Almost two weeks ago Pete and I (Ademo) were found not guilty of Felony Wiretaping in Greenfield, MA (I was also found not guilty of resisting arrest). After the trial Talley.TV personnel made their way to the parking lot of the courthouse, their goal? To interview as many jurors as possible in order to get a better understanding of what happened after the case was left in their hands.
That’s when Talley.TV and company came across Darcy Merchant (not sure of correct spelling), juror in our trial, who agreed to be interview for 5 mins in return for $20. Below is that interview, listen to how close the jury was to caging Pete and I.
Pete and I owe Mr. Merchant for his heroic stance during the deliberations, at one point he told the other five juror’s, “I’m not sending these guys to jail, so we can sit here all day.” What Mr. Merchant did here was basically Jury Nullification, he heard the facts, examined the evidence and though he could have been confused on the actual law – thanks to the DA who did his best to cage us – he decided that no matter what he personally wasn’t going to cage us. I’m unsure what exactly made him come to that conclusion maybe he said it best, “Just because you have a badge, doesn’t mean I have to believe what you say.” Exactly and thank you Mr. Merchant.
I’d also like to thank Jason Talley, of the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund, and all the other amazing supporters for us (and our combined rights), it’s why I’m proud to call the Shire my home. Will you move here too?
I wouldn’t call it jury nullification.The juror talked about the mens rea requirement in the statue and said they concluded that the state could not prove you guys did it willfully. That is exactly why we have a requirement that a person have a certain mental state for the jury to convict. Juries should never convict anyone who does not have a culpable state of mind. The degradation of mens rea requirements in criminal statutes has been a real problem. Fortunately this jury got it right.
Someday a jury will get it wrong, and this case would make for a great appeal on first amendment grounds
Congrats guys, I don’t remember hearing about the phone being the reason you guys were charged with wiretapping, but Mr Merchant got it right, you didnt willfully do it.
Every Jury should have a Mr Merchant on it!
Great work guys. Keep up the great work.
I don’t see how this was nullification at all guys. You weren’t guilty of anything as far as I know. Nullification is when you let someone guilty go because the law suks!
Any how glad you prevailed!