Josh's Trial Notes. (6/14 UPDATE)

Storify of Live-Tweets from Josh's trial http://storify.com/small_affair/freecleveland4-josh-trial-june-13
Josh was sentenced to 10 years.

                                    ++++++ Updates for Josh's trial ++++++


                                   *******Day 1 Mon June 10th. 9am********
 Will not be able to go inside court room during jury selection. Can watch through CCTV and sit in "overflow" room. You can watch the court proceedings through TVs! Just Jury selection.
Jury was selected. Court barred Josh from bringing up mental health to Jurors.



                                  ********Day 2 Tues June 11th 10am********
 FBI brought in the informant Shaquille Azir. Many people said he lied on the stand. A lot of things did not get brought up that should have. Video and Audio evidence brought in. About 7 people attended to support Josh. Explained Shaq had been working for the FBI for about a year when he infiltrated Occupy Cleveland. Court seemed to bring up Doug a lot.
“The evidence will show that I did not have complete knowledge of that incident,” said Stafford, concluding, “The prosecution cannot prove guilt without reasonable doubt. That’s all I have to say.”

(Josh really isn't doing well right now. A lot of people found it hard to watch, because it was so upsetting. Please send him letters, or come to court just to show support.



                                    ********Day 3 Weds June 12th********
 CI Shaqille Azir said on the stand that he didn't get compensated. Yet the affidavit said he did, 6 Grand.
(Notes from someone who attended Wednesday)
Skelly asking Shaq questions:
Josh: "Why are there 6 vests present here why not five?" he couldnt answer
Shaq compares vests to greenbeans in reference to shopping for them
Arrest before chicago trip
Shaq "i didnt make up the group. i was just there for negotiation"
Skelly wasnt present through negotiations
March 2 Shaq met skelly body recording
Was skelly implicated in conspiracy or introduced as implicated?
Shaq keeps turning his answers around to implicate skelly for later answeing questions indirectly
Benefits shaq received not being comprehensively talked about
Skelly goes into shaqs continuance of probation
Shaq "i saw Doug activate the device" one question later "i definitely saw skelly activate the device"
Exhibit 4 a video clip of them getting out of the car
+++Break+++
Potential mistrial from jury members sleeping in court one guy in particular during shaqs testimony maybe can take plea deal /// this was overlooked later as normative
US calls john dean: fbi in cleveland, 5 year employee, job was to arrest doug. Recovered property from doug writing notebook paper "216 219 6253 green" and a boxcutter
Exhibit 13 telephone number...
(Lawyer fail pulling correct report)
Skelly didnt do great asking questions
US calls peter mauro: fbi spec agent since 2009 in cle
Assaigned to arrest skelly primary duty
This to be his arrestee was appointed at a later time
Initially surveillance agent at parking lot later searched and transported skelly
In skellys posession paper handwritten red 216 219 6174 or 6124 (sorry)
US calls michael wisnowski: fbi cle nov 2004 intel analyst assist case agents and various squads counter terrorism "i can make spreadsheets" evidence response team crimescene management
Of course obstinant to skelly and helpful to gov lawyers...
Another guys testimony
Rte 82 bridge..interstate commerce.. Close bridge until damage is assessed and risk to public is assessed 2 part appraissal process...bunch of thousands of dollars cited for each  whatever... (obviously this guy was here to show jury the cost to taxpayers.)
Vs notes:
US calls spec agent daniel pillitair cle fbi ex military bomb tech diffuses bombs forensic evidence... Parts of an ied: conductor switch power and main charge (detonator)
Swat
C4 deals with on the reg: combo of energetic material and a binding agent
Safety; avoid static electricity
Questions about thermite..
Met with ryan taylor created explosive devices <places toolboxes on stand>
Inert ieds <opens boxes>
Inert c4 is just the binding
Exhibit 12 cellphones
Considerations in construction: wanted to make sure there were series of deliberate acts: procurement placement arming
As realistic as possible so would not be able to discern from real
Photos of bridge
8:50 radioed guys were approaching
Detonated phones
Missed call 9:26 216 219 6206
Text message 9:47
Call 9:50
Text 9:57 code 2332
Red text 9:48
Text 9:56
Missed call 9:59

