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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAlleged Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell had a 'death list' Non-tweet version
Alleged Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell had a 'death list' including the name of an election official and their family. His lawyers say it's a 'doodle pad.'
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Jul 30, 2022, 1:13 AM
An Oath Keeper from Idaho in Bozeman, Montana.
https://www.businessinsider.com/oath-keeper-thomas-caldwell-death-list-name-of-election-official-2022-7
An alleged Oath Keeper was charged with sedition following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Police discovered Thomas Caldwell had a 'death list' that included the name of a Georgia election official.
Caldwell's lawyer argued the list was part of a "doodle pad" that should be excluded from evidence.
While searching alleged Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell's home following the attack on the US Capitol just three days prior, police found a "death list" that included the name of a Georgia election official and their family member.
-snip-
"From the search, law enforcement recovered a document that included the words "DEATH LIST" hand-written across the top with the name of a Georgia election official, a purported family member of that official, and the county and state associated with that official all hand-written underneath," read the government's motion regarding trial evidence.
-snip-
"This document is not a 'list' but, rather, a doodle pad. The words 'death list' are written in all caps, whereas the balance of writing on the doodle pad is written in upper and lower case letters," read the defense's motion to exclude the note pad evidence.
"Moreover, the words 'death list' are separated from the names of the election workers by scribbled writing, and were clearly written with a different pen. There are no other names on the 'list,' because it is not a list. Importantly, the names written on the doodle pad were not, as the Government claims, election 'officials' but, rather, temporary election workers."
-snip-
This guy is the worst of the worst.
msfiddlestix
(7,600 posts)marble falls
(60,219 posts)msfiddlestix
(7,600 posts)Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)The court ruled on this matter on September 6, 2022:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.239218/gov.uscourts.dcd.239218.288.0.pdf
msfiddlestix
(7,600 posts)wiggs
(7,992 posts)wiggs
(7,992 posts)wanted to overturn previous denial to admit the death list. seems relevant but the judge apparently again thought it was too inflammatory
Link to tweet
msfiddlestix
(7,600 posts)I swear, when I hear a judge make use of that wordL :inflrmmatory" as a rational for denying evidence that obviously does relate to state of mind and intent... it just makes me want to knock some sense into their heads. (If only) and I know prosecutors have to deal with this more than they'd expect. arrggh.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)First, the defendants are charged with a conspiracy relating to disrupting a proceeding in the US Congress. The "death list" has the name of a Georgia official and a relative. That does not inherently relate to a conspiracy to disrupt a proceeding in the US Congress. Trials aren't about establishing whether someone is a "bad person", they are about establishing that the person committed the acts constituting the crime with which they've been charged. That is the essence of Rule 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
First the government filed a motion to bring in the death list (and a whole bunch of other stuff) here:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.239211/gov.uscourts.dcd.239211.187.0_1.pdf
Caldwell objected to use of the "death list" in a document apparently not on the public docket and the government replied as follows, including a picture of the "death list" here:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.239208/gov.uscourts.dcd.239208.251.0.pdf
Okay, so the "death list" is Ruby Freeman and her daughter.
So, the argument was not about whether it was a "doodle pad", the argument was about the relevance of a "death list" consisting of two persons in Georgia, to the crime charged concerning actions taken in DC.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)The OP is a story from July.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.239218/gov.uscourts.dcd.239218.288.0.pdf
ck4829
(35,597 posts)Ferryboat
(989 posts)And left it laying around. Led to some very uncomfortable conversations with HR.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)really the scum of the universe!
Zambero
(9,428 posts)My doodle dog pup is a mix of Bernese mountain dog and phantom poodle. Doodle pads mix active human thought process with manual dexterity, for all to see. It's downright amazing what these various mixes reveal!
harumph
(2,145 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,679 posts).
.
jaxexpat
(7,435 posts)But at the top I'd written "Lecture Notes".
niyad
(118,069 posts)But Ii have not written it down anywhere.
dchill
(39,724 posts)Oh yeah? What about his lawyers?
ToxMarz
(2,210 posts)But seriously, who has a document in their home with "DEATH LIST" hand-written across the top!
ancianita
(37,672 posts)IronLionZion
(46,701 posts)Ligyron
(7,825 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,597 posts)whenever either side wants to hide evidence, I want to see it. The jurors are not stupid. Let them decide the value of evidence. That's what juries are for. Let them do their job.