Caretaker Faces Jury Tampering Charges

Isobel Oxx’s legal problems show no sign of ceasing.

First, the militia-minded former caretaker of the terminally ill lost her Westlake Lake house to foreclosure last September. Although the patients left in December, Oxx remains. The mortgage holder, Texas Commerce Bank, could evict her as early as this month.

Now she faces charges that she tried to tamper with a federal jury. Because the charge is a misdemeanor, she faces a sentence no greater than one year in prison.

Oxx was allegedly seen nine months ago attempting to pass anti-government literature to a federal jury hearing the case against Montana “freemen” follower M. Elizabeth Broderick, a mentor of sorts to Oxx. Broderick has since been convicted of passing bogus checks and is serving a 16-year sentence in a federal penitentiary.

Oxx, who was arraigned Monday, has said that she admires Broderick because her goal is to “root out the bankers that are stripping America blind.” She stands accused of passing leaflets to three or four Broderick jurors in an elevator on the day of opening statements.

Apprised that an unknown woman had given literature to jurors, U.S. District Court Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian vowed in court: “I’m going to find out who the woman was that was passing out this [pamphlet] and have her arrested” for obstruction of justice, according to news reports.

When authorities identified Oxx as having distributed the leaflets, Tevrizian held a contempt-of-court proceeding Sept. 9 during which she reportedly displayed a flag and made a rambling statement. Tevrizian dropped the contempt-of-court charge but sent the case to the U.S. Attorney’s office for prosecution.

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said he couldn’t comment “on any issue of perceived delay” in bringing Oxx to trial.

On the same day that Oxx allegedly tried to push pamphlets on the Broderick jury, Aug. 28, Texas Commerce Bank published a notice of foreclosure on her Leeward Circle home. Last month, a Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled that the bank has the right to gain possession of her home.

Eviction proceedings, however, have been postponed because Oxx filed bankruptcy documents last week.