Lunch break

US calls ryan taylor : 5 year fbi army officer domestic terrorism cleveland
"Shaqs job was to gather info on potential threats"
"There was a clear leader of an organization with memebers" at occupy cle
Tasked to look for criminal threats
Ryan taylors tenses keep being off while hes talking.
Was informed 47 people were at OC in dark clothing
Seperate from oc
November 15 or 17 went from telephone or email to face to face with doug
Doug was talking about smoke bombs or bank signs
"The primary role was to gather intel"
Was he making decision points for them
"I have a potential person who can provide explosives" shaq was told by taylor to tell doug
"Is everyone in on the plan"
Mid feb explosives "doug initiated"
Asst wmd coordinator "i respond to wmd" (i invent them)
Shows 4, no changed his mind 6 exhibits
1b 2b 3b 4b 5b 6b
April 30th 2012 multiple recording devices
Infrared cam signal goes to fbi hq down town transmitted from spot
Interference audio/vid mounted in vehicle "its on a 3g network" the video is degraded... Hes making excuses for it
Cam or vid comes from a 3rd partyy vendor outside the fbi ..."if the device is interupted it stops recording" referring to 2-3 second gaps and info stops
"It was dougs decision to choose the bridge"
Special Taylor denies tasking chs with choosing targets "Supposed to gather info and report back"
The smoke cannisters were live
Govt exhibits 11, 12, 13, 14
11: green ied phone #216 219 6174
12: red phone 2162196206
13: red bomb 2162196034
14: green detonator phone 216 219 6034
Redphone called green bomb and vice versa
Was switched up
From reviewing both phones
One tried to detonate another
Exhibit 26: red detonator phone sent text message pic
Doug called the undercover to clarify numbers code 2332 was reprovided "Skelly had the red phone" "Doug had the green phone"
Exhibit 40: 9:47pm sent text 0281 misdialed code
Exhibit 33: red phone red bomb 0281 sent from green phone
Exhibit 42: green detonator phone sent text 2332 red phone red ied sent to 2162196253 9:56pm
Skellys crossexamination:
When did investigation of skelly begin to occur?
Plan was laid out on 27th of april to skelly
did every video go throguh milestone software recording stuff?
Skellys question: what initially caused investigation to take place
Taylor skirting the point or pretending he didnt understand the question.
"Smoke grenades on detroit bridge and bringing down bank signs"
Oct 21st... Why sent chs? "Had received threatening reports that people were down there itching for a fight""
March 2nd aware of doug\josh
24th of april
Did not specify rte 82 bridge to skelly when doug explained it to skelly
Couldn it have been any bridge?
Could it have been a miscommunication?-skellys questions about this
-----------------------------------
Clip 1a24d recording of 27th explaining to skelly doug explaining to skelly
Skelly sort of agreed to be a "runner"
<lots of "huh" sounding bits but only one "huh" in the transcript. Huhs are skellys "huhs?" When doug is explaining to him..like 'i dont get it'
Question in the court
Objections to evidence? Going through evidences
Defendent has right to object to evidence
Skellys counsel says "we have agreement in part"
Objections to 2 exhibits
Exhibit 7 video of placing of the bomb
Exhibit 6A video of applebees
Reason skelly given
Wasnt fully provided in the discovery why? Defense counsel only has audio
Defense hasnt been provided enough time
May 17 provided
Us gov testifies audio and visual were given
7: alterations to video..!
Admissibility of coconspirator exhibits?
Alleged coconspirator statements
D2E
Conspiracy invented feb 15th began as property damage escalated
Dowd goes "were going to use a very broad reading to the concept of conspiracy" this is gonna be good for skelly it sounds
Rule 29 motion
Skellys asked to put in a motion to have the case against me dismissed
Dowd goes overrules
Defense case starts at 9am Thursday
--------
Wed, June 12th 2013
We were told to go to the basement and wait to be called, got stuck in the overflow room with no video for the
first bit because they didn't call.
The following is highly paraphrased and based on notes taken by a very sleepy layperson. I am not a lawyer,
and from defense support seats it's nearly impossible to see the screen with slides/video/evidence. I also don't
know shorthand so everything here is paraphrased, not an official court record, and my interpretation from the
audience.
This is my best attempt to reconstruct what seemed relevant to me at the time. Please keep in mind that this is a
difficult situation, reported by friends (and not lawyers), and that Josh has severe ADD and dyslexia. Even with
written questions he sometimes loses track of a sentence by the end of it. He's asked to repeat and clarify a lot.
Any opinions expressed are my guesses, and often my hopes, and I watch a close friend take a huge risk to
defend his innocence.
Start with Josh cross examination of CI/CHS (No video, even though we all know this person's identity;
I'm leaving it out of this text to save myself some hassle because anyone who cares to can find out
trivially)
Josh - You said 5 [protective gear] vests were bought?
CI - Yes
J - So why were there six when you pulled them out of the evidence bag [yesterday - I didn't see this]
CI - I don't know. Follows with long metaphor about how you sometimes go shopping and intend to buy 10
cans of beans and end up with 11 when you get home.
Me- [Not sure if this guy subconsciously steals and thinks it's normal or really can imagine
not noticing the difference between 5 and 6 heavy protective vests that, unlike cans of beans,
cost a non-trivial amount?
Of course, it's all the government supplying the money to pay the government in a fake
transaction, but how fake is it going to look not to check. I usually make sure I got what I paid
for when something costs a chunk of money.
These guys were living on dollars a day, and eating meals scavenged from discards - although
Josh never worked for the CI (and this never comes up in court for that reason) other defendants
did, reportedly for what amounted to less than minimum wage as much as 10 hours a day
renovating houses. After working exhausting days, these same men came back and were
required to perform duties related to upkeep of the warehouse shared living space, including a
certain number of shifts. By some accounts the CI provided members with illicit stimulants to
counter sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation that's engineered by the CI and his backers to
reduce decision-making capacity.]
J - How many times was the plan pushed back?
