On May  25, 2017 Ms. Alex Wilson represented herself for Case # 30-2016-CR-1337, and midway through the trial Judge Gail Hagerty granted her motion to dismiss based on the state’s lack of evidence that the state, represented by Ladd Erickson, presented in support of the claim that she had violated North Dakota Century codes 12.1-25-04: Disobedience of public safety orders under riot conditions and 12.1-31-01: Disorderly conduct.  Wilson v. State of North Dakota is currently scheduled to be filed approximately June 2018: details below.

Article by Bismarck Tribune:

Contents of Page:

     Click on the title for any of the following sections to read the details, testimony, and research associated with that section. 

Section i – Why I Came to Standing Rock 

     This section includes many of the reasons why Water Protectors came to the camps, including why me & my partner chose to come.  Includes environmental, historical, and legal research I performed before and after arriving on September 20, 2016.  Includes why me & my partner came to Standing Rock.

Section ii – My Arrest on Oct 15th

• Video footage (including summaries & transcripts for each video) & photos.
• The Promise to Appear I received as a condition for being bonded out by Water Protector Legal Collective. 

Section iii – What Happened During My Arraignment on Oct. 24th

• I asserted my First Amendment Right to film the proceedings, to which his Hon. Judge Bruce B. Haskell re-affirmed.
• I denied the charges, citing “Constitutional Immunity” (see page 8 of Transcript).
• I received, but did not sign, my Bond Order, because I did not agree to certain unreasonable & unnecessary Terms & Conditions within the Bond.
• I was informed my next appearance was scheduled for 1-20-2016.

Section iv – Fellow Civilians made to “Stop Filming” in court due to an illegal MEDIA POLICY instituted ten days after my arraignment

Section v – Informed My Next Appearance was Postponed and that I’d receive a Notice to Appear in the mail

Section vi – Notice to “Request Discovery” sent from State Attorney’s Office on 3-21-2017; received on 3-28-2017

Section vii – “2nd Request” for Discovery on 4-19-2017; informed that “Next Court Appearance is Tomorrow,” and that the Notice to Appear was sent to someone else’s address

    This section includes several recorded phone calls (including summaries & transcripts for each call) to the Morton County State’s Attorney’s Office, Morton County Clerk of Court’s Office, Burleigh County Clerk of Court’s Office, & the South Central Judicial District Trial Court Administrator’s Office.  Phone calls confirm:

• I needed to send a written request to the State’s Attorney’s Office in order to receive a copy of the Discovery.
• The Notice to Appear was sent from the South Central Judicial District Trial Court Administrator’s Office to “P.O. Box 298 in Cannonball, North Dakota“, a place where I have never authorized to receive mail.  I was told that “that was the address I gave to them when I was arrested”.
• I changed my address that they had on file to my mailing address in Fairfax, California, the same address I have given to them previously as my mailing address.

Section viii – Further injustices occur at my 4-20-2017 appearance

• I was switched judges to her Hon. Judge Gail Haggerty, & the moment I walked into the courtroom, she demanded I “shut off my phone”.  I held up transcript from my Arraignment along with a printout of several Supreme Court Rulings which affirm our “First Amendment Right to Film”, as well as a Letter I’d prepared for the Judge along with a copy of the MEDIA POLICY I was concerned may be used in order to abrogate my right to film the proceedings, & stated what I had with me & that “Judge Haskell confirmed my right to film the proceedings during my Arraignment.  I have the transcript with me.”  Her Hon. Judge Gail Haggerty told me that was a different Judge & regarding a different matter, & that it didn’t apply for this appearance, & that I had to either shut off the phone or be removed from the courtroom by force.  I shut off the phone & stated “My civil rights were just violated.”
• Prior to approaching the stand, her Hon. Judge Gail Haggerty‘s assistant questioned why I missed my appearance on 4-18-2017.  I asked her where the Notice to Appear was sent, & she replied “Bodfish, California”.  I then informed her that my “Notice to Request Discovery” was sent to my mailing address in Fairfax, California, that my Notice to Appear on 4-20-2017 was sent to P.O. Box 298 in Cannonball, North Dakota, & that my Notice to Appear on 4-18-2018 was sent to Bodfish, California.  “I was sent three different notices to three different addresses!”  That is why I missed my appearance and almost missed this appearance had I not called in regarding my Discovery yesterday!  I held up a second letter I had prepared for the Judge which contains supporting evidence proving why I required a Continuance due to the fact my Notice to Appear was sent to an address I hadn’t Authorized & had never used.  (I’d stayed up most of the night preparing both letters).  The assistant went back into the Judge’s chambers presumably to explain the situation to her Hon. Judge Gail Haggerty.

Section ix– Additional Recorded Phone Calls on 4-23-2017 Confirm “the Only Mailing Address I Ever Gave Morton County Officials” was Fairfax, California

    This section contains more recorded phone calls, & summaries & transcripts of each call.

Section x – 5-5-2017; Picked up Discovery from State’s Attorney, and overcharged for Audio Recordings & Transcripts from Morton County Clerk of Court’s Office

    This section contains:

• video footage from the related visits to the State’s Attorney’s Office & also the Morton County Clerk of Court’s Office.  I filmed this due to the fact & would face further injustice & then be left without evidence.
• All documents, footage, & photographic evidence given to me by State’s Attorney’s Office’s employee Shannon Eagon on Friday, 5-5-2017 following my Request for Discovery.

Section xi – Jury Selection & Trial on 5-26-2017:

   Coming soon.  This section contains a summary, audio recording, & transcript from my trial.

Section xii – Legal Filings in for Upcoming Civil Actions:  

    Coming soon.  Everything I plan to file & where I plan to file it, prepared publicly below so that everyone can learn “what to do in these types of situations”.  Again, everything throughout this page is being broadcast for First Amendment purposes, as the only reason I was arrested in the first place was due to the fact that my First Amendment right, & the First Amendment rights of fellow civilians were violated on 10-15-2016 under color of law.

…..

Upcoming:

a criminal Complaint the South Central Judicial District for violation of U.S.C. Title 18 §242. Deprivation of rights under color of law; Judge Haggerty instituted an illegal Media Policy exactly 10 business days after I reserved my right to film the court proceedings “for First Amendment purposes” during my Arraignment, a right which his honor Judge Bruce Haskell confirmed, as verifiable within the Transcript of my Arraignment.

Related Articles Released Afterward:

May 29, 2017:  Article released by InsideSources:  “As North Dakota Continues to Try Standing Rock Protesters, Dismissed Cases Pile Up”  by Erin Mundahl.

Excerpt:  “On Thursday, a judge acquitted Alex “Distance” Wilson midway through her jury trial. Wilson had been charged with disorderly conduct and disobeying a public safety order under riot conditions, two misdemeanors.“

References:

[1]:  Oppenheim, L., International Law: A Treatise, 8th Ed., Vol. 1, edited by H. Lauterpacht (New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1955), page 963-964.

[2]:  Government Printing Office:  “INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES; TREATY OF FORT LARAMIE WITH SIOUX, ETC., 1851”:  http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/sio0594.htm