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Second local alleged insurrectionist released on own recognizance, but has to stay away from the State House

A federal judge today released Mark Sahady of Malden on personal recognizance while he goes through court proceedings related to the failed putsch in Washington earlier this month - subject to several conditions, including that his mother, with whom he lives, has to give up her licensed gun pending the conclusion of his case.

Sahady, an unemployed computer programmer, is one of two Boston-area residents arrested Tuesday on federal charges of two misdemeanors - knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. The other, Sue Ianni of Natick, was released free of bail on Tuesday. Sahady was held until a separate hearing today after the government asked he be held without bail because of his leadership role in a local right-wing group.

At the hearing today, Sahady's attorney, Rinaldo Del Gallo III, initially said he opposed release conditions that would require Sahady to stay away from the Massachusetts State House and to seek permission of federal probation officers to attend any rallies - conditions Ianni agreed to on Tuesday. Del Gallo said these violate Sahady's First Amendment rights to support President Trump and to criticize "fraud in the election" and were a blatant effort by the government to keep Sahady's "lips taped."

"It's not because he's selling pretzels without a license," he said of the prohibition against any State House appearances. "They don't want him to talk about Trump or about an election that was not fair."

But after Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal said that if Sahady did not agree to the conditions, she could order Sahady detained even longer, Del Gallo said Sahady would agree to the terms, but that he might file an appeal against the ones related to the First Amendment.

Assistant US Attorney William Bloomer said the government is not trying to shut Sahady up, that there are other ways he can support Trump besides going to rallies either at the State House or elsewhere, but that judges are allowed to impinge on defendant's constitutional rights in the interests of preserving public safety

"He was part of a group that stormed the Capitol and engaged in riotous activities that included five deaths, including of a police officer, and 60 injuries," Bloomer said. Bloomer on Tuesday had called for Sahady's indefinite detention, but said today that he was satisfied that imposing the same conditions as Ianni agreed to would keep the public safe.

In a motion, Del Gallo cited other reasons Boal should release his client immediately, including the fact that he is a veteran and has high blood pressure, which could mean problems should he contract Covid-19 behind bars. Also, he questioned whether Sahady should even have been arrested, given that he was in a "public" area of the Capitol and that several videos exist showing Capitol Police officers inviting protesters into the building.

Boal, however, discounted the motion, in fact, she declared it "unintelligible" and not just because it wasn't double spaced, as required by federal court rules. She offered to give Del Gallo a day to recast the "stream of consciousness" into a legal motion, but Del Gallo said he wanted to get his client out of detention as soon as possible and so instead reserved the right to file an appeal.

In addition to requiring his mother to give up her gun, Boal also required Sahady to give up his passport and to stay away from any other defendants or witnesses in the case. He is also not allowed to travel outside Massachusetts or Washington, DC - to which his case will be transferred - without permission of a federal probation officer, which means, according to Del Gallo, he can now at least go skiing in Vermont.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

@lilsarg's thread is magic

Among other things Sahady's attorney, Rinaldo del Gallo, admitted in court he "didn't know how to use PACER," the electronic court filing system that has been in common legal use since approx 1457. The mind boggles.

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I don't see a link to anyone with that name in this post.

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Yes, formerly of the Globe or boston.com or both. Now she does a lot of writing about white supremacists.

https://twitter.com/lilsarg

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Bro, do you even federal court?

Although the judge telling him his motion was unintelligible, not even double spaced, for Chrissakes (OK, she didn't use that exact phrase) was right up there.

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I liked the part where del Gallo said it would be nice if the court-appointed (i.e. free) attorney had stayed around "to help" -- and then the judge pointed out that, since Sahady had hired a private attorney (del Gallo), he was no longer entitled to free help from a public defender.

