sailingaway
06-19-2012, 10:01 AM
ST. PETERS • Brent Stafford, a local leader in GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of trespassing in the wake of the unruly St. Charles County caucus that broke up in disarray March 17.
Stafford, in an interview before his brief appearance in St. Peters municipal court, insisted he had done nothing wrong and urged prosecutors to drop the charge.
Stafford and his attorney, David Roland, insisted that there was no basis for his arrest outside the caucus site - the gym at Francis Howell North High School.
After the caucus was disbanded by organizers, Stafford tried to get participants as they were leaving to re-convene outside the gym.
He said he stood up on a chair and was explaining parliamentary rules to others gathered around him when police officers interceded and took him to a paddy wagon. He said he later was told he was charged with trespassing.
"I had every right to be there," Stafford, of O'Fallon, Mo., said of the area outside the gym. "I was a part of a peaceful assembly."
Stafford, who in April was elected chairman of a do-over county caucus ordered by state Republican leaders, was given a court date of July 24. City Prosecutor Lorna Frahm could not immediately be reached for comment.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/paul-campaign-leader-pleads-not-guilty-to-trespassing-charge/article_c591df54-ba22-11e1-a23c-001a4bcf6878.html#ixzz1yFuOuQCo
:mad:
Stafford, in an interview before his brief appearance in St. Peters municipal court, insisted he had done nothing wrong and urged prosecutors to drop the charge.
Stafford and his attorney, David Roland, insisted that there was no basis for his arrest outside the caucus site - the gym at Francis Howell North High School.
After the caucus was disbanded by organizers, Stafford tried to get participants as they were leaving to re-convene outside the gym.
He said he stood up on a chair and was explaining parliamentary rules to others gathered around him when police officers interceded and took him to a paddy wagon. He said he later was told he was charged with trespassing.
"I had every right to be there," Stafford, of O'Fallon, Mo., said of the area outside the gym. "I was a part of a peaceful assembly."
Stafford, who in April was elected chairman of a do-over county caucus ordered by state Republican leaders, was given a court date of July 24. City Prosecutor Lorna Frahm could not immediately be reached for comment.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/paul-campaign-leader-pleads-not-guilty-to-trespassing-charge/article_c591df54-ba22-11e1-a23c-001a4bcf6878.html#ixzz1yFuOuQCo
:mad: