This account is a brief summary of the events that occurred just prior to and during Rick's appeal of detention hearing before Judge Black at 10:00 am on January 18, 2008 in Federal District Court in Albuquerque.

A few days prior to the hearing, it was discovered that attorney Robert Gorence was not contacted by Rick's mother; rather, he contacted her in another state claiming that colleagues mentioned the case. He called after hours in the evening and was rather persistent in making sure that he talked with her. He proposed representation of Rick in the case but Rick's mother did not decide whether to hire Gorence. Nevertheless, he had shown up for the January 11, 2008 hearing claiming that Rick's mother hired him, talking Rick into waiving his rights to a preliminary hearing.

Once we discovered (along with Rick and his family) that Gorence falsely represented to Rick and to the Court that he had been hired when in fact he had not, Rick contacted Gorence on Thursday, January 17 and made it clear to Gorence that he was not to represent Rick on the case.

An appointment was made for Rick to meet with another attorney Friday morning, January 18 prior to the 10:00 am appeal of the detention order hearing. However, the prospective new attorney already had a full day of trials scheduled so the plan was to request of Judge Black that the hearing be continued (or delayed) until such time that Rick retained counsel.

Just prior to the 10:00 hearing on January 18, Robert Gorence showed up and spoke with Rick's family outside of the courtroom. He assured them that he fully understood that he was not to represent Rick at the hearing, and stated that it was necessary to stand before Judge Black and request permission to withdraw from the case. That was all he intended to do, he stated to the family.

Meanwhile, the FBI agents were notified that Gorence falsely represented Rick at the earlier (Jan 11) hearing, and that he was not to represent Rick at this hearing, scheduled to begin in a few minutes.

Everyone entered the courtroom, but the judge was not yet in attendance, so attorneys and spectators were standing, joking, talking, waiting, etc. Rick entered the room at the opposite end, up near the judge's bench.

Rick's mother and sister quietly stood up and waved to him. A U.S. Marshall immediately ran over to the women and threatened to kick them out of the courtroom. There was silence. Everyone, including the attorneys, was shocked at such harsh behavior for no reason. (In case you are not familiar with courtrooms, there is no rule, written or otherwise, that precludes waving in the courtroom when court is not in session. The demand was ridiculous, demeaning, and totally unacceptable treatment for an American courtroom when not in session.)

CFJ President Leslie Cumiford immediately responded to the U.S. Marshall. "This is Rick's mother and sister!" she exclaimed. The rude U.S. Marshall repeated his threat through clenched teeth, then handed the family visitation forms for the prison.

Just prior to the hearing, the corrupt judge squad entered the courtroom. Showing absolutely no fear, Judge Nash paraded in, followed by Judge Vanzi and Judge Whitaker. Apparently several other judges sneeked in later but it is unclear to CFJ who they were because the events described above dominated their attention at the time. It appeared the judges were all there for the show. It was hard to imagine that these judges felt the need to ignore their duties in other courtrooms while paid by county taxpayers so that they could spectate at a mere appeal of a detention order hearing. At that point, those in attendance advocating for Rick smelled a rat. It was quite an ominous feeling.

At that time, it became obvious that Gorence was talking with Rick up near the judge's bench way too much to be simply withdrawing from the case. One of the FBI agents came over to clarify with Rick's family that Gorence was no longer to be Rick's attorney. It was confirmed, and the fact that Rick was retaining a different attorney was communicated to the agent. The agent approached the U.S. prosecutor Kenneth J. Gonzales (substituted as prosecutory by the U.S. Attorney's office just three days prior to the hearing), informed him of the representation issue, and asked that the hearing be continued. The prosecutor refused.

After Judge Black showed up and appearances were entered. Gorence stood up to speak. He said that his "client" Rick Hermann requests that he undergo a mental evaluation. Then Gorence mentioned something about an ankle bracelet and release to another state with his mother. Finally, Gorence mentioned something as an aside, almost, that he was going to be withdrawing later.

Judge Black responded that he did not need to wait for Rick to have another attorney to make a decision and ordered that Rick be sentenced to a federal mental facility in Springfield, Missouri for a 60-day evaluation. Everyone in the courtroom was stunned, except for Gorence, Black, and Gonzales, who concurred with the decision. As CFJ has seen so many times, it was like a choreographed play, initiated by an attorney who was never hired in the first place!

This proceeding brings new meaning to the term kangaroo court. It was more like a gorilla court, with the three players lumping around scratching each other's backs and hooting like kings of their domains.

The end result was that without any evidentiary hearing at all, a software engineer with no prior record is now in federal detention awaiting transport to a mental lockdown facility hundreds of miles away for two months. Way to stop Rick from exposing your sins, gentlemen. Do not worry, I am sure that those sins will catch up with you anyway. There are hundreds of us making sure of that. All you have accomplished is an intensive focus on the part of all who peruse our website on the kangaroo games you play in federal criminal court, where armed bank robbers get to go home with a bracelet whereas a guy accused of an email that he has not yet been shown is socked away in a mental facility.