I just wanted to share the good news.  The trumped up charges against Charlie Grapski have been dismissed.

"A judge on Thursday granted a motion to dismiss a felony wiretapping charge against Charlie Grapski, who was charged with taping Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson Jr. against his will in May.

Senior Judge Aymer "Buck" Curtain on Thursday dismissed the charge of illegal interception of wireless communications, a felony, against Grapski on the grounds that as a public official in a public office, Watson had no expectation of privacy."

http://www.gainesville.com/...

On May 1st Charlie Grapski, then a candidate for the Democratic nomination to the Florida House of Representatives, was arrested under Florida's felony wiretap statute (f.s. 934.03(1)). [To hear the audio and read the transcript go to http://grapskidefense.org/... ]

Now, on the eve of his jury trial (Thursday at 8 a.m.) the Grapski Defense Committee has released for the first time the audio recording and a transcript of the April 28th meeting for which Grapski was arrested.

Read more to find out about this story which reads more like a Carl Hiassen novel than reality.  But then again truth is often stranger than fiction.  Particularly in American politics in the 21st century.

Charlie Grapski's trial is set for tomorrow in Alachua, Florida.  For those who have been following Charlie's case, you know that Charlie will be representing himself in court, because he cannot come up with the $40,000 required by his defense attorney.  I know the situations are different, but I am reminded of these famous lines from John Steinbeck's THE GRAPES OF WRATH:

Ma Joad: "Rich fellas come up an' they die, an' their kids ain't no good an' they die out. But we keep a'comin'. We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out; they can't lick us. We'll go on forever, Pa, 'cause we're the people."

Tom Joad: "I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be there in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be there in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they built, I'll be there, too."

As many of you know, Charlie Grapski has endured much at the hands of both local Alachua, FL law enforcement and the state. He goes to trial tomorrow on trumped up charges, in a case that never should have gone anywhere.

Please come to Howard Empowered People to read a powerful, empassioned article by Charlie.

That's all I have to say; and, I hope the monitors let it through. This is very important, not only for Charlie, but for all of us.

GRAPSKI TURNS DOWN STATE ATTORNEY'S SETTLEMENT OFFER,
TRIAL STARTS MONDAY ON BOGUS "WIRETAP" CHARGE

Gainesville, FL - Former University of Florida instructor Charlie Grapski will face a third degree felony wiretapping charge in Circuit Court on Monday November 13. The trial is already steeped in local politics, and Grapski's prosecution stems from his May 1 arrest at Alachua City Hall. Grapski was there attempting to inspect public records related to a city commission election that is being challenged in a citizens' lawsuit.

On Wednesday November 8, Grapski turned down an offer by the State Attorney to settle the case out of court, and as a result he will be going to trial on Monday November 13 in Circuit Court in Gainesville.

"Their offer would have been reasonable had I done something wrong," Charlie Grapski said of the settlement offer made to him by State Attorney Bill Cervone and Assistant State Attorney Geoff Fleck during a meeting in the State Attorney's office on Wednesday, where the defendant met with his prosecutors to discuss his case.

Charlie Grapski is a bit of a gad-fly who tried to take on the political power structure in a small Florida town to expose some electoral irregularities.  Previous diaries by donnainevanston and AHiddensaint give you the background.  Now Charlie writes:

Just received this e-mail from Charlie's Defense Committee.  This is dire.  I know that y'all have the elections on your mind, but if someone can be arrested and arraigned for openly criticizing a vote count, than elections are just a futile gesture.

"Dear friends of Charlie,
Things are heating up here for Charlie, and for those in the Defense Committee. It turns out he is going to be defending this criminal case PRO SE on a aggressive very fast track schedule.. We will need help with two things: We need to raise $$$ for DEPOSITIONS (they have to be set NOW due to "speedy trial" timetable) of Clovis Watson, APD Chief Robert Jernigan, Mayor Jean Calderwood, and two others, as well as other legal expenses. And we need help with PUBLICITY from bloggers and folks who know how to get the story into the media. Anything you can do will be greatly appreciated. I welcome your advice and suggestions, and please use this information however you can (editing or re-writing is fine).

Thanks,

Michael Canney
Alachua
352-871-1991
chicoverde@cox.net

Also: Carol Thomas 386-418-3791
Email Charlie Grapski: grapksi@grapski.org"

I have been out all day, but when I checked phone messages, there was an urgent message from Carol Thomas, who is working hard on behalf of Charlie Grapski's defense.  She is part of an ad hoc committee to raise funds for Charlie's defense.

