Thread: Activist Nativo Lopez threatened with jail for ‘gibberish'

Published: April 14, 2011
Updated: 3:25 p.m.

Activist Nativo Lopez threatened with jail for ‘gibberish'

By MARTIN WISCKOL
COLUMNIST
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
mwisckol@ocregister.com

A Superior Court judge this morning threatened to throw immigrant-rights activist Nativo Lopez back in jail if he doesn't stop with the legal gibberish.

Lopez, a recalled former Santa Ana schools trustee, faces eight voter fraud-related charges stemming from changing his voting address in 2008 from his Santa Ana home to the Boyle Heights office of Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, a group he heads. He's alleged to have voted in L.A. County despite still living in Orange County.

Lopez is serving as his own attorney and Judge George G. Lomeli showed little patience with his unorthodox defense.

"If you continue your behavior, if you continue to disrupt this court with your nonsensical comments, the court will remand you into custody," Judge George G. Lomeli told Lopez at his mental competency hearing in Los Angeles today.

If Lomeli wasn't impressed with Lopez, the feeling appeared mutual.

"He got belligerent, threatening to arrest me for just asking a question," said Lopez, who had repeatedly told the judge, "I accept your dishonor."

Lopez has been jailed twice before after conflicts with judges over the case, and briefly detained a third time. The court has been in the process of determining whether he's mentally competent to stand trial since the beginning of 2010, and Lomeli made the determination this morning that he is indeed fit.

Citing Lopez's third psychiatric evaluation, Lomeli said Lopez's "reasoning was quite facile" and "he was very clear and articulate." Lomeli said there was insufficient evidence to indicate delusion or psychosis.

But Lomeli said the psychiatrist believed Lopez was "malingering" and called his legal explanations "gibberish" – a characterization Lomeli repeated later while talking to Lopez.

The judge began the conversation by telling Lopez he had three options: Find his own attorney, accept a court-appointed attorney, or sign a document acknowledging that he was representing himself.

Lopez: "Are you making me an offer?"

Lomeli: "Here we go again."

Lopez: "I accept your dishonor. I'm unaware there is any commercial contract I've signed my name to."

Lomeli: "I don't know what that means."

Lopez then asked Lomeli if he was familiar with the Uniform Commercial Code. Lomeli responded that such laws had nothing to do with the fraud case at hand. The bewildering conversation continued until Lomeli threatened Lopez with jail.

Lopez never did declare what he planned to do about an attorney, but is scheduled to be back in court April 24 for a pre-trial hearing.

The Mexican American Political Association, another group Lopez leads, sent out an email last month attempting to explain Lopez's legal strategy. The email noted frankly that Lopez's approach was beyond judges' comprehension.

"Two other judges similarly denied him his freedom when they claimed that they did not understand the legal terminology he was using and qualified it as nonsense," the email said.

The missive said that Lopez is attempting to defend himself based on common law, "which precedes the United States Constitution, and actually precedes the establishment of the republic of the united States of America; contract law; and estate law; to have this case, being prosecuted by a public official representing the legal fiction of the Office of the District Attorney of Los Angeles County, dismissed."

Read previous stories on Lopez's case.

Contact the writer: 714-796-6753 or mwisckol@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lope ... court.html

This scum bag lopez is playing with the court and he's being allowed to get way with it thus far! He's not mentally incompetent, he's just an ignorant la raza who got caught committing voter fraud- on behalf of his invader enabling organization, hermidad mexicana - and who now thinks he can play one over on the judicial system!

Enough with the mental competency hearings. This dirt bag lopez has already been allowed three psychiatric evaluations, which have all confirmed he's competent to stand trial.

Move on! Lopez is being allowed to waste taxpayer money, as usual!