Advocacy group sues Denver over courthouse leafleting arrests
A nonprofit advocacy group is suing the city and county of Denver, Colorado, over the arrest last month of two individuals on felony charges as they were distributing literature about jury service at the area’s main criminal courthouse.
At issue are efforts by the Fully Informed Jury Association and others to make sure potential jurors are informed of their right to refuse to convict a defendant, even if they believe he or she is guilty. The so-called jury nullification option to follow their conscience instead of the law ordinarily is not explained to jurors in many jurisdictions, the advocacy group explains on its website.
The federal civil rights suit filed by the Fully Informed Jury Association seeks a court order allowing individuals to distribute jury nullification literature outside the criminal courthouse in Denver, according to Courthouse News and the Denver Post.
Criminally charged with multiple counts of jury tampering, Eric Brandt and Mark Iannicelli are accused by the district attorney’s office of illegally handing out jury nullification material last month to jury pool members from a booth outside the Lindsay-Flanigan Courthouse in Denver, KUSA reported earlier. Another KUSA story provides additional details.
The two were represented at a Wednesday hearing by attorney David Lane, who told Denver County Magistrate Judge Kate Boland on Wednesday that the criminal case merits a “classic First Amendment” defense.
His clients “were not targeting any specific person,” Lane said. “They were not targeting any specific case. They were not targeting any specific ideology. People going into the building were being given pamphlets by Mr. Iannicelli and Mr. Brandt. That is the definition of First Amendment protected free speech.”
Lane also represents the Fully Informed Jury Association in its civil suit.
Brandt and Iannicelli were “chilled” by their arrests from participating in the civil suit, the advocacy group says. Other individuals are named as co-plaintiffs who allegedly want to distribute jury nullification information at the courthouse.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Nonprofit Considers Suit re Judge’s Ban on Jury ‘Education’ Material Outside Courthouses”
ABAJournal.com: “Prosecutor Calls Courthouse Pamphleteer’s Message a ‘Significant Threat’ in Jury Nullification Case”
ABAJournal.com: “Federal Judge Tosses Jury Tampering Charge Against Nullification Advocate”
ABAJournal.com: “Is it dangerous to tell jurors about nullification? New Hampshire bill would make it mandatory”
