Judge tosses out jury's conviction of woman arrested after laughing at Jeff Sessions hearing

[bigtree]

Ryan J. Reilly? @ryanjreilly 21m21 minutes ago
BREAKING: judge tosses jury's conviction of woman arrested after laughing at Jeff Sessions hearing

WASHINGTON ― A D.C. judge has tossed out a jury’s conviction of a protester who laughed during Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Senate confirmation hearing, finding on Friday that the government had made improper arguments during the trial.

Desiree Fairooz, 61, who was associated with the group Code Pink, had been convicted of disorderly and disruptive conduct and demonstrating inside the Capitol. But Chief Judge Robert E. Morin of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia tossed out the guilty verdict because the government had argued that the laugh in and of itself was enough to warrant a guilty verdict.

Morin said it was “disconcerting” that the government made the case in closing arguments that the laughter in and of itself was sufficient.

“The court is concerned about the government’s theory,” Morin said. He said the laughter “would not be sufficient” to submit the case to the jury, and said the government hadn’t made clear before the trial that it intended to make that argument.


read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/protester-laughed-jeff-sessions-sentenced_us_5967de92e4b0d6341fe7a9e2?4r

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. Yes!

Sanity still prevails. It should never have gotten even this far, though and should have been dismissed from the get-go.

[Jimbo101]

2. GOOD !

[ProudProgressiveNow]

3. K&R nt

[gratuitous]

4. Jeff Sessions' Justice Department fumbles another prosecution

Of course, this one was pretty stupid so maybe it shouldn't really count against him, although someone in the Justice Department thought it was a case worth pursuing.

[MagickMuffin]

5. Thank goodness we have some sane Judges

“The court is concerned about the government’s theory,” Morin said. He said the laughter “would not be sufficient” to submit the case to the jury, and said the government hadn’t made clear before the trial that it intended to make that argument.


So, the DOJ didn't include what argument they were going to use. Wonkers!

[Yonnie3]

6. Unfortunately it is not a complete victory.

"Judge Morin set a new trial date for September 1"

[obamanut2012]

7. It is appalling the jury found for conviction

wtf