Friday, December 24, 1999
Clermont fugitive held in Florida
Charged with sham case, fines against county
BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BATAVIA — Lynne Rainelle Kirkman, 58, has been arrested in Florida on Clermont County charges.
He was indicted by the Clermont County grand jury in November on 19 counts of threatening county officials with bogus paper charges that demand payment of illegal fines.
Clermont County Sheriff A.J. “Tim” Rodenberg said Mr. Kirkman was arrested Wednesday at his parents' home in Escambia County, Fla., near Pensacola at the west end of the Florida Panhandle.
Clermont County officials obtained information that Mr. Kirkman had fled the area following his indictment and was staying with his parents, Sheriff Rodenberg said.
That information was given to Escambia County authorities, who made the arrest. Mr. Kirkman was found hiding in a garage at his parents' home, the sheriff said.
While Mr. Kirkman did not resist arrest, he has not been cooperative with Florida authorities and intends to fight extradition to Clermont County, the sheriff said.
If Mr. Kirkman does not waive extradition proceedings, it could take several weeks to a month for him to be returned to the Clermont County Jail, Sheriff Rodenberg said.
Assistant Clermont County Prosecutor Daniel “Woody” Breyer said Mr. Kirkman, of Patterson Road in Tate Township, was charged with using a sham legal process after mailing various documents to county officials, notifying them of unrecognized common-law court judgments.
The indictment came less than three months after an Oregonia man was convicted in Warren County Court in the first trial involving Ohio's “anti-sham” law. Ohio's 1996 anti-sham law was enacted to shackle paper terrorism used by right-wing groups. Followers of common law set up their own courts and file judgments against people they think have wronged them.
The bogus fines in the Kirkman case range from $5 million to $100 million, officials said.
The documents repeatedly cite the Common Law Court of Arkansas. Such mailings were sent to Judge Thomas Herman of Clermont Municipal Court, municipal court Prosecutor Laura Schaffer, County Clerk of Courts David Caudill, Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Gobbi and Sheriff's Investigator Robert Evans. Mr. Kirkman also sent notification of fines against the county. Mr. Kirkman faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine on each of the charges.
Mr. Breyer said the notifications from Mr. Kirkman, mostly sent by certified mail, began after Deputy Gobbi, on traffic patrol, stopped Mr. Kirkman on Aug. 29, 1998, and cited him for having no driver's license and a lane-change violation.
Mr. Kirkman appeared before Judge Herman, who fined him on the driver's license charge. Ms. Schaffer was the prosecutor at Mr. Kirkman's court appearance, Mr. Breyer said. Records indicate Mr. Kirkman paid an $83 fine. On Oct. 28, 1998, a 10-page docu ment was received by Deputy Gobbi, Judge Herman and Ms. Schaffer, charging them with contempt of the common law court.
The first test of the 1996 Ohio sham law aimed at stopping such bogus filings was in August.
Larry Roten, 49, another follower of the common-law movement, was convicted in Warren County on charges of intimidation, retaliation and using a sham legal process. The self-appointed leader of a group called Hand-to-Hand Combat Ministries was sentenced to four years in prison.
He told the court that he did not recognize the state laws or the court system under which he was convicted.
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