TX: Grisham (open carry) Case Shows Need for Jury Education

Gun Watch ^ | 4 November, 2013 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The recent mistrial in the case of U.S. Army Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham shows the lack of education of the Bell County jurors.

The mistrial occurred because only one juror of the six understood his rights and responsibilities as a juror.    Initially, according to a member of the jury,  L. J. Cotterill, the jury agreed:

“we all agreed that the charge itself and the case itself was garbage. This entire matter should have been resolved by two grown men acting like grown men apologizing for their part in a bad situation and buying each other a beer and then going to a range together.”

 The problem was that the jury did not know their rights and power to find "not guilty" if justice demanded it, and to ignore a judges instructions.  The ability to ignore a judge's instructions is one of the most important parts of jury duty.  It derives directly form English common law and the landmark case of  Peter Zenger in 1734.   

If a jury is bound to follow the judges instructions, they become, in effect, nothing more than government employees, instead of free people with a duty to hold the government as well as citizens accountable.

Jurors were commonly told of their power to nullify unjust law until 1895, when the Supreme Court ruled that a jury need not be told of their right to judge the law.   Judges have become more and more hostile toward juries power to nullify since that time, to the point that defense counsels are forbidden from telling juries that they have the power.   

To correct this imbalance in the law, some states are considering requiring that juries be instructed about their powers as a jury.  Georgia is considering such a law in 2013.

In the Grisham case, the  jury was told that they had no ability to consider anything other than what  the judge instructed:

“If I had been allowed to factor in self-defense,” Cotterill said, “This would have probably been a two-minute deliberation and we all would have went ‘not guilty.’”

The problem is, he explained, all the jury was allowed to consider was criminal negligence using the definition that had been provided. The jury was not allowed to factor in circumstance or anything else – it was just did this thing happen? All evidence considered had to be from witness statements.

After 12 hours of arguing “not guilty,” Cotterill said he had to admit that Grisham did indeed commit the acts. The jury, he said, was not there to decide if there were mitigating circumstances.

It was only because one juror was not cowed by the judge that Grisham was not found guilty, even though all the jurors believed that a finding of guilty was uncalled for.

The case shows that second amendment supporters have a lot of education to accomplish so that those who support the second amendment understand the power of the jury box.  It is a way to prevent injustice without resorting to armed resistance.    All of the five jurors who voted to find Grisham guilty claimed to be second amendment supporters.   The one brave and stubborn juror who held his ground against the judge and five fellow jurors was the only one who did not claim to be "pro gun".

The jury composition included corrections officer Cotterill, a law enforcement officer and a Marine. He said all but one – the individual who voted “not guilty” – were pro-gun.

Everyone wants to avoid bloodshed to restore the constitutional limits on government that have been chipped away during the last hundred plus years.  Using the jury box to limit government excesses is a strong tool in our kit.

Clearly, the jurors in Bell County, Texas, are desperately in need of education.

Link to Fully Informed Jury Association

©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Jury nullification is one of the most important parts of citizenship. I was taught about it in high school, but I do not think students are educated about it any more.

Judges like the power that they have, and are often very hostile to the concept of jury nullification.

[Travis McGee]

I sure wish more Americans understood this!

Judges become part of the organs of tyranny when they “order” juries to find this or that.

[angelsonmyside]

bump

[Dead Corpse]

How many of us are weeded out during jury selection though?

[Sans-Culotte]

Bump

[Lurker]

The only authority a judge has over a juror is to order them to show up.

[Lurker]

Do what I’ve done. Lie during voire dire.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Well, I certainly was, at a federal jury selection last year. As soon as I made it clear that I knew of jurors’ right to nullify, and that I was not willing to give up that right, I was excused immediately.

[Dead Corpse]

That’s my plan. Haven’t been called in a while.

[Dead Corpse]

I’ve heard that a number of times.

To me, it still sounds a lot like jury tampering by stacking the deck.

[deport]

Apparently this is scheduled for trial again on Nov. 18, 2013 according the article at Watchdog.com.

http://watchdogwire.com/texas/2013/10/23/juror-speaks-to-dontcomply-com-on-bell-county-prosecution-of-grisham-case/

[RedMDer]

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[muir_redwoods]

They’re called judges’ instructions, not judges’ orders. There’s a reason for that.

