aGameOfThrones
08-01-2011, 11:48 AM
Note: delete if it has already been posted.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-07-26/news/os-casey-anthony-free-speech-trial-20110726_1_orange-and-osceola-courthouses-jury-pamphlets-julian-heicklen
Judge Perry sends man with pamphlets to jail
Perry sentenced Schmidter, 64, to roughly five months in the Orange County Jail -- 141 days for violating his first order, regarding jury pamphlets, and 151 days for his second order, regarding free-speech zones. The sentences are concurrent. Perry also handed him a $250 fine for each violation.
Schmidter's attorney Adam H. Sudbury promised an appeal and assured that this particular conflict between free speech rights and the integrity of the jury system will not end with Perry's ruling Tuesday.
"I think it's totally absurd to put someone in jail for 151 days for passing out a leaflet," Sudbury said after his client was sentenced and escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs. "Mr. Schmidter's rights are not going to be determined here in the Ninth Circuit."
For nearly a year, Schmidter had been handing out the pamphlets at the courthouse. He advised jurors they may vote their conscience, they cannot be forced to obey a "juror's oath" and they have the right to "hang" a jury if they don't agree with others on the panel.
Because of such actions, Judge Perry signed court orders at the start of the year blocking the distribution of pamphlets meant to influence jurors outside the Orange and Osceola courthouses.
Then, in anticipation of demonstrations for the Casey Anthony trial, Perry signed another order establishing the free speech zones in early May.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Bill Vose prosecuted the case and told Perry Schmidter may have good intentions but nonetheless had "crossed the line" and deliberately violated the court's orders.
"The defendant is guilty of criminal contempt beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt," Vose said.
Perry again voiced his concerns about the need to balance free speech rights with the court's obligation to seat impartial juries
He told Schmidter, "If we let people do what they want to do and ignore the laws, it would be utter chaos. To come in and ask jurors to disregard laws…is not what this country is based upon."
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-07-26/news/os-casey-anthony-free-speech-trial-20110726_1_orange-and-osceola-courthouses-jury-pamphlets-julian-heicklen
Judge Perry sends man with pamphlets to jail
Perry sentenced Schmidter, 64, to roughly five months in the Orange County Jail -- 141 days for violating his first order, regarding jury pamphlets, and 151 days for his second order, regarding free-speech zones. The sentences are concurrent. Perry also handed him a $250 fine for each violation.
Schmidter's attorney Adam H. Sudbury promised an appeal and assured that this particular conflict between free speech rights and the integrity of the jury system will not end with Perry's ruling Tuesday.
"I think it's totally absurd to put someone in jail for 151 days for passing out a leaflet," Sudbury said after his client was sentenced and escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs. "Mr. Schmidter's rights are not going to be determined here in the Ninth Circuit."
For nearly a year, Schmidter had been handing out the pamphlets at the courthouse. He advised jurors they may vote their conscience, they cannot be forced to obey a "juror's oath" and they have the right to "hang" a jury if they don't agree with others on the panel.
Because of such actions, Judge Perry signed court orders at the start of the year blocking the distribution of pamphlets meant to influence jurors outside the Orange and Osceola courthouses.
Then, in anticipation of demonstrations for the Casey Anthony trial, Perry signed another order establishing the free speech zones in early May.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Bill Vose prosecuted the case and told Perry Schmidter may have good intentions but nonetheless had "crossed the line" and deliberately violated the court's orders.
"The defendant is guilty of criminal contempt beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt," Vose said.
Perry again voiced his concerns about the need to balance free speech rights with the court's obligation to seat impartial juries
He told Schmidter, "If we let people do what they want to do and ignore the laws, it would be utter chaos. To come in and ask jurors to disregard laws…is not what this country is based upon."