TRI In The News
Detained Marine's Attorneys File New Request for His Release
From The Richmond Times-Dispatch
Original article available here
HOPEWELL, Va. --
Attorneys for a Richmond-area Marine Corps veteran being detained as a psychiatric patient filed legal papers this afternoon seeking the man's release.
The appeal of a detention order issued Monday in Hopewell against Brandon J. Raub, 26, seeks a hearing on Thursday in Hopewell Circuit Court. At that time, new evidence could be presented showing that Raub is not suffering from a mental condition that makes him dangerous or a threat.
John W. Whitehead, founder of The Rutherford Institute in Charlottesville, said attention being paid to the Raub case is exploding nationally in the wake of news reports that Raub was taken into custody last week by state and federal agents who allegedly had received information that Raub was possibly dangerous and making threats.
Whitehead said this afternoon that much of what Raub was posting on the Internet are song lyrics, and he said Raub's First Amendment rights to free speech are being violated because of what Whitehead called his "arrest" following government monitoring of Raub's Internet postings. "This is a very scary situation," Whitehead said.
Raub was detained involuntarily last week and underwent an emergency custody proceeding at John Randolph Hospital in Hopewell.
He was subsequently ordered detained for 30 days by a special justice and transferred to the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Salem, three hours from his home in south Richmond and from family members who have repeatedly said that Raub is a patriot, not a threat to society. Raub was appointed independent counsel for the hearings, but Whitehead said new attorneys are seeking to intervene, as well as a physician who can independently assess Raub's condition.
Whitehead stressed that Raub is clear-headed and communicating coherently.
"He's mostly worried about being medicated against his will. He's very worried," Whitehead said this afternoon. "This is clearly a First Amendment issue, and we are proceeding as quickly as we can."
Two attorneys from the Richmond-based law firm of Troutman Sanders LLC, including former state Attorney General Anthony Troy, filed papers appealing the detention order this afternoon seeking a new hearing to gain Raub's release.
