Why Did Raphael Golb Plead Not Guilty?-another SUMMARY. Dead Sea Scrolls

Frederick Seidel's poetry collection

"Ooga-Booga" won the 2006 

Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration 

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

While I continue to compose new posts, here is my latest SUMMARY of the Dead Sea Scrolls trial of Raphael Golb. Not exactly a Reprint, but not totally fresh either.
(NOTE there are 3 other new posts, below, in the last 2 days.)

TRUE or FALSE IRRELEVANT

Did the jury convict Raphael Golb of falsely accusing Dr. Lawrence Schiffman of plagiarism?

No, he was not found guilty of that.

The jury was told that the truth or falsity of of Raphael Golb's accusation of Dr. Schiffman was irrelevant to their decision of "criminality."

The sum total of the "criminal" charges in this trial, as presented to the jury, as I understand it, is simply this:

The 'LARRY SCHIFFMAN' Gmails. Dead Sea Scrolls, Raphael Golb

Rikers Island State Penitentiary, NY

where Raphael Golb,
the son of an academic rival,
could be sentenced to 4 years. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

And email accounts he opened

-including many he never used;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

A new point about those emails, in which Raphael Golb says he "parodied" Dr. Lawrence Schiffman. 

First, I repeat two points from a previous post; hang on, though, there's new info to follow.
1) "PANICKED AND CONFESSIONAL E-MAILS"
This quote from the Associated Press article Sep 14 2010 (J. Peltz):

"New York University professor Lawrence Schiffman's students and colleagues started getting panicked and confessional e-mails, in his name, that pointed to blog posts accusing him of plagiarism. Prosecutors say the e-mails and website posts were a hoax created by [Raphael Golb]."

(Of course the "website posts" themselves- accusing Schiffman of plagiarism- were not part of any "hoax"- they were Raphael Golb's deadly serious accusations.)

from: Raphael Golb Dead Sea Scrolls Blog
http://deadseascrollstrial.blogspot.com 

Witness for the prosecution Dean Stimoson verified that Schiffman's colleagues found the emails "weird." Dr. Schiffman said that colleagues were asking him what was going on.

So, if Raphael Golb's intention was for people to think he really was Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, he did a terrible job of it.

6 POLICEMEN WITH GUNS & HANDCUFFS, Raphael Golb, Dead Sea Scrolls

Rikers Island State Penitentiary, NY

where Raphael Golb,
the son of an academic rival,
could be sentenced to 4 years. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

And email accounts he opened

-including many he never used;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

It is important to note how extreme was the verdict concerning these emails from "larry.schiffman@gmail.com." I have looked at the Grand Jury Indictment and here were the charges, which I interpret as follows: For Dr. Lawrence Schiffman's case alone, Raphael was indicted for:

8 counts of Identity Theft (2 types of felonies: "assume the identity of another person");

6 counts of Criminal Impersonation (to obtain a "benefit");

5 counts of Forgery;

and one count Aggravated Harrassment (to "annoy").

The jury found Raphael guilty on all these counts.

What kind of big "criminal investigation" was this? Dr. Schiffman said he did not know who was responsible. The police officer who signed the warrant, witness for the prosecution Officer McKenna, said that from the very beginning of the criminal investigation, two years ago, Raphael Golb was the only person he investigated. He had Raphael's M.O. from day one.
If all they wanted was for Raphael Golb to stop, there were far less violent ways to have accomplished that.

Six policemen with guns and handcuffs
arrested Raphael Golb in his bed,
the son of an academic rival. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

And email accounts he opened

-including many he never used;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

I know this is no laughing matter. But- sending 6 policemen with guns and handcuffs? What, in case Raphael stuck out a finger to punch one last "PDQ" on his computer keys? All 125 pounds of him (as his lawyer said)? Is this how the NYPD delegates their manpower? 5 of those policemen could have been stopping 5 crimes during the time of Raphael's arrest.

Something here seems a bit peevish- to load on all these heavy criminal charges for what Raphael Golb did- the son of an academic rival- it makes me almost want to laugh. It almost just sounds to me like somebody got really mad. But that's just my opinion.

If I Were Raphael Golb- The "Weird" EMails, Dead Sea Scrolls

Raphael Golb, with
his lawyer Ron Kuby (left)

Personal meditation exercise:


WHAT WOULD I DO IF I WERE RAPHAEL GOLB?

I just don't understand where these "identity theft" and "criminal impersonation" and "forgery" charges all come from.

Now, if I were Raphael Golb and I wanted people to pay attention to something important I wanted to say about somebody- such as- to point out that they plagiarized, or they prevented my father from his task for 40 years, or they ignored these abuses for 50 years- I think my intention would be to get my point across.