[marktwain]

Yes there is. Too bad most jurors do not know it.

[lapsus calami]

 

“Who is on the jury will decide the verdict. But if the defense uses the same arguments, it will probably be a mistrial again. And if that judge actually made some of the comments I’ve heard he made about Mr. Grisham and his wife, I seriously question if he’s fit to be the judge again,” Coterrill said.

 

Full-blown case of judicial rot going on in the county, leaving the door open for a smackdown from a higher court - full story below -

 

 

Grisham juror decries his ‘guilty’ vote

Temple Daily Telegram

October 27, 2013

by Deborah McKeon

 

The misdemeanor trial of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Christopher Grisham was “a waste of public resources,” said one of the jurors who voted to convict Grisham.

 

The trial ended Oct. 18 with a mistrial when the six-person jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict about Grisham’s guilt or innocence. A retrial is scheduled to start Nov. 18.

 

Grisham is charged with interfering with the duties of a peace officer after a March 16 arrest by Temple Police Officer Steve Ermis. Grisham was hiking with his son to fulfill a 10-mile Boy Scout merit badge requirement and took with him his AR-15 rifle and a concealed handgun for which he had a permit. Grisham said the weapons were for protection from wild animals seen in the area.

 

Ermis’ trial testimony was that he tried to take Grisham’s rifle because he was afraid for his safety and first charged him with resisting arrest. That charge was later changed to interfering with the duties of a peace office after Sgt. Thomas Menix, one of the responding officers, saw the dash-cam video and didn’t believe the charge was accurate.

 

Grisham turned down two plea bargain offers from the county attorney’s office because he said he had done nothing wrong.

 

Juror Larry Coterrill said Thursday he voted “guilty,” although he had reservations.

 

“I was shocked I was picked for the jury since I’m a corrections officer. Why did they put me in that position?” Coterrill said during a phone interview on Thursday. “In fact, that was the question we all asked after they closed the door on us for deliberations, considering the other jurors were a retired Marine, a police officer, a retired city of Temple employee and two teachers.”

 

Coterrill said he normally makes assumptions about people and had done so after hearing in passing about Grisham’s arrest in April.

 

“But as I watched the police dash-cam video during the trial, my first thought was that things didn’t go properly and that Grisham didn’t do anything improper or illegal,” he said. “I saw the officer try to take his weapon without warning and things escalated quickly after that. My opinion changed. I believed Grisham was not guilty because of mitigating circumstances and that the entire situation wasn’t his doing.”

 

Coterrill said he expected a quick verdict, but the process “drug out.” The jury was immediately split 3-3, he said.

 

During the first 12 of the 16 hours the jury was in deliberation, Coterrill supported a “not guilty” verdict, he said, mainly because of the gray areas of the law’s definition for criminal negligence.

 

“There’s a lot of room for interpretation,” he said.

 

“But then we were told we couldn’t consider mitigating circumstances. We could only determine if he had done the things he was accused of. But he did them in self-defense. He was never told he was detained or that he was being investigated. That jury charge didn’t sit well with my conscience. It wasn’t a good charge,” Coterrill said.

 

The jury charge the attorneys agreed on Tuesday night was changed Wednesday morning, leaving out the portion about self-defense, Grisham’s attorney Blue Rannefeld said.

 

Following an impromptu meeting with the defense attorneys and Judge Neel Richardson, Rannefeld told the courtroom audience, “The judge is changing the jury charge. Everyone needs to remain calm no matter what happens.”

 

Richardson overruled Rannefeld’s objection to omitting the portion about self-defense and his motion that the judge disqualify himself.

 

Coterrill said he thought the mitigating circumstances should have been considered, even though “they muddied the waters some.”

 

“Life is very rarely black and white. We couldn’t ask why. We weren’t allowed to even consider why. We were missing a lot of information. But based on what we were allowed to consider, I had to change my vote to guilty.”

 

Coterrill said he doesn’t think Ermis is a bad guy, but he believed Ermis’ actions “were a little over-zealous.”

 

“A round of apologies should have been offered and drinks bought for everyone. This trial was a waste of public resources,” Coterrill said.

 

Coterrill said he expects the next trial will end in a mistrial as well.

 

Bell County Attorney Jim Nichols said on Monday that he and his staff will continue to prosecute Grisham based on the 5 to 1 poll of the jury.

