Convicted Terrorist Brett Kimberlin Doesn’t Want to Play Anymore; In Court Today John Norton Clears His Name

This is the latest post in what I half-jokingly call The Kimberlin Saga^®.  If you are new to the story, that’s okay! Not everyone reads my blog.  The short version is that Kimberlin has been harassing me since last December, his worst conduct being when he attempted to frame me for a crime.  I recognize that this might sound like an incredible claim, but I provide video and documentary evidence of that fact; in other words, you don’t have to believe my word.  You only have to believe your eyes.  So, if you are new to the story, go to this page and you’ll be able to catch up on what has been happening.

So today John Hoge of Hogewash and I took a field trip to watch the Kimberlin v. Norton hearing.  But let me take a moment to fill in some of the back story.  On June 15, 2012, something happened.  To hear Kimberlin tell it, Norton was lurking in his bushes when Kimberlin went to pick up his daughter from a friend’s house.  Of course all allegations from Kimberlin are presumptively false and indeed this allegation sounds just too clichéd.  I mean lurking in the bushes?  Really?  It sounds like something from a Michael Jackson video where he depicts the press as evil hound dogs...

Meanwhile, Norton’s version of events is that Kimberlin just started chasing him down the street flipping him off and taking down his license plate.  Norton doesn’t speculate what might have made Kimberlin pick out Norton this way, although I suppose Kimberlin’s paranoia could have filled in the gap.  Anyway, Norton’s part of the story was undeniable, given that Norton took a photograph of Kimberlin following him and flipping him off.  And whether Kimberlin’s claims are true...  well, we will talk about it in a moment.

Anyway, so both men filed for peace orders, which I showed you, here.  I believed in fact neither petition for a peace order should have been granted if only because both lacked a critical element of harassment: you have to tell that person to stop.  But despite that critical failure both men were granted peace orders, which I shared with you, here.  I listened to the audio from that hearing and noted that Kimberlin actually lied about serving time in prison for the Speedway Bombings, here.  And then John Norton appealed his peace order.

And importantly Kimberlin filed a motion claiming that the peace order was moot because it expired.  You can read my reporting on that, here (including a brief primer on the mootness doctrine) but let me quote myself because it really becomes relevant:

Now on the surface that would seem to apply here.  The order expired on August 1, and thus would have expired nearly a month ago.  But John Norton might still be suffering the effects of that Peace Order.  He is stigmatized by a finding that he criminally harassed Brett Kimberlin, suggesting to friends, family and current and potential employers that he might pose a danger to others.   It is due to that ongoing stigma that Norton has a right to appeal this decision.

And I noted that Kimberlin recognized that was an issue and confronted it dishonestly.  I pointed that out, writing:

In paragraph 2 of Kimberlin’s motion, he writes “Appellant is suffering no adverse or collateral consequences from the Peace Order.”  So he is implicitly admitting what I wrote above—that the stigma of having a Peace Order against you justifies an appeal—is true, but he is pretending Norton suffers no such stigma.  Now I ask you, dear reader, even if this is true, how could Brett Kimberlin possibly know this?  So this seems to be another case of Brett Kimberlin telling whatever story he thinks will get him what he wants, regardless of the truth.

So that catches up to today’s hearing, which lasted all of five minutes.  While we were waiting for it to be assigned, I finally met with Norton himself.  I barely said more than hello to him, but he didn’t come off as anyone creepy.  I believe Hoge made a sarcastic joke to the effect of, “clearly a dangerous man.”  That is a paraphrase but not a quote, but it meant what I thought, which was that if anything the term “mild mannered” seemed to apply to Norton.  I felt bad that I couldn’t have a deeper conversation with the man, but I can’t.  If we actually were exchanging emails or even just having a cup of coffee together, Kimberlin would spin it into some kind of crazy conspiracy theory.  Indeed previously he had done so based on mere fact we both live in the same state (and he has declared that somehow I control the entire internet, or at least the right half of it).  Norton doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but I didn’t want to give Kimberlin that ammunition against me.

