Posted on 09/08/2016 4:39:42 AM PDT by Nextrush
A Madras bison rancher who has had disputes with the Bureau of Land Management was seated in the jury box Wednesday besides an outdoor enthusiast and birdwatcher who called Malheur National Wildlife Refuge "a very special place" and couldn't understand why anyone would trespass there.
Thus began jury selection in the federal conspiracy prosecution stemming from the 41-day occupation of the federal wildlife sanctuary in Harney County. Ammon Bundy and six other defendants have pleaded not guilty.....
On Wednesday, three people were excused for cause: the man who said he'd be hesitant to follow the law if he disagreed with it, the birdwatcher who said he was 'very angry' when he first learned of the refuge takeover and admitted he can't say the anger has subsided; and the retired woman who called the refuge an 'ill-conceived plan' involving 'extremists,' and who when asked if she could weigh the facts in the case without her personal ideas influencing her responded, "I think I can.".....
Defendant Kenneth Medenbach, who is out of custody on pretrial release, sat in the back of the courtroom Wednesday beside his standby lawyer, wearing a distinct black dress shirt that had white writing woven into the fabric on the front and back, with the words 'U.S. Constitution" written down one arm and 'Bill of Rights' down the other.
The back of his shirt read, 'Jury Rights--'The pages of history shine on instances of the jury's exercise of its prerogative to disregard the instructions of the judge...'.........
But by late Wednesday afternoon, after learning of the shirt, the judge sent Medenbach an email informing him that he woulc not wear it.....
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Some of the jurors that have been kept in the jury pool should’ve been dropped and some that were let go should’ve been kept. This is looking pretty lopsided.
Of course the judge also believes jury nullification is not legal.
And anyone who believes jury nullification is the last defense of the innocent is automatically eliminated from the jury “for cause”; how convenient.
Yes, we do not have impartial jurors anymore, just black robed dictators and oligarchs.
The time has to come where jurors must exercise their rights of supremacy over bad laws and judges.
Racism was a good excuse for ‘jury nullification’ in Los Angeles 20 years ago and that case was never retried in spite of it.
The perp is doing time in Vegas for another crime, at least.
Ammon Bundy and friends came to Oregon in support of ranchers sent to federal prison a second time because they were deemed ‘terrorists’ for lighting a backfire to protect their property.
The Feds have given the small farmers and ranchers out West “Jim Crow” status.
Its hard to expect anything resembling justice in this case, but who knows but God.
“one man who answered on his questionnaire that he believed that a crime had been committed at the refuge”
“she at first was “a little angry’’ about what happened at the refuge... “I believe it’s wrong for these defendants to take over a public space. I believe they broke the law.””
Two people kept on the jury pool. Even a non-lawyer knows these two are not supposed to be eligible. They have already made a decision about the case.
“The judge asked if anyone was a member of the Mormon church, to which several of the defendants belong, and one of 31 people said yes. She queried them about their exposure and familiarity with what occurred at the refuge this past winter, as well as their thoughts about the First and Second Amendments.”
I find this very interesting. What does being a Mormon have to do with anything?
Is this some kind of judge’s conspiracy theory?
Fully Informed Jury Association
http://fija.org/
Fully Informed Jury Association
http://fija.org/
Fully Informed Jury Association
http://fija.org/
I think the phrase “jury nullification” is a pejorative. I believe that jurors have the power to not only judge the facts, but that they must also judge the law. Otherwise a State could pass a law that made it a felony to breathe and the only role of the juror would be to evaluate the facts presented at trial. Was the defendant breathing or not? Well then guilty.
That of course is absurd. So jurors who cannot or will not judge the law do in that case is they choose to redefine or ignore the facts. In essence they construct an intellectual lie. Whatever that defendant was doing, it wasn’t “breathing”.
My position when in voir dire is this: My obligation is to fairly hear the evidence and the law in the case. However should I judge that the conduct of the government or the law under which the defendant was charged is clearly contrary to the Constitution, then I am obligated to vote to acquit. I do advocate that the role of the jury at trial is to vote to convict someone who clearly committed a crime and to vote to acquit everyone else. I would rather make a mistake and free a person who is technically guilty than to convict any person who is innocent.
Just because the State defines some action as a “crime” does not make it so, otherwise the State can free itself of the important constraints placed on it by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
When members of the jury pool understand their powers and their rights as jurors, the jury in essence becomes a counterbalance to excesses and tyrannies of the three branches of government. This is because generally no person can be convicted of a felony without first being judged by the grand jury for the indictment and then by the petty jury at the trial. It only takes a few no votes to thwart government in these circumstances. And sometimes government needs to be thwarted.
Clintons surrendering US land to Russians, Uranium for speaking fees!
It’s a shame this isn’t getting more attention.
We should honor responsible juries like the kind you describe above, the travesty 20 years ago was the result of a dysfunctional belief system in jurors that was willing to exonerate murder.
In Oregon, the Feds already murdered a protestor, LaVoy Finicum and when will they face justice?????????
Cronyism and corruption are our political system.
Obama stopped the Keystone XL pipeline to move North Dakota oil to Texas.
Then he turns around and allows the Dakota Access Pipeline to take it to Illinois.
The Right and Left get all worked up about big differences between Republicans and Democrats when there are none.
The Democrats pretend to be “Progressive” and the Republicans “Conservative” but in the end they’re both selling themselves to the forces of big banking and big business.
Nigel Farage spoke at the Trump rally about the ‘corporatists’ versus ‘the decent people’.
Get angry about Hillary, vote Trump but Pence and 95 percent pus of the GOP candidates for Congress are nothing but crony capitalists for sale to big money.
If this story you link to is being pedaled by who want you to vote for RINO Republicans by blaming Hillary for Oregon, I would tell them to buzz off.
Vote for Trump, but be ready to do something other than politics and I don’t put violence on that list to change things in this country.
Like at Waco, the government always gives itself a pass.
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