 

Coterrill said five jurors voted “guilty” because Grisham physically did the things he was accused of. But they weren’t allowed to consider a self-defense argument, he said.

 

“And it was in self-defense,” he said.

 

“Who is on the jury will decide the verdict. But if the defense uses the same arguments, it will probably be a mistrial again. And if that judge actually made some of the comments I’ve heard he made about Mr. Grisham and his wife, I seriously question if he’s fit to be the judge again,” Coterrill said.

 

Contact information for the other jurors was not available. Cotterill came forward after he made a statement about the trial in a phone call between him and member of DontComply.com that was recorded and posted on YouTube.

 

[lapsus calami]

MORE

 

“And then he referred to Grisham and his wife in judge’s chambers as yokels, saying he was going to ‘teach them a lesson about being good parents,’” Rannefeld said. “That infers he was planning to use the trial and any judicial rulings to do that.”

 

 

Bell attorney confident of conviction in Grisham case

Temple Daily Telegram

October 22, 2013

by Deborah McKeon

 

BELTON — Despite failing to get a conviction the first time, the Bell County Attorney’s Office will continue to prosecute U.S. Army Master Sgt. Christopher Grisham in a gun-rights case that has gained national attention.

 

The first attempt ended in a mistrial Friday when the six-person jury failed to reach a unanimous decision.

 

Five of the jurors voted to convict Grisham, County Attorney Jim Nichols said Monday.

 

Two of the jurors were connected with law enforcement, defense attorney Blue Rannefeld said — one a police officer and the other a corrections officer.

 

Rannefeld plans to file several motions based on what he perceives as the “highly prejudicial and biased statements Judge Neel Richardson made in the judge’s chambers and in open court,” he said Monday.

 

Rannefeld said he will seek a change of venue because he doesn’t think Grisham can get a fair trial in Bell County.

 

“I also will be filing to have Richardson recused from being the judge in the new trial,” scheduled for Nov. 18, Rannefeld said. “He commented on the weight of my evidence and hurried me along all during the trial while he allowed the prosecution to proceed at their own pace. Richardson also made rulings without allowing my objections a number of times.”

 

“It’s insane that they are wasting county money to continue to try a Class B misdemeanor,” said Larry Keilberg, national director for National Association of Legal Gun Defense, which is funding Grisham’s defense. “This is the most messed-up mess I’ve ever seen in my life.”

 

Grisham is charged with interfering with the duties of a peace officer after his March 16 arrest by Temple Police Officer Steve Ermis while hiking with his son, Chris, on a 10-mile Boy Scout merit badge hike. The elder Grisham carried an AR-15 rifle and a concealed handgun for which he had a permit. He said he needed it for safety purposes since feral hogs, coyotes, a puma and other wild animals were seen in the area.

 

Ermis testified he tried to take the rifle from Grisham because he was afraid for his safety. He said Grisham resisted arrest, which was the original charge. That charge was changed to interfering with the duties of a peace officer after Sgt. Thomas Menix viewed the police dash-cam video.

 

The case drew attention around the country when a cell phone video of the arrest taken by Chris went viral on the Internet. A brief showing of the police dash-cam video appeared on YouTube before being pulled.

 

Richardson placed a gag order on the police dash-cam video during Grisham’s pre-trial hearing.

 

Although a plea bargain was offered to Grisham, he refused to plead guilty, saying he had done nothing wrong.

 

The jury deliberated for 16 hours without reaching a unanimous decision before Richardson declared a mistrial Friday. The 16-hour deliberation is the longest for a misdemeanor trial in Bell County history, Nichols said.

 

Rannefeld decried the fact that the judge changed the jury charge overnight before reading it to the jury on Friday and gave Rannefeld no time for rebuttal.

 

“And then he referred to Grisham and his wife in judge’s chambers as yokels, saying he was going to ‘teach them a lesson about being good parents,’” Rannefeld said. “That infers he was planning to use the trial and any judicial rulings to do that.”

 

Selfdefensefund.com, with Keilberg at its helm, offered to put up $1 million to cover Grisham’s legal expenses.

 

“We will go as many times as they want to go. Let’s play ball!” Keilberg declared during a press conference after the mistrial was announced.

 

[DuncanWaring]

Voire Dire - French for “Jury Stacking”.

—Vin Suprynowicz