Jury Acquits Man Who Wrote On Sidewalk With Chalk

[Demeter]

Source: NPR

Jeffrey Olson faced 13 years in jail for writing on a sidewalk with chalk. But a San Diego jury of two men and 10 women found him not guilty of criminal vandalism. Olson, 40, was charged with 13 counts of vandalism for expressing his opinions on sidewalks outside three Bank of America branches. His messages... included:

— "No Thanks, Big Banks"

— "Shame on Bank of America"

"There's no evidence that he wrote anything obscene. His messages could be easily erased. And they don't seem to have upset many, if any, people." The jury, which began deliberations Friday, took less than five hours to reach its verdict.

"I'm really relieved," Olson said. "It's been an incredibly stressful situation. It feels really good to know that the people of San Diego as represented by the jury are on my side."...Olson's remarks to the newspaper last week during a courtroom break that the trial was "an unconstitutional overreach and a total waste of taxpayer money" resulted in a gag order against him and others involved in the case.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/07/01/197721394/jury-acquits-man-who-wrote-on-sidewalk-with-chalk?ft=1&f=1001

---

Is it fascism, yet? Not quite...talk about prosecutorial abuse and judicial overreach! And wasting taxpayer money.

[Warpy]

1. Good, I honestly thought he'd get acquitted by a jury

of people with the basic good sense to be able to get through a day.

After all, chalk only lasts until you hit it with a broom or until the next rainy day.

His remarks to the press were 100% accurate and the jury apparently agreed with them.

[Incitatus]

2. Good outcome, but less than 5 hours?

Should have been less than 5 seconds.

[niyad]

3. it took them FIVE HOURS???

[Aristus]

5. It's possible they held out long enough to enjoy lunch

courtesy of the county.

It's been known to happen.

[niyad]

24. it better have been lunch from some really upscale place.

[truebrit71]

21. Right?

I think as stated below they were just waiting for a free lunch...

[Dr. Strange]

25. In their defense...

they couldn't stop laughing at how stupid the prosecutor was.

[niyad]

27. hadn't thought about that

[SoapBox]

4. YES!

and too bad they couldn't haul in the police for wasting time and taxpayer dollars.

[bravenak]

6. Why the heck did it take so long?

It was a good decision to take it to trial.

[happyslug]

9. Jurys want to convict. that is why prosecutors love them

Sorry, Jury members are known to want to convict, yes the law says they must assume the defendant innocent, but how much a jury gives a defendant that assumption is up to each jury.

I am sorry, someone on that jury wanted to convict this guy, just because the Police arrested him. At least one person on the jury (and it could be all of the other 11) wanted to rule him not guilty but it took them five hours to convince that one person (or even 11 people, we do not know) that it was stupid to do so.

Sorry, someone on that jury wanted either to rule him Guilty OR wanted to go over all of the evidence before he or she voted NOT Guilty. Either way explains the ruling in this case by the jury.

Now my favorite story of a Jury taking a long time to come to a verdict involved a man who was having sex with another man's wife. The Husband came home and pulled a gun and opened fire. The Defendant pulled his and fired and killed the husband. At trial the Defendant claimed self defense and all the evidence shown it was self defense. IT went to the Jury and everyone expected a quick verdict. Five to Six hours later even the Judge was wondering why it was taking so long, so he walked over to the Jury room and knocked and then entered and asked the members of the Jury why was it taking so long to rule on the case. The Jury told him, they decided the Defendant was innocent on the grounds of self defense in the first 15 minutes, but any man who fooled around with another man's wife in his house should know better and they decided to stay out to teach him a lesson.

[bravenak]

11. Wow that was something.

I cn understand wanting to make someone sweat when they killed someone. I'm just glad they let him go.

[DWinNJ]

7. This is a question of proportion

I think there are cases where there should be penalties, however, if you’re talking more than days or hours of community service, you’re talking crazy.

[Demeter]

8. This isn't one of them

by any stretch of the imagination or the law.

[niyad]

23. you are kidding, yes? you forgot the sarcasm thingy??? DAYS OR HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

for WASHABLE CHALK????? PLEASE tell me you are kidding.

[rocktivity]

10. CUE THE VONAGE THEME!

And pass the chalk!




rocktivity

[laserhaas]

13. Okay rocktivity - I'm gonna have to Block You

unless you give me the Html Code to your moving Smilies

[rocktivity]

14. Just click on the smilies button when you do a post.

Though I do have some "exclusives" on my personal server.


rocktivity

[laserhaas]

12. I would have liked to see the jury find him guilty

Of Pointing out Bad Faith

and the Judge sentencing him

to do it - over and over - Again!

[Ash_F]

15. Now it is time to campaign against that DA.

So this may never happen again. Always follow up!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

16. And the judge who did his best to obtain a conviction. He's up for re-election in 2014. n/t

[Ash_F]

17. That's right.

San Diego can outrage all it wants, but if the people want change, they need to show up at the polls.

[tclambert]

18. There are a lot of 10-year-old girls who need to be arrested in my neighborhood!

Who cares how you feel about your best friends? You're vandalizing our sidewalks. And all this hopscotch nonsense. It's probably some sort of gang code.

[niyad]

22. geez, I didn't even think about that!! my young neighbor had her birthday party last weekend,

and the entire sidewalk, driveways, and rocks were FILLED with chalk drawings and words. wow!! good thing the police never came by!!

[Sunlei]

19. I want a T-shirt with chalk- 'Shame on bank of America' to help pay this protest legal fees

every protester they arrest should demand right to a jury trial.

[malthaussen]

20. Wow, sometimes the jury system actually works! n/t

[KansDem]

26. So, is hopscotch legal again?