but the idiot did it anyway and the Court of Appeals tossed his case for this very reason. The idiot never went to Federal court and no one has any idea why as this would have been the next logical step in the entire process. Only an idiot would have thought he could win this case in Denver County and or a Denver District court. The idiot f8cked up his entire case and at this point Judge Patterson issued a warrant for his arrest.
The idiot then posted on his website, which was being closely monitored by the state nazi’s that he would not be taken alive and at this point the idiot invented a imaginary internet militia thinking that this would scare the copsters away. His phone was tapped and his every move monitored by the state Gestapo. The Gestapo simply waited until he left home and then staked out his home until he returned at which point the copsters drove him down while he was in his car and before he even had time to get out of his car. The idiot ended up doing six months in the county jail. For another indirectly related charge stemming form another instance of wearing a gun in public the idiot got six years in the state pen for threatening two judges.
When I finally got a peak at the idiot’s website I had noticed that it was riddled with anti-Semitic rhetoric and links to same. The usual kind of crap a person could find on any nazi forum like “Storm Front” stuff like holocaust revisionist crap, Jewish bankster conspiracies theories etc. The idiot who claimed to be a libertarian wanted to shut down US borders and make flag burning a federal crime. It was a website that only a copster would love. It became obvious to me that the idiot was not a libertarian at all, but rather a nazi infiltrator who was using the LP party to get out his BS message. And it so easy to infiltrate this political party since the LP is run by another group of idiots many of whom are repukelican infiltrators.
CHAPTER 5: THE PERSECUTION OF A PATRIOT
In the city of Denver and on December 15th 2001 I stood in “Veterans Park” with a loaded pistol holstered to my hip and I did this in support of freedom and the Bill of Rights. It only seem fitting to me, that as an honorably discharged veteran of the United States military I do so at a memorial site designed to remind people of those who have died defending freedom.
I was arrested by Denver police and held as a political prisoner by the leftist black Mayor Wellington Webb for a period of one day. The leftist mayor made it a crime for any gun owner to carry a weapon for the purpose of self-defense, even a military veteran. Webb’s illegal city ordinance was not only in violation of the Bill of Rights it was also in violation of the Colorado State Constitution, the will of the people, the will of the state legislature and Senate Bill 25, which has made Webb’s city ordinance illegal.
Despite all of this I was ordered to appear in a Denver County court where I was denied my right to due process by the leftist lesbian Judge Mary Celeste. Who forbade myself and my lawyer Paul Grant to use the Bill of Rights, the State Constitution and case law as my sole means of defense. After being found guilty for the violation of an illegal city ordinance the leftist judge sentenced this gun owner to twenty days in home detention or thirty days in jail.
My case went to appeal to District Court and yet another leftist judge read my case and affirmed the decision of his fellow leftist and liar Judge Celeste. This scumbag also ignored the Bill of Rights, the State Constitution and case law. My case was again appealed to the Colorado State Supreme Court, which is stacked with leftist appointees, who all refused to hear my case.
The county court had up to one year to contact me and call me back for a review to carry out my initial sentencing. My lawyer had up to one year to file an appeal in Federal District court and my attorney did in fact file a writ in Federal Court at which time I went to the Denver County Court to retrieve my bond money. When I arrived at the Denver court clerks office I had discovered the county court lost my entire court file and it would take up to two days for them to find it. Thirteen months after my sentencing and just a few weeks after my lawyer had filed his writ in Federal Court the black leftist county Court Judge Jordan decides to call me back in for review. Why? Her time was up and my appeal was not yet over with.
I appeared in court with my attorney and Judge Jordan demanded to know if I had done my twenty days in home detention. I couldn’t believe it, three years had transpired, I had not committed any crimes by even the Fascist Republic of Denver’s standards and the black leftist pig wanted to know if I had done my in home detention. I explained to the woman the her time was up and that no one had made any effort to contact me until one month past their own due date. She didn’t care and demanded that I either do the in home detention or go to jail for thirty days. She violated yet another rule in her zeal to persecute this gun owner.
I was ordered by the judge to walk across Colfax avenue and speak to a probation officer. I did so and I met with a Ms. White, who is in fact black. She told me that I needed $215, a telephone, photo ID, phone bill, utility bill and a disability statement as I suffer from diabetes, gout and congestive heart failure. I handed her my list of my doctors, medications, of which there are ten, and doctor’s appointments. I also told her that I was fighting with kidney stones brought on by the gout and that I would also be going in for surgery to deal with my diabetes problem some time in November or December.
I went home and added up my bills for the month of November and there is no money for the county of Denver and its ankle monitor program. Gee it looks like I will be doing thirty days in the county jail. I called over to the jail to inform them of my coming and to see if they would be able to accommodate all of my medical needs. I was referred to the jail-house infirmary and spoke to a nurse with an attitude problem who couldn’t give a shit less about my health problems. Gosh how far are these leftist pigs willing to push me? I guess we will soon find out when I reappear in Jordan’s court on November 4th, 2004 and then we shall find out how far I am willing to push back.
My attorney Paul Grant slapped Judge Jordan with restrianing order and then filed a writ of habeus corpus in Denver District Court. I am to appear in court room six on November 23rd at 9am.
For more information about this case, contact
Veterans For Freedom
Duncan Philp, Founder
305 W. Magnolia #131
Ft. Collins, Colorado 80521
ph 970-419-3630
email: zapata105@yahoo.com
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