Grasshopper's Appeal part 2 (follows 1.+)

Background -- The Route . pages 9 -- 12

Grasshopper’s Appeal & Habeas Corpus Petition, first written/typed 2010 . prior post :

Grasshopper's Appeal Part 1.+

and now back to our sad story, already in progress …

[page 9]

I am a law-abiding citizen, especially as concerns public safety and general well—being for all. I am vegan, and believe that you should do no harm. One ought to do no harm, and when possible one ought to make right a wrong. I ask the court to do so at this time, thanks.

Let me now state that my name is, legally, Grasshopper Alec Kaplan. This has been my name since June 21st, 2007, legally. Priorly, it was Alec Kaplan. I was born in Moscow, Russia, but grew up speaking only English, in foster homes around New York and Bergen County, New Jersey. English is now my only language at this time. I drove taxicab in San Francisco for over 10 years.

Background — the route

On July 26th, 2007, I , Grasshopper, picked up one Janet Vandebos from SFO , T3 — United, at 5:45 pm.

There was horrible traffic on the 101 North because Barry Bonds (better living through chemistry, Barry) was about to be breaking home run records, which doesn’t mean much to me, except traffic. It meant lots of traffic. When I heard Janet Vandebos say she wanted to go to 2636 Green, I was momentarily relieved, thinking i would be able to avoid that 101 back to town and it would be no problem finding another ride in the Marina after dropping. I said to her that, because of the ball game, there is lots of traffic on the 101, and we would be better served to take the 280 to the Marina. She stated to me, “I have my reasons, let’s take the 101.” I said, “Fine.”

I transported her, at her request, as is required by Taxicab law, upon her chosen route on the 101 as she stipulated. On the way there she was shrieking at me the whole way. I t was sheer terror to be in the vehicle with her. I did state to her that I was homeless. In fact, I was well known as the homeless candidate for mayor of SF at the time, which I shall discuss forthwith. However, I did not tell her that I was running for mayor, only that I was homeless, and this was not a threat, nor was it intended as a threat. At this time I want to state that I personally believe this whole thing has been to shut down my freedom of speech, by bearing false witness against me, and putting words in my mouth which I had never said, in a concert of unkind ironies. In addition to the violation of my freedom of speech, my civil rights to due process as well as a fair trial, and freedom from terror and torture and arbitrary arrest have been walked all over.

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[page 10]

Not to mention my human right to exist, as a social creature, and my right to freely speak the truth.

So on July 26th, 2007 , I picked up Janet Vandebos in my Grasshopper Taxicab. She claimed that i threatened to kill her, which I never did. She testified against me in court. I tried to defend myself, and was thrown off my own counsel. There were continuing delays in getting my case to trial, which was a clear violation of my right to due process and a speedy trial. The judge kept bawling me out in front of the jury, and she really “had it in for” me, says Zadik. At the time of this incident, I was running for mayor. I’ve had many people say that my sentence was “political retribution,” like Dorsey *1009 in SF jail, no friend of mine.

I was homeless at the time and living out of my SF Taxi, a totally legal Grasshopper Taxicab ramp van, which was fully wheelchair accessible, as the permit mandated. I charged meter rates same as for all cabs licensed by the City and County of San Francisco,* regulated by the departments of weights and measures, inspected at the airport, & approved and licensed to transport. You open up the back, drop the ramp, and roll someone in their wheelchair inside, put the tie—down clamps on so that the chair doesn’t roll around, then off you go. The ramp/ wheelchair access requirement meant for me, easily, an extra operating expense of $10,000- dollars per year, likely far more. This meant that in my time of driving, I essentially made no money, but worked all the time just to be able to keep my business rolling. I was successful in that , after another year, I would be able to take days off, perhaps, or actually start making money, but really, I had just been building the business.

[* The 2-way dispatch radio dispatchers used to state a rate check with this phrase over the dispatch radio, that it was the same for all cabs licensed in the City and County of San Francisco, and i operated under the laws same as for all.]

The medallion , permit # 9062, had been mine for several years, first at De Soto, then Luxor, finally at Grasshopper. I started my own company out of disgust, after having worked for nearly every company in town. Is our corporate government at the mercy of big corporations much better than most cab companies? Likely far worse, with the bribery and corruption on the level of wars, drugs, and lives, not merely kickback money. It might be okay for taxicab companies, perhaps, although I am dubious. But, the pay—to—play at the level of Congress ensures that we will not have any truly representative entitiy to manage our house, to actually “govern,” it seems.

But i digress, sort of. I wish to conclude this background by speaking of poor Ed Jew, whom is Asian, and not Jewish neither in religion nor culture, just to be clear. Ed Jew was elected to and seated on the SF Board of Supervisors, where I myself was arrested for trying to give public comment, imagine that!

