Transcript PDF of Mentele v Karimi court hearing round 4 in full:
You folks out there can do what you want. As for me, I’m going to go back to focusing on federal exemption advocacy as I have since 2009, before Mentele told me to stop and then got me arrested for continuing advocating, by lying to law enforcement. The predatory Mentele, who plays victim when her bullying doesn’t deter her targets, discusses her anger at my charges being dropped in the court transcript before the Sioux Falls judge states she lost credibility by lying to the court.
She’s always been lying.
Every word she says is spin.
If you get burned by her, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Main lies:
In the transcripts Mentele tells the judge I was able to find out info about her family’s criminal and financial past that nobody else could find, and I was accurate, yet she tells the public to not pay any mind, I’m just uninformed and not very smart. If so, then how did I find this arrest of her husband she tried to hide from business partners and the public and lawmakers?
And why did she hide her house foreclosure?
These aren’t low blow court records published with malice. They’re legitimate red flags for credibility.
These struggles were NOT being published until after Melissa made false allegations to law enforcement that my 2025 blogging criticizing federal exemption issues (that Trump has now resolved) made her unsafe. Then they became relevant and necessary to defend my blog policy articles in the context of her claims of being a “victim.” They were already relevant to concerns her leadership was getting bad rep at the Capitol. But I wanted to address her bad rep privately or discreetly not in an open fight that hurts patients credibility with lawmakers. Criticism for her failures, however, which were bleeding into lawmaker discussions, lead to claimed unsafe “feelings” that might be due to her husband being charged with some type of domestic assault against her while her house is being foreclosed on. Stress makes people act weird.
She feels bad, because she is bad. The incompetence is unbelievable until witnessed up close and in person. I’ve spent hours listening to her flailing in the court room. I’ve never imagined anything this incompetent could be so crazy nobody could handle telling her how she’s perceived – as a desperate irrelevant has been whose loud annoying and a headache to deal with professionally unless you also have a far left political agenda. Common sense conservatives can’t work with her antics much longer if they continue next legislative session. The record speaks for itself.
She can’t defend what she’s done so she has to attack me personally. And she started all this because she didn’t like my advocating for federal exemptions as she wrongly thought that if I advocated for that it would hurt her political and business ambitions. That’s what this policy disagreement started with. Now it ends in court rooms.
Look at this unhinged attack she made on me, telling me patients aren’t invited to legislative Capitol meetings without her approval! If she treats me like this on a House lawmakers Facebook, who else is she stabbing in the back? When they’re not looking? Who is she really even loyal to if she just flippantly and recklessly attacks people who know how to find real liabilities during basic investigative background work for reports? If you’re now an obstacle to advancing marijuana in a Republican state, step away. You do not get to hurt other advocates without objection in America. That’s not how politics works. This is not 3rd grade, nobody has to let you play soft. Tougher people are stepping in to represent patients needs. Cry babies aren’t helpful.
I didn’t enjoy exposing these leadership and financial issues. Or exposing a Republican Party being infiltrated by her and her fellow hateful Democrats.
But somebody had to finally speak up and humble the lies NASD keeps defaulting to when pressured and unable to defend past antics. And as I’m already unliked by the one person in control of that unpredictable and dishonest discredited in court “group,” protecting patients from repeated NASD attacks on competitors and their lies to the patients and judges seemed a needed community service, even if I had other things I’d rather focus on, like petitioning South Dakota to reschedule marijuana.
Put another way, you cannot claim to be an advocate, while running a business, and using your advocacy to advance business interests and attack business competition. That’s what NASD is. A front group advancing business interests by pretending to be for patient interests. You can’t have both.
You can’t attack other marijuana businesses serving patients, and claim to be also helping patients.
You’re just an opportunist.
Mentele ran for the South Dakota House as a Democrat before later registering as a Republican. This history of switching parties raises legitimate questions about whether her current Republican affiliation reflects genuine values or political convenience — especially while she continues to work closely with individuals and causes more aligned with progressive activism
She also attacked me this week by claiming I’m just some powerless jealous nobody, and a predator who is demonically possessed; it can’t be both, it can only be powerless or demonically empowered, not both. She’s projecting her own malevolence and intent to destroy my political contributions – because she wants others to serve her, and is jealous of their work if she doesn’t steal credit or latch on. Emotionally disproportionate escalations to deflect credibility issues are her only tools in this two year attack to prevent me from…talking about marijuana with folks.