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Mark Sahady did himself no favors by retaining Del Gallo as counsel. I followed a Hilary Sargent Twitter thread of the hearing and learned that Del Gallo practices in IP law and doesn’t seem to be a competent criminal defense attorney. Del Gallo has spoken at Sahady’s Super Happy Fun events like the Straight Pride parade and one could infer that Sahady may be getting a friends and family discount on Del Gallo’s services. But as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Hey Mark, maybe cancel that Vermont skiing trip that you will be asking your probation officer for permission to attend and spend that money on an attorney who has represented defendants against federal charges. Do it now before the government starts stacking felony charges :)

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n/t

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I strongly doubt that Sahady, or most of us, could afford Rudy. And if you can, don't waste your money on him; if you really need to shed some money before you go to jail, just give me your money and don't hire any lawyers.

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His "About" page on FB list some work that he he did (really!) "Bro Bono."

About Rinaldo
Attorney, Spokesperson of the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition, I live in Pittsfield, MA.

Rinaldo Del Gallo, III, Esq. is the spokesperson of the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition. He has been practicing family law attorney and has been a member of the Massachusetts bar since 1996.

Mr. Del Gallo has handled a wide variety of family law cases including issues of child custody, child visitation, child support, restraining orders, grandparent visitation, contempt of family court, access to academic records, guardianship, allegations of abuse, criminal allegations related to domestic violence, disputes over the care of a child, and care and protection proceedings before the Department of Social Services.

On behalf of non-custodial parents, he has had made numerous media appearances in printed news, radio, and television. He has authored numerous family law related articles and columns. He has performed extensive pro bono work for fathers.

Attorney Del Gallo also has extensive experience as a civil rights attorney, working in the areas of free speech rights and ballot access. He was instrumental in protecting the City of Pittsfield from a zoning ordinance that would have allowed time-shares in any residential neighborhood, with a 15-page legal opinion that rebutted the assertion that time-shares was an impermissible regulation of ownership, not use, and thus was proscribed by law. This work was performed bro bono.

He is also an intellectual property attorney and a patent lawyer, and has written what is regarded as one of the most famous law reviews in the area of patent law, “Are Methods of Doing Business Finally Out of Business As A Statutory Exception?,” that helped end the so-called “business method exception,” which paved the way for an entire field of software and Internet related patents.

Attorney Del Gallo graduated from Northeastern University (Boston) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, and graduated from George Washington University (Washington) in the top of his three-year class.

He is a published columnist, and his columns have been printed in newspapers across the country.

Favorite Quotes
"People crushed by law, have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those who have much to hope and nothing to lose, will always be dangerous." Edmund Burke, Irish Political Philosopher, in a Letter to Charles James Fox (1777-10-08)

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and learned that Del Gallo practices in IP law and doesn’t seem to be a competent criminal defense attorney.

Just as long as Sahady doesn't try to pull an "insufficent defense" appeal when he inevitably loses the case.

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Del Gallo practices in IP law and doesn’t seem to be a competent criminal defense attorney

That must be why Sahady was looking for "help" from a public defender.

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Sulking

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I suspect he has the same room he had as a child. Maybe even the same crib.

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Because he's definitely gonna say/do something dumb/dangerous and violate his conditions then we can all laugh at him again as he FINALLY leaves town for a decade or so.

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I've been watching & listening to news for days obviously. I don't care for injecting race into certain things but let's just keep it a buck here. Let the same amount of people of color storm the Capitol and most would be dead & the remainders would be sitting under the jail with NO bail. No personals.

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Many of those who invaded the Capitol make it widely known that they are white supremacists and white nationalists. Others, like Super Happy Fun America, gaslight and swear six ways to Sunday that they aren’t white supremacist while featuring and hyping white supremacist and anti-Jewish speakers at their events. Daniel Hodges, the Metro DC police officer who screamed in agony as he was crushed between Capitol doors that day said, “it was absolutely my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection”.

No one should feel any hesitancy in fore-fronting race and the white supremacy crisis when discussing the MAGA insurrection.

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