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[ page 11 ]

I was decrying the new immigrant ID that was proposed, although I did not actually get to speak at that meeting. That’s because I was arrested. After getting released, at a later meeting, when it no longer seemed to be worth all that trouble, I started my public comment by first off thanking the Board for not having me arrested today, yet, and allowing me to speak.

Really, Zadik had given me the idea to public comment by stating to Judge Wong that I should nevertheless be able to give a public comment, despite a restraining order against me from Ed Jew.

But Ed Jew was a sitting SF Supervisor when I parked in his driveway, in early September 2007. In fact, I parked in his driveway twice. Why? Because I was homeless, and he was a supervisor who couldn’t be bothered to live here, which is the one requirement for being supervisor, that you have to live in, & be registered to vote in SF, and in fact, in the district you proclaim to represent. Through a bit of investigation, i was easily able to ascertain that Ed Jew did not in fact live at this house at 2450 on 28th Avenue, SF. However, he did happen to be there both times that I parked in his drive, whenupon he was making a belated and unconvincing attempt to reside, which he later admitted he didn’t actually do. It is now common knowledge that Ed Jew was booted off the Board, and is serving years in prison for fraud, after which he’ll be serving extra time for not living in his declared city, instead living in Burlingame.

Why did I park in Ed Jew’s driveway? It was a protest. It was political, not criminal, which I told the cops at the time. He falsely represented a city he didn’t live in while I struggled to be homeless here. Nobody got it.

The Vandebos, my worst taxi ride ever, occurred on July 26th, 2007. They charged me with felony threat and some other stuff, driving cab illegally (at the time, and later in the Thigpen) and such. I tried to defend my self, and was thrown off my own counsel. At the time, On July 26th, I begged the cops to load the images of the camera that is required by law to be in the cab. Please Note- 1. Only the cops are able to access this, I can not. 2. The pictures are erased if not accessed within 24 hours, it re-records… I begged the cops to look at the pictures in my camera, that night. They refused. They later charged me with assault or battery, but I never touched Vandebos. The camera would have proved that, which was why he refused to look at it. They refused my request to take the pictures off the camera, and they were lost forever. I wish to argue at this time that this was a violation of my right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention. Had they looked at the pictures, they would have had to let me go.

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[ page 12 ]

In fact, they did drop all those inital Vandebos charges, but they

suspended my business, and despite having dropped the charges for lack of evidence, my business remained suspended without hope of appeal. Now, when i parked in Ed Jew’s driveway, I was severely tortured. But most important is to understand, these Vandebos charges were dropped, until I parked in Ed Jew’s driveway. Then, later that week, they brought back the Vandebos charges, for which they wrung a conviction of PC 422 misdemeanor terrorist threat, specifically on the rap sheet, “criminal threat with intent to terrorize.” Does the jury know that they convicted me of terrorism?

So, now I am a terrorist. If in doubt, Sergeant Ron Reynolds called me one at the SF Board of Appeal, as ground to deny my reinstatement, since I was a “terrorist.” Thanks.

Yes, Sergeant Ron Reynolds considers me a terrorist. Richard Highballs said he wouldn’t let me transport his mother (whom I’m told is dead.) Strangely, when my business was rolling, Highballs had asked me to take his mother in my rampvan , and of course I said sure.

So if you know nothing else about my mixed up mess, please understand this Ed Jew thing. They had dropped these Vandebos charges entirely, but kept my business suspended, until I parked in Ed Jew’s driveway, at which time they charged me with a bunch of crap, stalking a state official, trespass, a couple’ other things. They ended, of course, having to drop all those Ed Jew charges, as I knew they would. But in early September ‘07, under dubious conditions, I was re-arrested and re-charged with those Vandebos crimes.

I don’t know the technical reason this ain’t double jeopardy - oh, cause I hadn’t gotten a trial yet, well, sure, but it was a double charge, and this was improper. One friend I spoke with about this suggested that Ed Jew had “pulled some strings,” to get me re-charged. I don’t know, maybe so, for as it happened, my life was wrecked.

What gave me the idea to park in Ed Jew’s driveway? Well, it wasn’t my own, it came from Sarah Phelan, an SFBG reporter over a phone call. But i thought the situation was despicable enough. Perhaps if I hadn’t parked in his driveway, they would eventually have had to reinstate my business, but they were stalling and denying my request to appeal in timely fashion at the Board of Appeal. They later used my conviction as grounds to deny reinstatement of my business, which they had no problem suspending without any charges pending, as they declared me to be a threat to public safety, perhaps because I was running for mayor?

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[ handwritten note at the bottom of page 12..

San Francisco Bay Guardian closed recently — ish, without much warning and No archive; including an hour long interview of me as mayoral candidate they’d recorded, 2007, now lost forever]