CI - Equivocates (just assume this for every response he makes) – twice
J - Were you planning on going to Chicago as part of this investigation?
CI - I take my directions from [Agent Ryan] Taylor. I did not expect to go to Chicago, because I expected the
arrests to happen prior to that.
Me- This would reference the anti-NATO demonstrations. Also implies, but does not prove,
that the FBI was controlling and driving the timeline, not Josh or any defendant arrested with
him. In the affidavit the purchases the defendants were initially interested in were protective
gear for participation in what were expected (and proved to be) quite violent protests.
Josh was not involved at this point (testimony to follow)
J - Were you supposed to wear one of the vests?
CI - No, I never said that. [CI puts blame on Doug as leader]
J- Was I at the hotel during the purchase
[of the protective gear and, when pushed by CI – see affidavit* by the government, the C4 *I
don't believe the affidavit is the full truth, but if the government admits to something there, it's
clearly not my pet conspiracy theory See item 35 in
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Wright_complaint_affadavit_050112.pdf?
tag=contentMain;contentBody ]
CI - No
J - Was I involved in any negotiation related to the purchase
CI - No, they were only all together at the end
J - When did CI initially meet Josh?
CI - March 2nd
J - Was Josh in the group then (March 2nd)?
CI - No
J - What benefits received
CI - None
Me- Josh asks some confusing questions here. Judge Dowd indicates he can't use
indictments, arraignments or arrests, and that probation is unrelated to assistance as a CI. I
was highly confused by this because the initial affidavit shows that since July 2011 the CI was
paid aprox $5,750 for services and $550 for expenses. The CI has a criminal record including
one conviction for possession of cocaine (1990), one for felony robbery (1991) and four
convictions for passing bad checks between 1991 and 2011. The CI is on probation in
Cuyahoga AND Lorain counties for passing bad checks, and has not received payment since
beginning his probation. [See item 8 of the same document mentioned before]
Forgive me if I'm skeptical about the continued involvement out of the kindness of his heart (as
the original affidavit doesn't consistently conceal gender, I'm not making a clumsy work around
either guys.)
J - Did Mr. Wright say he activated?
CI - Yes
J - So I didn't activate?
CI - I saw you activate
J - What time of day
CI - 9-10pm
J - So very dark?
CI - Yes
J - What was the visibility like?
CI - It was very good, a clear night.
This comes up repeatedly. Look for it.
RECESS – WE COME INTO COURT
They're trying to figure out how to play a section of a clip – Dowd complains it's loud (I agree, audio is nearly
incomprehensible). Decide to play clip [Jurors saw yesterday] and instruct jury to focus on the end and question
the witness.
[In Video]
CI – Giving detailed directions and correcting. Unclear who's talking other than him and I can't see the screen.
Me - Look, these instructions are too complicated for anyone who can't keep track of an
entire sentence in court. Not only was Josh (even were he inclined to) never going to build a C4
bomb and take out a bridge chosen by the informant/handlers for meeting criteria for the
terrorism enhancement? I'm pretty that – if handed a bomb with the instructions the CI gave –
he couldn't have set it off in the manner instructed.
Something between Judge Dowd, the CI and Josh about prior statements regarding Josh's “eagerness” to get
out of the vehicle (amended by Josh: CI said I was eager to get out to receive the [detonator] phone).
Me - Okay, please, if you're ever on a jury where a life sentence is on the table, can you avoid
sleeping (or at least closing your eyes and crossing your arms... hard to believe dude is paying
attention.)
There is a LOT of really boring detail now about how the fake “bombs” were set up, identifying them endlessly.
Relevant info: According to CI Josh has the RED one, and used the phone to detonate.
In the attempts to detonate, the following things were tried:
- [9:48] the code supposed to correctly detonate the RED “bomb”
- [9:56] the code supposed to correctly detonate the GREEN “bomb”
- [9:59] missed call
- [9:59] missed call
SERIOUSLY?! The guy who can't manage to form a single question at a time (much to the judge's frustration
and various witnesses confusion) remembers the correct phone number and BOTH numbers? It took us three
visits to try to figure out what size he is – he doesn't remember numbers any better than he does other stuff.
He's not stupid, but he's got such significant cognitive and learning impairments that the above is absurd before I
even mention my judgment as a person.
MORE WITNESSES
There's lots of description and questions asked by the prosecutor. The prosecutor also gave the first sniper
observer instructions on how to use a laser pointer (as well as several other people).
Both men who had highly trained backgrounds in using “night-vision” goggles with zoom were unable to
positively identify anyone. (In fact, one of them only saw three torsos.) Guess the CI eats a lot of carrots? Both
of these men confirm, quite technically, that it's really dark outside.
Bomb Guy Explains How to Make C4 Bombs. This type has only ever been observed in use outside of the
Continental USA. (Military dude talks with lots of acronyms.) Neat dude, now I know how to make one? Check
27 of the affidavit, these guys were having trouble downloading the anarchists cookbook.
Actually, the FBI was apparently so well aware that these guys were NO REAL THREAT that they arrested them
for being 'terrorist bombers', yet never searched the warehouse [sadly, this doesn't come up in testimony... not
even sure if the jury sees the affidavit]
ARRESTING AGENT for Doug – found a piece of paper with the phone number for the GREEN bomb and code
ARRESTING AGENT for Josh – found a piece of paper with the phone number for the RED bomb on it
INTEL ANALYST – this guy fights terrorists with spreadsheets – vehicle secured in the FBI impound lot in the
condition it was seized in. Lots of pictures of gloves and backpacks and dark clothes. Applebees container in
the front row. I'm really wondering... did they teleport it to impound? Because it's not in EXACTLY the
same condition if you drove the thing there. Back to the supposed charity of the CI... you're doing something
where they take your car for ages and not getting anything out of it.
BRIDGE GUY EXPLAINS THAT BRIDGES ARE EXPENSIVE AND REQUIRE INSPECTIONS




