figured i'd repost this email:
After a series of bizarro events and idiocies that were farcical at first but now seem almost tragic,
Arthur Magazine's anti-authoritarian "Do the Math" columnist Dave Reeves has been sentenced to 23 days in County by the city of Burbank. He turned himself in on Friday, January 4 at 830am, in accordance with court order.
He is currently in MEN'S CENTRAL JAIL which, according to the LACSD website, "houses the majority of Los Angeles County's high risk, high security inmates, and ranks as the largest jail in the free world." We don't know when he'll get out, although his current projected release date is January 15.
Here's what happened:
Dave Reeves was convicted of not reporting a traffic accident. The other driver was an SUV on his cel phone who inadvertently hit Reeves (who was driving a weak motorcycle) and knocked him over; the driver then swore and gestured aggressively at Dave. Dave got up and drove away with crazy SUV guy charging/yelling after him, trying to run him over. Finally Dave loses him. Dave doesn't call it in because there's no damage to his bike, he was the one who was hit, there were no witnesses, and he didn't have license plate, year or make of the other driver. And also you don't call in stuff like this from where he comes from (Echo Park--it's a gang area where LAPD response time is slow to never, and bothering cops with trifling matters like this is a bad-to-stupid thing to do). Anyways other dude calls Burbank PD and says HE has been victim of hit and run. Etc etc. Actually goes to trial, prosecuted by the City of Burbank, even though there are no witnesses. Damage to guy's SUV is a pencil mark-sized scratch on front of SUV guy's mirror, obviously caused by the SUV's forward motion against Dave's motorcycle. $200 in "repair." Jury can't believe this is a trial. Reeves admits he didn't call Burbank PD. Jury has to convict, given judge's instructions. Judge gives max sentence. Reeves gets 30 days of community service which is 240 hours of picking up trash and abating graf. Reeves did 7 days by the deadline to complete the service. The judge has now sentenced him to jail for the remainder of his sentence.
Dave Reeves should not be in high-security jail with high-risk inmates for this trifling offense--and nor should anyone else.
You can follow Dave's blissful journey of joy through L.A. County's correctional facilities by going to the LASD Inmate Information Center:
http://app4.lasd.org/iic/ajis_search.cfm
and entering
LAST NAME: Reeves
FIRST NAME: David
Then, click on the booking number: 1118810. Voila! It's almost like you're there with him. Okay, not really. Last we checked he'd been moved to the
MEN'S CENTRAL JAIL at 441 BAUCHET STREET, which, according to the LACSD website, "currently houses the majority of Los Angeles County's high risk, high security inmates, and ranks as the largest jail in the free world. The average housing cost per inmate is $53.45 per day."
Dave Reeves needs money to pay all the exorbitant fines and make up for lost work hours fighting this Burstank crap for the last 15 (!) months. If you're able, buy stuff from him at
defendbrooklyn.com. And remember: when you defend Dave Reeves, you defend yourself.
Updates on Dave Reeves' situation will be posted on the Arthur website, here:
http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/?p=2526
ARTHUR MAGAZINE ARTICLES & COLUMNS BY DAVE REEVES AVAILABLE ONLINE:
"Blank in the Fill": how to make a suicide bomber (Arthur No. 26/Sept 2007)
"The Blaster of Choice" (Arthur 25/Dec 02006)
"Mission Creeps: One of Us Is Not as Dumb as All of Us" (Arthur 24/Sept 02006)
"Trigger Hippies" (Arthur 23/July 02006)
"Close the Borders" (Arthur 22/May 02006)
"Trust the Government" (Arthur 21/March 2006)
"Man Roots Culture": Dave Reeves on the power of raw ginseng root (Arthur 19/Nov 02005)
"Siphon Your Way to Financial Freedom": Dave Reeves on a different way to deal with high gas prices (Arthur 17/July 2005)
$53.45 a day,
The Arthur Magazine Family
Burstank, California