The case was assigned to Judge Terrance McGann, in the old Circuit Court building.  It appeared that Kimberlin and Norton’s able counsel, David A. Schiller, conferred before their names were called.  Then Kimberlin moved to have the case ruled moot.  It is worth noting that Kimberlin repeated the essential dishonesty in his motion: he claimed Norton was not being stigmatized by the peace order, when there is no way he could realistically know that.  In any case, it was denied for pretty much exactly the same reasons I outlined above.  Judge McGann also added that a finding of mootness would deny Norton the chance to have the sufficiency of the petition reviewed.

I think unsaid in that argument is that McGann believes that they do not practice proper due process in the district court.  Given my history, where judges have ruled that I have harassed Brett Kimberlin based on what Brett Kimberlin said about what I wrote about Brett Kimberlin to a general audience (you know, like I am right now), instead of actually reading what I wrote about him, I would tend to agree.  The rules of evidence are not just a pesky inconvenience, but are in fact an important element of providing due process, but they are only followed in the circuit court.  They protect us against, well, shameless liars like Brett Kimberlin by forcing him to prove his claims, with something more than just the word of this convicted perjurer.

In any case, after losing his motion to have it mooted, Kimberlin agreed to voluntarily dismiss the petition.  Schiller was very adamant about making sure that the record showed that Kimberlin was consenting to the dismissal of the petition and not merely the dismissal of the appeal.  Kimberlin was therefore conceding as a matter of law that his petition for a peace order never should have been granted and the court so ruled.

Which kind of undercuts the veracity of the original petition for a peace order, which you can read here.  In it, Kimberlin claims that Norton “put me in fear of harm and caused my 8-year old daughter fear.”  If he was really so afraid of Norton, why did he drop his case?  Gee, it almost makes me suspect that Kimberlin was being less than honest with the court.  Imagine that!

Indeed his conduct today undermined something else he has claimed.  When he first came in to the court house I was sitting on a stone bench right in front of the screens where the day’s docket was listed—where you have to look to see where your case is assigned.  It would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to stand on the far side of the bench to get this information.  Instead he came around and stood right in front of me.  He has claimed that he was scared that I might hurt him at any moment, and yet there he was, standing not two feet away.  It was his silent confession that he knew I was none of the bad things he claimed I was.  He knows that he poses more of a threat to me, than I do of him.

Of course in voluntarily dismissing the petition for a peace order against Norton, there is an alternative theory as to why he did it.  Every time Kimberlin comes to court and lies, he knows I will find out about it and report it.  Since Kimberlin seems to be genetically incapable of telling the truth, maybe he thought that all told he is safer if he just doesn’t talk at all.  Maybe he is finally becoming concerned that his lies are going to catch up to him.

But of course he will have to talk sooner or later.  Tick tock, as Hoge is wont to say.  Dr. King once declared that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  We might say something similar about America’s courts.

And if you want to help continue to hold Brett Kimberlin accountable for his conduct, please give to the Blogger’s Defense Team.  We are even having a special auction/raffle, so you might actually get something in return.  And thank you again for all the kind words, thoughts and help, that has been given or is yet to come.

Anyway, the upshot today is that John Norton can say that as a matter of law, Kimberlin was found to be a threat to him (because his peace order against Kimberlin stood), but equally as a matter of law he was not found to be a threat to Kimberlin.  His name is cleared.  While I don’t believe either petition for a peace order should have been granted in the first place, there is certainly poetic justice in that outcome.

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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years.  I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence.  If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the Blogger’s Defense Team button on the right.  And thank you.

Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates.  And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.  And you can read a little more about my novel, here.

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Disclaimer:

I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct.  In some cases, the conduct is even criminal.  In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system.  I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence.  This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.

In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him.  Do not call him.  Do not write him a letter.  Do not write him an email.  Do not text-message him.  Do not engage in any kind of directed communication.  I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.

And for that matter, don’t go on his property.  Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him.  Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision.  Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).

And do not contact his organizations, either.  And most of all, leave his family alone.

The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report.  And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request.  That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.

And let me say something else.  In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above.  But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.