                                   ********Day 4 Thurs June 13th********
 Court ran from 9am until 5pm. It ended with the jury deciding he was guilty on all three counts. Lots of Q&A Between Josh and himself as the witness and lawyer. He didn't think a phone could be used in a destructive manner. He has never known what was going on, and was under the idea they where going to spray paint. The only reason he had decided to go along in the first place is because he got a call from Doug and thought he was in trouble, or someone else was. Shaq(CI) had offered to buy him food and cigarettes to help move boxes (Which, he didnt know, cntained the fake c4). Since Josh had been stared of food, and cigarettes, he was excited to help. The prosecutors cut him off a lot. They brought up his past, one instance in which he had gotten into an altercation with a guard in jail from a previous incarceration. He had a piece of metal broken off from the shower, which he intended to use to self inflict. When the guard attacked him, he defended himself.  Around 3:30 The jury went back to make their decision, They came back out and asked for transcripts of the video. Since the videos where never verified, they did not have any. The videos had lots of 'electrical interference' and a lot of it was in and out. 90% of the talk was Shaq pushing them to do it. Telling them what to do "Come on man! Just do it! Hurry up! Come on!" You could hardly even hear the other guys voices. What I could hear is them joking around. The jury went back and come back maybe 20 minutes later with 3 guilty charges.

Please, If you can, Write Josh at
Joshua Stafford #57976060
2240 Hubbard Rd
Youngstown OH 44505

Or donate to the Cleveland4 at:
https://www.wepay.com/donations/cleveland-4-support