I know that many of us are tapped out from election donations, but Charlie has about three days to come up with $40,000 for his defense of the trumped up charges against him.

If you can possibly help, go to:

http://grapskidefense.org/

or send a check to:

Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Charlie Grapski
P.O. Bos 190
Alachua, FLA 32616

Charlie's situation is truly an abomination. He has been arrested for daring to question the integrity of the vote in Alachua. I truly believe that if Charlie can be made to disappear, than it can happen to any activist, anywhere. Even us.  

For more information regarding the Alachua project, go to:
http://freealachua.org/

Many of you may not know a about Charles Grapski or what is happening in Floridia as we speak. I believe this is a important story and one people should at least read because right now Charles Grapski is being arrested under Wiretapping charges. This is a very scary and dark state of affairs.

http://www.rawstory.com/...

The State of Florida has filed felony wiretapping charges against election reform activist Charles Grapski for audiotaping his efforts to obtain public records related to his investigation of alleged election fraud, RAW STORY has learned. He faces arraignment Tuesday, October 17th.

More below on why this matters.

Crossposted at My Left Wing and Booman Tribune

I have been posting about Charlie Grapski, the honest elections activist who is running for the Florida House of representatives since this May 6 diary: Citizen-activist arrested while investigating election irregularities. Other reports on Charlie's situation have been collected here.  Raw Story reported on this developing story in the June 12 article Florida House candidate to face litany of criminal charges after alleging vote fraud. Miriam Raftery, the reporter who covered that story, has now written a follow-up article for the same publication: Florida House candidate banned from City of Alachua by judge

This is what bloggers can do when we work together. In response to the post Helping Charlie--this story needs "legs"!, Rayne commented that a major media outlet was interested in Charlie's story, and that she had given them my e-mail address. Later that day, I received an e-mail from a reporter at Raw Story, and I gave her Charlie's address and the latest update on his situation.

Today, there is an in-depth article about Charlie's plight featured at Raw Story...

Florida House candidate to face litany of criminal charges after alleging vote fraud

This is a follow-up to yesterday's diary: Urgent plea for help from honest-elections activist
From Charlie via the overnight thread at Howard-Empowered People

Nearly half way to $5,000 ($2,251.47). I am so thankful for all of your efforts. I cannot tell you how much this community means to not only me - but to the future of this country.

Thanks so much,

Charlie

We can do better than that! (More below the fold)

Please check this link out, help if you can, and pass the information along to anyone who might be able to help. This is from Charlie Grapski...

Urgent plea for help from fair elections activist

I was just informed by the local newspaper - which was apparently contacted by the Sheriff's office to make a publicity issue out of this - that the Sheriff's office has filed two more sworn complaints for alleged "unlawful interception of communications" (effectively wiretapping - but without the wires) against myself and Michael Canney, who is co-chair of the local Green Party.

All we were doing was attempting to investigate allegations of a fraudulent election. Yet every step of the way, the City of Alachua's officials, the State Attorney's office, and now the Alachua Sheriff's office (who defied a judge's order to release me from jail when first arrested) are attempting to HARASS and INTIMIDATE us - as private citizens - merely standing up for our rights.

I first wrote about Charlie Grapski, who is running for office in Florida House District 23 in this diary: Citizen-activist arrested while investigating election irregularities. For more background, see Alachua Gotcha or the AlachuaProject web site and blog. Below the jump I will include the latest update from Charlie and his time-sensitive plea for help.

It's too zarking hot here and I've had a long day. Point blank, this diary needs a better, more attention grabbing title than I can conjure up at the moment. Suggestions are welcome. What follows is the latest from Charlie Grapski--and if you're not familiar with the story, click my name as I've posted about him a number of times before.

There is a significant new development in the Alachua saga. For years there have been anonymous attack blogs spreading rumors about those addressing corruption in the City of Alachua.

When they discovered we had created a registration based information site - that cannot be used for anonymous attacks - this Sunday they put up their own new site (registration based).

More on Charlie Grapski, the citizen-activist who was arrested while investigating voting irregularities. There's a good editorial that sums up the story so far.

Stop the games; show Grapski the documents

Okay, follow the bouncing ball:

- Charles Grapski, a candidate for the state House of Representatives, helps file a lawsuit against the city of Alachua, accusing the city of incorrectly conducting the recent city elections.

- Grapski shows up at city hall shortly thereafter to fulfill a public records request to examine the absentee ballots. He is told by City Manager Clovis Watson Jr. that the ballots will be photocopied for Grapski so he doesn't have to spend time writing notes about each one.