Truly bizarre.
The man-hater and Republican basher lies and attacks and lies and attacks…then acts confused the marijuana movement doesn’t trust her with leadership anymore.
That’s why she lacks credibility and lies to judges. To regain relevance, desperately, by any means.
But NASD’s political incompetence, covered by lies. is in hours of court transcript records now. You all be the judge as we continue to review and publish the three transcripts from three separate judges saying the same thing about NASD. Should NASD be trusted with patient lives and futures when NASD tried to destroy my life and get me arrested, even asking the sheriff to help their lying leader pursue federal stalking charges for blogging about weed policy, who also got her husband arrested? Does she destroy everyone she moves through? And why did nobody defend her for 8 months when I criticized her and she freaked out over being criticized for these leadership failures?
Because liars don’t have public defenders.
There is no defense when a judge catches you lying in court. It’s kind of a really big deal.
Honesty and loyalty matter to me when it comes to who speaks on behalf of my marijuana policy concerns.
Maybe not to some. Who knows? Politics has bad actors in it who survive all the time.
But does lying matter to the bar association? If this lady thinks she’s going to law school without her court history of lying to judges being an integrity and ethics objection, she needs to save the school tuition.
Her ongoing attacks, even as late this week, prove she was the aggressor, and not the victim. The full story, which will be told in full in my forthcoming lawsuit, will set her claimed record straight.
She will likely now never be an attorney.
Lying to judges isn’t how you become an attorney.
That’s not my fault. And it’s sad. I never like seeing people cheat themselves out of a future. It’s never good to see.
When I spoke about federal policy concerns in 2025, I was attacked by this discredited, unrelentingly combative, vengeful petty tyrant in courts with strategic lies for 8 months.
I’m done keeping quiet now about a loud mouthed bully who accuses others of what she herself is guilty of.
Peoples lives, thousands of them, are affected by her antics.
Enough, is enough.
A lawsuit is unavoidable so the real truth – not her Facebook lies – can come out for the safety of the public and movement. In the meantime, her not stepping down, and continuing her Facebook attacks, show she has no loyalty to anyone but herself.
Not her arrested husband.
Not her kids when they’re in trouble for breaking the law with police, nothing.
She’s a bad parent, a bad COO, and a bad political operative.
And a liar, with intent. Not misunderstandings in good faith. A dishonest train wreck.
And she’s also largely a nobody these days in politics, no matter how hard she claims otherwise.
And it’s time for the patients and the public to keep her from hurting people further, as her actions are negatively impacting medical marijuana advocates – and the 18,000 patients who need their credibility to be maxed – at the Capitol in Pierre.
Stop this…please. I’m actually begging you guys to wrap this up and do as the judge said and get her to move on and straighten up how she represents the marijuana issue.
On May 31, Melissa stated publicly that she didn’t want “some genius” filing petitions with the DOH. That’s why she is still attacking me in court for blogging. Here’s her statement from this group post at this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263613037470637/posts/2432815280550401/
People with finances on the line or career reputations don’t want liars hiding their dirty past and struggles while claiming to be super powerful. People who want to help patients, not get dragged into “win/lose” political fights, don’t want liars on their team who can’t let things go.
And Republicans don’t want Democrats, switching parties as liars to attack Republicans, in the Republican Party.
Anyone following Mentele risks their political career. Good luck with the liar, who lies to judges, with a straight face, and anyone’s trust in her.
You’re gonna need it.
Also, Mentele filed a false police report against me alleging I hacked the government computers to find her husbands arrest case. Actually, I just emailed the Hanson County clerk of court:
So Melissa’s defamatory claim I committed a federal crime to hack government computers was a malicious falsity she used to paint me in a false light. This is one of dozens of lies she told police to paint me in a bad light. Here is my rebuttal for laymen:
SDCL Chapter 1-27 (the main public records/open government law) does not apply to records and documents of the Unified Judicial System (UJS/courts). Court records access is governed by SDCL Chapter 15-15A (Unified Judicial System Court Records Rule).
