Brad Crowder at LEC; Hearing July 21st

Bradley Crowder is being held at the LEC.  You can write to him at:

If you want to visit, Brad has to arrange the visit and it must be done at least 24 hours in advance. 

Visiting hours are:  

Tuesday 1-3 PM and 7-9 PM and

Sunday 9-11 AM and 1-3PM

Visitors will have to present ID and a warrant check will be run on them.

Brad has a pre-trial hearing on July 21st at 9 AM before Judge Nathanson in the Ramsey County Courthouse, 15 W. Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul.  The exact courtroom can be found by going to Room 130 on the ground floor and looking at the blue video monitors for the name 'Crowder.' 

Because Brad is in custody, no one in the courtroom will be allowed to speak with him except for his lawyer and the judge.  Members of the audience are not supposed to wave, pump their fists, blow kisses or signal in any way.  The bailiff has the option to put people out for that, or the judge may just tell them to leave.  There is, however,  at least a possibility of being able to speak to Brad's lawyer, David Gill.

Everyone who enters the courthouse must go through a metal detector.  Anything sharp or pointy will be confisticated.  Bags will be X-rayed and sometimes searched.  There won't be any problem with taking them into the courtroom once they make it through security.  There's a sniffer-dog that sometimes circulates through courtrooms.  He's friendly and you can pet him, but if he sits down next to you, you're in trouble.

OK, if you still want to go to court after all that, normal courtroom decorum is order.  No hats (but scarfs or bandanas are allowed), no "gang shirts" (I leave the interpretation of that up to you), no food, drink or gum.  Turn off your cellphone.  If it goes off while court is in session the bailiff will threaten to confisticate it and the judge may ask you to leave.  Do not even check your messages while you are in court; court personnel will assume that you are taking photos, which is completely illegal in a courtroom.  (I'm told that pictures can be taken on the first floor, because its a touristy sort of place.)

You can talk to your friends before the judge enters the courtroom and after she leaves, or you can go out in the hallway and talk quietly.  (There is no soundproofing in the Ramsey County Courthouse and people speaking in anything above a low murmer in the hallway can be heard inside the courtroom). Once the judge enters the courtroom, there should be no talking, reading, sleeping, hissing or snickering;  observers are welcome, commentators are not. 

Crowder is being charged with felony assault in the 2nd degree -- assault with a dangerous weapon.  This case is related to the cases of Christina Vana and Karen Meissner; it involves throwing a traffic sign off a bridge.  Vana and Meissner have conjoined their cases, but Crowder's is still being handled separately.