Courtroom jousting follows standoff for local defendant

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

A weekend standoff with local police landed a 25-year-old Greencastle man in court Monday, but a standoff with the judge wasn't about to balance the scales of justice.

Claiming to be a sovereign citizen -- one answerable only to his interpretation of common law and not the laws of the United States or any state or municipality -- wasn't a new tactic for Wesley Nathan January.

It didn't work when January tried it last December in a criminal trespassing case in front of Putnam Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges and he wasn't going to fare any better with it Monday in appearing in the same courtroom before Judge Pro Tem Trudy Selvia.

Oh sure, he tried. He started out even denying that his name is Wesley January.

And when Judge Selvia asked, "So your name has never been Wesley January?," the defendant said that was correct.

Then when the judge routinely enunciated the basic elements of the case against January for the court and the defendant, he claimed he did not understand them.

"Do you understand?" Judge Selvia asked pointedly.

"I stand under no one," the defiant defendant answered.

But the courtroom jousting reached its crescendo when Selvia listed the charges against January as a result of his arrest late Saturday following a nearly 13-hour standoff on Cottonwood Court in the Woods Edge Subdivision in Greencastle. They are:

-- Dealing in marijuana, a Level 6 felony that carries a sentencing range of 6-30 months in jail.

-- Possession of marijuana (more than 30 grams), another Level 6 felony.

-- Domestic battery, a third Level 6 felony.

-- Possession of paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a sentence range of up to a year in jail.

Summarizing, Selvia told January "there are four charges against you."

"Who's 'you'?" January responded.

Selvia quickly seized control of this standoff.

"Mr. January, we're not going to do this. Stop right now," she ordered.

But he wasn't done protesting his time in court.

As the judge routinely entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf to all charges, January objected, claiming he was being denied his due process.

January was reportedly in possession of a handgun during the standoff, according to a police summary of the events of late Friday and early Saturday.

Judge Selvia asked January if he had a handgun permit for the weapon.

The defendant indicated he didn't have to answer that question on the grounds he might incriminate himself.

"Do you have a handgun permit, yes or no?" she persisted.

January never did answer, and undoubtedly taking no for an answer, Selvia moved the proceedings along, appointing Mindi Jackman-Hanlin to represent the defendant.

She also vacated an Aug. 17 trial date in an earlier petition to revoke probation case against January.

A no-contact ordered was issued on behalf of the alleged victim in the domestic battery case and an Aug. 3 pretrial conference date was set in the case.

Deputy Prosecutor James Hanner asked the court for a $10,000 cash-only bond in the new case.

Judge Selvia granted the $10,000 bond recommendation and January was returned to the Putnam County Jail.

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  • WOW! Somebody reads to many LIBERAL COLLEGE manuals !

    -- Posted by Yathunk on Tue, Jun 7, 2016, at 3:57 PM
  • Like I said in another post....he set a trash can on fire in an occupied classroom while in elementary school, and has been afoul of the law for most of his young life. The guy is a loser of the first degree. If convicted, he should have to serve consecutive 30 month terms so he will not be on the streets for a long time. Does anyone really think that a restraining order will stop this moron girl beater from taking his anger out on her if released? He'll have to blame someone, as he clearly has not and will not be accountable for his own actions. Toot toot, next stop Pendelton.

    -- Posted by Vernie1 on Tue, Jun 7, 2016, at 5:17 PM
  • Seems to be a genuine smart mouth,huh.....

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Tue, Jun 7, 2016, at 8:13 PM
  • Max sentence please, with stipulations to never return to this county again ....

    -- Posted by GRNT on Wed, Jun 8, 2016, at 7:33 AM
  • What a miserable existence he must live to behave like that. Sadly, jail will only help the people around him as they won't have to deal with him for awhile.

    Maybe sitting in a box for 4 years will cause him to grow up, but probably not.

    -- Posted by conffool on Wed, Jun 8, 2016, at 3:46 PM
  • Career criminal. Needs to be locked up for a long time.

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Wed, Jun 8, 2016, at 9:02 PM
  • Nothing like "Resisting Arrest" in an armed standoff with dozens of our city, county, state personnel for 13 hours, where they had to fire several tear gas rounds through upstairs windows. Any chance of restitution for damages caused by his actions? Like repairing the windows and other damages to the residence and the thousands of dollars spent in this action by the different public safety departments? Dump all these costs on the taxpayers and give these burdens to us or just another slap on the wrist and short actual time sentence instead of the three strikes rule? And what would they say to the family of the officer he shot? Yes, he had a gun. $10,000 and he gets out to do more drug dealing and gun crimes.

    -- Posted by alfr1 on Thu, Jun 9, 2016, at 7:23 PM
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