Prosecutors in the Vernon Hershberger case filed a motion Friday asking the judge to revoke the raw milk farmer’s release order, and throw him in jail. 
The prosecution move comes less than a week after Hershberger was acquitted on three misdemeanor criminal charges in connection with failure to have retail and dairy licenses. He was convicted of violating a holding order.
The state’s main evidence that Hershberger violated his release agreement of January 2012 is an article from the Wisconsin Capital Times in which, according to the motion, “Hershberger admits that he violated the bail conditions ‘all along.’…Specifically, the article notes that Hershberger ‘never stopped selling raw milk and other farm products to members of his “buyers club.” ‘ “
The motion adds that Hershberger’s “conduct…appears to be similar to the conduct forming the factual basis for the offense of conviction, violation of the DATCP Holding Order.” It “requests that the Court exercise its authority…and revoke the order releasing the defendant.”
The problem for the state may be that the “Bond and Conditions of Release” of Hershberger in early 2012 specifies as its key conditions that Hershberger not sell or produce food unless he has a retail license, a dairy plant license, or a milk producer license–conditions that the jury acquitting him seemed to lift by pronouncing him not guilty of violating laws requiring the licenses. What a convoluted situation.
Moreover, the state tried and failed in March 2012 to have Hershberger jailed for violating his release agreement when the judge refused to consider a letter from the state making the request; the judge insisted on a formal motion. Now, more than a year later, the motion seems to have been filed, just days after the state suffered a major court defeat. These guys are definitely not the most graceful losers.
Elizabeth Rich, one of Hershberger’s lawyer, said she was “very disappointed with the state’s action. We had hoped the jury’s verdict last Saturday would lead to the dialog Vernon has always said he wants with DATCP, to try to build rapport between farmers and consumers.”
The state will seek to have the motion heard as soon as Monday, when a telephone hearing is due to be held to set a date for the sentencing hearing in connection with the holding order conviction.
Timing is everything – especially in the corporate judicial world.
I thought the hold order was based on adulteration and misbranding. If DATCP is saying that is was based on not having permits that the people have already said he didn’t need, that would be silly.
Hay didn’t Vernon’s layer say that the hold order had no continuing affect. If DATCP insists on bringing it up can’t we again ask what it’s purpose was and what they actually found? How can they keep bring up this hold order without ever saying what it was for.
Since Vernon has already said he’d rather be in jail than to deprive his members of food, does the court intend to put him in jail for the rest of his life for representing the wishes of the people of Wisconsin? Wouldn’t that make Vernon a political prisoner?
It’s very disappointing to hear Elizabeth Rich say she was “very disappointed with the state’s action.” I’m just going to say I don’t like how that sounds.
They all knowingly violated the holding order and signed a statement that they did so of their own accord.
The jury vindicated Vernon, which suggested the barrier was uncalled for and that the state was in the wrong. The charge with respect to the barrier should be dropped.
Ken
Vernon did renounce the release order a few weeks after he signed it, during a court session. He said the Bible commanded him to feed those asking him for food, that he wouldn’t allow little children to go hungry. The judge ignored his statement, so as far as the court was concerned, the release order was still in effect.
Not only is Wisconsin spending endless amounts of taxpayer money going after Vernon Hershberger, it is ignoring or letting slide other real cases of wrongdoing. That begins to tell us yet more about what a high priority it places on destroying small farms, and making us dependent on the big corporations that monopolize the food business.
With respect to the signed statement, I believe Ive mistaken Vernons case with the Kentucky cease and desist order in 2011.
http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/kentucky-food-club-defies-illegal-cease-and-desist-order-from-health-dept/
Ken
My State is now in the throes of getting ready to dismantle and re-arrange our raw milk legalities on June 6th at the SDDA. Wish I could be there, but I did write a couple letters directly to the milk & egg board. I fear, however, we will be losing our raw milk access here very soon. It will put several good, hard-working families across the State entirely out of business because food is their livelihood.
For now, my plan is to buy up several gallons and freeze it – while I still can do so.
Patrick Timpone of OneRadioNetwork.com announced on his Friday show that he will be doing a live interview with Vernon Herschberger on 6/4/13.
The live show runs from 9-11 am CT. Usually Patrick has one guest on for the first hour and another guest on the second hour. I don’t know which hour Vernon will be on. Patrick accepts calls during the show and emails before and during the show. If you can’t listen live, the archive of the show will be up later that day.
I hope this turn in Vernon’s legal affairs doesn’t impact this scheduled interview.
Lynn
Posted: wnRenderDate(‘Thursday, April 29, 2010 2:01 PM EST’, ”, true);Apr 29, 2010 1:01 PM CST
MADISON (WKOW) — New interviews and public documents suggest the state’s consumer watchdog agency promises taxpayers something it can’t possibly deliver.
Our tax dollars pay the Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, or DATCP, to investigate fraud complaints and crack down on con-artists and scammers.
But a WKOW investigation that started back in the fall of 2009 reveals the department is so short-staffed, it sometimes ignores fraud victims and closes cases with little to no investigation at all.
“We’re paying their way and they’re not doing anything to help us,” said Evelyn Dorn, a fraud victim from Oshkosh who filed a complaint two years ago. The department told her it would investigate; it never contacted her again.
DATCP’s own records show the department closes 8,400 cases out of 15,000 to 20,000 after simply sending a form letter to the suspect or business in question.
Investigation reveals state ignores some fraud complaints
If California cheesemakers are forced onto a level playing field, sales of Wisconsin cheese estimated at about $5 billion could increase by $200 million, according to a top dairy industry executive from Wisconsin.
“It could be very significant,” said David Fuhrmann, chief executive officer and president of Foremost Farms, a Baraboo-based company that is Wisconsin’s No. 1 cheese producer. Foremost makes cheese and other dairy products for sale worldwide.
http://host.madison.com/business/cheese-wars-wisconsin-cheesemakers-stand-to-profit-from-mayhem-in/article_1ca2f3ce-61c0-11e2-b913-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz2V4J1jfLL
INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT
The global medical industry is one of the world’s fastest growing industries, absorbing over 15% of gross domestic product of most developed nations.
We have become the repressive governments that we loathed, and may possibly be even worse today than Hitler’s Germany and the former Russia cold war. If you travel you will find that most people worldwide now find USA to be the ultimate villain, inventing enemies to create wars against ghosts while allowing oppression and poisoning of their own children.
Unfortunately, it is now undeniably beyond control of the people… I mean, if someone is found not guilty yet the state insists they be jailed, what other recourse do we have? Invest in jail stocks I guess, and get rich.