http://www.casperstartribune.net/ar...national/7c2de7a7bf35944f87256e3b0015cdea.txt
Patriot singer released from jail
SHERIDAN (AP) -- A Colorado "Christian patriot" musician was ordered released from a county jail after being held for over two months while a mental evaluation was performed.
Carl Klang, 50, of Boulder, Colo., pleaded guilty to one count of property destruction at a hearing Friday in Sheridan Circuit Court.
Officials said extra law enforcement was on hand at the Friday trial after the jail and Sheridan County attorney's office received hundreds of calls from Klang's fans -- some of them threatening -- asking why he had been kept in jail so long.
Klang was arrested Dec. 4 for disorderly conduct/provoking a fight. That charge was later dismissed, but Klang was ordered held after he tore up his jail uniform and destroyed a mattress and light fixture the day he was booked into the Sheridan County Detention Center.
At Klang's initial court appearance in December, Sheridan Circuit Judge John Sampson entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of the defendant and ordered he be held without bond pending the outcome of a mental evaluation.
Court records state the evaluation was ordered because Klang threatened to kill police officers and himself and at one point requested a "suicide assist by police."
Klang was evaluated by staff members from the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston, who found he was capable of participating in Friday's court hearing, and said he wasn't suffering from a "major mental illness."
In earlier letters to the court, Klang said he suffered from bipolar disorder and had been off his medication for about two months prior to his arrest.
Sheridan Circuit Court Magistrate Hardy Tate said in court it was "unfortunate" Klang was held in jail so long.
"I sympathize with you," Tate told the defendant.
Klang, who held his head down throughout much of the hearing, said little in court, responding to Tate's questions in a quiet voice with short, direct answers, including "Yes" and "No."
Tate gave Klang credit for 71 days served in jail and ordered him to pay $80 in court fees and $229 in restitution.
Klang is a "Christian patriot" musician who has produced such CDs as "Extremist Won" and "Extremist Too."
Klang's web site urged followers to contact the Sheridan County Detention Center and request that "America's number one Christian patriot musician" be released from jail.
Among Klang's recorded songs are: "It's Dangerous to be Right (When the Government is Wrong)," "I Want to be an Extremist," "Seventeen Little Children (Waco)," "I'm the Resister," and "Wheresoever Eagles Gather (the Ballad of Randy Weaver)."
Patriot singer released from jail
SHERIDAN (AP) -- A Colorado "Christian patriot" musician was ordered released from a county jail after being held for over two months while a mental evaluation was performed.
Carl Klang, 50, of Boulder, Colo., pleaded guilty to one count of property destruction at a hearing Friday in Sheridan Circuit Court.
Officials said extra law enforcement was on hand at the Friday trial after the jail and Sheridan County attorney's office received hundreds of calls from Klang's fans -- some of them threatening -- asking why he had been kept in jail so long.
Klang was arrested Dec. 4 for disorderly conduct/provoking a fight. That charge was later dismissed, but Klang was ordered held after he tore up his jail uniform and destroyed a mattress and light fixture the day he was booked into the Sheridan County Detention Center.
At Klang's initial court appearance in December, Sheridan Circuit Judge John Sampson entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of the defendant and ordered he be held without bond pending the outcome of a mental evaluation.
Court records state the evaluation was ordered because Klang threatened to kill police officers and himself and at one point requested a "suicide assist by police."
Klang was evaluated by staff members from the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston, who found he was capable of participating in Friday's court hearing, and said he wasn't suffering from a "major mental illness."
In earlier letters to the court, Klang said he suffered from bipolar disorder and had been off his medication for about two months prior to his arrest.
Sheridan Circuit Court Magistrate Hardy Tate said in court it was "unfortunate" Klang was held in jail so long.
"I sympathize with you," Tate told the defendant.
Klang, who held his head down throughout much of the hearing, said little in court, responding to Tate's questions in a quiet voice with short, direct answers, including "Yes" and "No."
Tate gave Klang credit for 71 days served in jail and ordered him to pay $80 in court fees and $229 in restitution.
Klang is a "Christian patriot" musician who has produced such CDs as "Extremist Won" and "Extremist Too."
Klang's web site urged followers to contact the Sheridan County Detention Center and request that "America's number one Christian patriot musician" be released from jail.
Among Klang's recorded songs are: "It's Dangerous to be Right (When the Government is Wrong)," "I Want to be an Extremist," "Seventeen Little Children (Waco)," "I'm the Resister," and "Wheresoever Eagles Gather (the Ballad of Randy Weaver)."