Under 15-15A, most adult criminal cases (from 1989 forward) and civil cases (from 2003 forward) are publicly accessible unless specifically sealed, restricted by statute/rule/case law, or containing excluded information (e.g., certain personal identifiers, juvenile matters, or information declared confidential).
• Records that are sealed by court order or declared confidential are generally not public.
• However, the official custodian (here, the Hanson County Clerk of Courts) released the PDFs to WeedPress in response to a records request. This is significant evidence that the clerk treated them as releasable at the time.
2. Marsy’s Law (SD Const. Art. VI, § 29, as amended)
This gives crime victims rights to privacy, dignity, fairness, and to be free from intimidation/harassment. It includes provisions allowing victims to request that certain information not be disclosed if it could be used to locate/harass them or reveal confidential/privileged info.
• It primarily applies in criminal proceedings.
• Courts have interpreted and broadened it in some criminal contexts (e.g., victim privacy in discovery), but its extension to civil TPO hearings or to broadly prohibit publication of records from another county’s cases is not straightforward. The judge in the Sioux Falls hearing explicitly noted the difference between criminal and civil law and questioned authority to invoke it in civil court.
• It does not automatically convert public court records into unpublishable material or create a blanket private right to suppress journalistic or research use of lawfully obtained records.
3. HIPAA
HIPAA regulates covered entities (healthcare providers, plans, clearinghouses) and their handling of Protected Health Information (PHI). It does not apply to court records, clerks releasing docket information, or publishers discussing/publishing information that appears in public court filings.
Probation/monitoring (“24/7”) details in a criminal case docket or related filings are not shielded from publication by HIPAA. Petitioner’s HIPAA argument on this point appears to be a significant overreach or misunderstanding. Court records can contain sensitive information; once filed and (if) public, publication is governed by access rules and First Amendment principles, not HIPAA.
4. “Commercial Purpose” and Publication Restrictions
South Dakota’s general open records law has limited restrictions on use of records after access (some agencies may charge higher fees for commercial/bulk use, but this is about access costs, not post-publication bans). There is no broad statutory prohibition on publishing court records obtained via official request for journalistic, research, policy analysis, or advocacy purposes.
My team’s WeedPress.org work since 2009 (policy analysis, statutory interpretation, transparency/accountability in areas like cannabis enforcement, government records) aligns with protected speech on matters of public concern. Even if there is advertising, subscriptions, or other revenue, this does not automatically convert it into unprotected “commercial” activity that voids publication rights. U.S. Supreme Court precedents (applied analogously in state courts) generally protect publication of information lawfully obtained from official sources, even if the original release had issues (see principles from cases like Florida Star v. B.J.F.).
I didn’t hack the system.
Mentele tried and failed to hack the truth.
That’s now everyone’s problem.
Not fun to report, either.
Analysis of Petitioner’s Claims — Where WeedPress, Researchers Have Grounds to Disagree
• Claim 1: WeedPress cannot publish court records at all / for commercial purpose: Weak. Court records are presumptively public unless sealed. WeedPress obtained them from the official clerk via a documented request. Publication of lawfully obtained public-record information is generally protected speech. “Commercial purpose” does not appear to be a disqualifier here under SD law for this type of use.
• Claim 2: HIPAA violation for the “24/7” / monitoring info: Very weak. HIPAA does not reach court dockets or publication of them.
• Claim 3: Sealed Marsy’s Law record released by clerical error: This is the strongest part of her argument factually. If a document was under a valid, active seal order and the clerk erred in releasing it, that is a problem for the clerk/court to address (as the hearing judge noted — handle it in the appropriate county). However, a clerical error by the custodian does not automatically make my receipt and publication unlawful, especially if WeedPress had no reason to know it was sealed and the material relates to legitimate public-interest reporting. The proper fix is usually for the court to enforce its seal order against further dissemination if warranted, not necessarily to punish the recipient/publisher.
• Claim 4: Harassment / intimidation via publication in the TPO context: This is contextual and factual, not purely legal. Courts look at the overall pattern, intent, and effect (does it cause reasonable fear of harm?). Publishing critical articles, linking public records, or filing complaints/petitions as part of advocacy or opposition research is often protected.
WeedPress: The Paper Trail 
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