New court date set as defense moves to toss ‘scarecrow’ case

Legal motions are piling up in the case against a Acton man accused of placing “scarecrows” around town targeting schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter. 

John Grace is due back in court next month. Judge Lynn Brendemuehl hasn’t ruled on a prosecution request for Grace’s iPhone passcode. Grace’s attorney is now asking Brendemuehl to dismiss the case.

Prosecutors say Grace assembled signs with phrases including “Fire liar Hunter” and “The hatchet for Hunter.” 

Hunter was afraid, the prosecution said in a legal filing, and she told officials that she felt “there was an element of violence” to the “hatchet” phrasing. 

Police arrested Grace in November. Prosecutors charged him with violating a harassment prevention order that Hunter had secured earlier in 2025.

Grace has a history of clashes with school officials. A jury acquitted him in 2024 of threatening to commit a crime, and attorney George King argued in Acton District Court during his client’s latest appearance that “anything he’s said and done” is protected free speech.

Grace’s “rights are being violated,” King said. “This really does need to be addressed.”

King cited state Supreme Judicial Court cases in his recent motion to dismiss that he said support his claims.

Investigators seized Grace’s phone the day they arrested him. Prosecutors asked the court to force Grace to give them his PIN, but King told Brendemuehl that he still hadn’t received a copy of the warrant officers used to search his client’s house as of February 11. 

Brendemuehl set March 4 as Grace’s next court date. She said she’d discuss the motion to dismiss, the passcode request, and any other motions then.