Monday, November 02, 2009

JURY NULLIFICATION

On the surface, this story seems to defy logic.  From the Albany Times Union:

Man who threw feces in CA courtroom gets 31 years

SAN DIEGO -- A man who sneaked a bag of his feces into a San Diego courtroom during his home-invasion robbery trial, smeared it on his lawyer and threw it at jurors has been sentenced to 31 years in prison.
    
Superior Court Judge Frank Brown on Monday sentenced Weusi McGowan for robbery, burglary and two assault charges stemming from the feces-flinging incident during his January trial.

McGowan, who attorneys say suffers from mental illness, had asked for a mistrial because he believed jurors had seen him in restraints when he entered the courtroom.

OK, upon closer examination... this still defies logic.  I don't care how prejudiced a jury is after seeing a defendant in restraints, it can't compare to how they'll react to having poop thrown at them.  You don't have to be Johnnie Frickin' Cochran to figure that out.

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