SUNBURY — Two “sovereign citizens” who have been sitting in the Northumberland County Prison for seven months, refusing to be fingerprinted or sign paperwork, are headed to trial.
Despite their claims that they’re not subject to any laws, A jury was selected Monday for the trial that’s slated to begin Wednesday in county court.
John and Jane Doe were escorted from the courtroom of Judge Charles H. Saylor after the jury was picked because they became boisterous, claiming the court did not have jurisdiction over them.
The two, identified by others as Kevin Gilgeours of Queens, N.Y., and Kathleen Claxton of Brooklyn, N.Y., are representing themselves but have been assigned stand-by counsel.
Saylor canceled their initial jury selection because they refused to cooperate at a pretrial conference. He wrote:
“Under the circumstances, jurors will not, at this time, be exposed to the defendants’ present attempt to make a mockery of the authority of this court, the rules of procedure and the applicable law.”
They are charged with criminal trespass, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest and causing a public nuisance.
Gilgeours and Claxton have been in jail since Aug. 29 when Mount Carmel Twp. police forced their way into a home in the village of Connorsville.
They initially were jailed in lieu of $20,000 bail each but in October it was reduced to unsecured bail, meaning they could be released if they signed paperwork and agreed to be fingerprinted.
It is uncertain if the two are married but their 4-year-old daughter also was found in the house, township Chief Brian Hollenbush said.
She initially was placed in the custody of county Children and Youth Services but is now with relatives in New York, he said.
According to the chief and arrest documents, the Does bought the property in 2015 at a tax sale and lost it at a tax sale in July.
“We thought they had left,” Hollenbush said, explaining water and power had been turned off. Neighbors reported activity there including people taking showers in the nude outside in the rain, he said.
The Wayne County man who bought the West Fifth Street property in July sought their eviction.
When officers went to the house in August to evict them, the male refused to open the door and Claxton is alleged to have yelled that police had no grounds to enter the structure.
Additional police units were summoned, a ram was used to make entry and officers had to use pepper spray and a stun gun to take the two into custody.
