A motion by Franklin County Prosecutor Bob Parks for a change of judge in the Jeffrey Weinhaus case was granted this week.
The felony case was transferred to Division II Circuit Judge Ike Lamke after the county grand jury issued a multi-count indictment against Weinhaus Tuesday, Nov. 27.
On Tuesday, Dec. 4, Parks filed a motion to move the case from Lamke’s court to Division I. The case is before Presiding Circuit Judge Gael Wood at this time.
Weinhaus, who was wounded in armed confrontation with Missouri Highway Patrol investigators in September, now is scheduled to be arraigned this Tuesday, Dec. 11, on the felony charges.
His attorney will have 10 days after the arraignment to file a motion for a change of judge. If that is filed and Wood grants it, the Missouri Supreme Court would appoint a new judge to hear the case.
Weinhaus, 45, a longtime anti-government Internet blogger, is being held in the county jail on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
He was arrested Nov. 1 when he appeared in court for a bond reduction hearing.
Previously, Weinhaus had been in the hospital and at his brother’s home in Jefferson County recovering from gunshot wounds he sustained in the Sept. 11 encounter with the two troopers.
At that time, the troopers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant charging Weinhaus with possession of a controlled substance (morphine) and tampering with a judicial officer, both felonies, and misdemeanor marijuana possession charge.
The grand jury indictment includes those original charges plus five additional felony counts, including two counts each of attempted assault on a law enforcement officer and armed criminal action and one count of resisting arrest.
The investigators allege that they shot Weinhaus when he refused to comply with them and began drawing a handgun.
The Investigation
Investigators with the highway patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control went to serve a search warrant Aug. 22 for the seizure of computers belonging to Weinhaus based on alleged threats directed at law enforcement and judicial officials in Crawford County. Weinhaus broadcast those video blogs from his home off Highway K, south of St. Clair.
When Weinhaus opened the door, the troopers smelled marijuana smoke coming from the house. After Weinhaus refused to let them search the home they obtained another search warrant and inside they seized a misdemeanor amount of marijuana and some pills, later identified as containing morphine.
Weinhaus, who has described himself as a born-again Christian and both a political activist and a political prisoner, has been provoking politicians, judges and law enforcement officials in several eastern Missouri counties for years.
Authorities allege that Weinhaus made multiple threats against Crawford County officials in recent months. That’s what led to the seizure of his computers and the Franklin County warrant.
In a video post Sept. 9, he threatened to “occupy the courthouse” on Sept. 14 or Sept. 17, but did not specify which courthouse.
That post led the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to increase security measures at the courthouse there, and officials in Crawford County took extra security measures as well.
Weinhaus has denied that he made any direct threats against anyone and claims that when he got out of his car Sept. 11 he did not attempt to draw his gun but raised his hands over his head and was shot by the troopers.
The shooting occurred at the MFA gas station on Highway K, south of St. Clair.
Weinhaus has been a defendant in a number of civil and criminal legal cases arising out of Jefferson, Franklin and a number of other Missouri counties.
Weinhaus wrote about many of these incidents and other alleged corruption in small newspapers he published, including The Provocateur and The Bulletin which later evolved into his website, bulletinman.com.
