Judge OKs Prosecutor's Purple Heart Pin at DUI Trial
A judge in Washington state overruled a defense lawyer’s objection to a prosecutor’s Purple Heart lapel pin at a DUI trial last week, saying that the prosecutor, who is an Iraq war veteran, was “already dressed” and would not be required to remove it.
Defense attorney Garth Dano, of Moses Lake, said in pretrial motions that he didn’t intend the objection to the pin as a personal attack on prosecutor Angus Lee. However, he says it is inappropriate for Lee to wear the pin at trial because it encourages jurors to hold him in higher esteem as a wounded war veteran, reports the Columbia Basin Herald.
Lee said he doubted that the “itty-bitty medal” made any difference in his trial results, and said he wore it in honor of fellow service members who are deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also “pointed out that Dano wears a bracelet with the initials ‘WWJD’ (what would Jesus do?),” and said he doesn’t object to the bracelet, the newspaper reports.
There’s no word on the result of the DUI trial before Grant County District Judge Richard Fitterer.