What a colossal waste of my time, if all I wanted, was to get people to believe I actually was that person-
-all for the sake of a mere- but so glorious!- ten minutes!

Next week: Why Did Raphael Golb Send "Weird" Emails? Dead Sea Scrolls

Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745
Enlightenment  satirist
wrote a pretty weird but Modest Proposal

A discussion of what the charge of "impersonation" might have meant to the jury that found Raphael Golb guilty of it.

Followed by discussion of what the charge of "impersonation" may not have meant to the jury.



An examination of emails that Raphael Golb sent, which witness for the prosecution Dean Stimpson of New York University said Dr. Schiffman's colleagues described as "weird."

Raphael Golb Describes Creating the Name 'Jonathan Seidel'- Dead Sea Scrolls

Frederick Seidel's poetry collection

"Ooga Booga" won the 2006 

Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration 

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

Raphael Golb gave a convincing explanation of how he created the name "Jonathan Seidel," testifying on his own behalf in the Dead Sea Scrolls trial. Raphael described, in detail, the exact creative process by which he crafted that name.

A New Way to Look at a Courtroom- Raphael Golb, Dead Sea Scrolls

Prosecuting attorney Antoine Quentin Fouquier de Tinville,
 who had engineered the Terror, and who signed off
on Robespierre's execution, was within days
guillotined for engineering the Terror, in 1795,
"condemned by his own hand."

The District Attorney's office sought up to 4 years for Raphael Golb, upstate in Reikers Island State Penitentiary. And in fact after the sentencing, rather than let Raphael wait for the Appeals office to open in 2 hours, it was ruled that Raphael should be shackled immediately and sent upstate on the very next bus to Rikers Island State Penitentiary. I wonder what horrendous crimes they thought Raphael Golb might have committed in those 2 hours. 

I like to compare Raphael Golb's sentence to that of a man I once met who also served 4 years in the same State Penitentiary, for the rape of a woman he noticed jogging along the parkway. The rest was parole.

The system can be lopsided, capricious, arbitrary.


This was the first trial I ever saw, and it did indeed remind me of a game, with agreed-upon rules: 

Two Lawyers, their Personal Styles of Speaking- Raphael Golb, Dead Sea Scrolls

Summation to the Jury

The closing arguments by the two attorneys to the jury, in the Dead Sea Scrolls trial of Raphael Golb, was an interesting study in contrasts. One of Golb's two lawyers, summing up to the jury in Raphael's defense, relied on emotion to appeal to the jury: he was expansive and inclusive, warm, and often used generous terms in describing others.

What Exactly Was Raphael Golb Convicted Of? -Dead Sea Scrolls Trial

Equality, Liberty, Fraternity
French Revolution, Masonic emblem

People know that Raphael Golb was found "guilty" in criminal court last week. But what do people think he was found "guilty" of?

I suspect a lot of people assume Raphael Golb was found "guilty" of making up "lies" about Dr. Lawrence Schiffman plagiarizing his father.

I thought making up a lie about someone is "defamation" or "libel." And if the court decides there could possibly be some plausibility to the accusation, it's not "defamation" anymore. And I thought that's a matter for civil court to figure out.

LIST of sites & articles //Raphael Golb, Dead Sea Scrolls Trial

the Prophet Jeremiah,

Michelangelo

LIST of ARTICLES and BLOGS abt Raphael Golb, Dead Sea Scrolls Trial:

Reasonable Doubt: Raphael Golb Did Not Know of a Jonathan Seidel- Dead Sea Scrolls trial

Poet Frederick Seidel,

in 2006 called

"the best

American poet writing today"

by the New York Sun

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

photo: Mark Mahane

NO 'REASONABLE DOUBT'!
Raphael Golb testified on his own behalf that he made up the name "Jonathan Seidel," not knowing there was a Rabbi and professor across the country in Oregon who happened to have that name, who had once given a seminar on the Dead Sea Scrolls- if I remember correctly, out in Oregon, years ago.
Raphael said he used the name 'Jonathan Seidel" in some emails he sent to museums complaining about biased exhibits.

Please keep in mind while you read this, that for each of the several misdemeanors incurred against Rabbi "Jonathan Seidel," the judge gave Raphael 3-month (concurrent) prison sentences in Rikers Island State Penitentiary.

The jury in the Dead Sea Scrolls case was to decide if there was "reasonable doubt" as to whether Raphael Golb made up the name "Jonathan Seidel" or not. The jury found no "reasonable doubt." The jury decided that there was absolutely no possibility that Raphael Golb might have invented the name 'Jonathan Seidel" as he said, and they ruled him guilty of several criminal counts against Rabbi Jonathan Seidel, "beyond a reasonable doubt."