Brooklyn, NY -- Radio shock-jock Hal Turner delivered a stinging upset to the federal government today when Jurors in his criminal trial told the judge they were "hopelessly deadlocked."
Expecting the jury vote to be lopsided in favor of the government, prosecutors and the judge in the case were utterly stunned when it was revealed that Jurors had voted 9 NOT GUILTY to 3 guilty!
Making this even more stunning is that Turner did not offer any defense -- his lawyers called no witnesses and presented no evidence, but instead tore into the governments own evidence and own witnesses almost totally discrediting the government's case.
Turner was arrested by the FBI on June 24, twenty days after posting on his blog that three federal judges on the 7th U.S. Citcuit Court of Appeals were "traitors" to the United States who "deserve to be killed" for violating the US Constitution and for intentionally ignoring a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court.
The FBI charged Turner with "threatening to assault and murder" the three judges! Turner was held in federal prison for 119 days without Bail before being released on $500,000 cash only.
The government contends that saying the Judges "deserve to be killed" is a threat to actually kill them. Turner's lawyers argued that saying someone "deserves" anything is merely an opinion. Opinions, be they oral or written, are protected free speech.
Clearly, the Jury agreed since 75% of Jurors voted NOT Guilty.
In a troubling development, one of the Jurors who voted GUILTY was interviewed by the New York Daily News and revealed something startling: Instead of applying the law as he swore to do, the Juror told reporters "[Turner] "He's a publicity seeker and he wants to be a bigger force than he was. By acquitting him, he would become bigger and stronger." (CLICK HERE FOR THE NY DAILY NEWS STORY)
It is not the role of a juror to decide to convict someone for any reason other than for breaking the law. The fact that this juror admits that another reason drove his decision shows that political considerations came into play; something that is forbidden in Jury trials.
PROSECUTOR WHINES ABOUT THIS FAMILY BLOG
In another interesting development, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan asked the court to gag Defense Attorneys from speaking to the media and also asked the court to order this "Family of Hal Turner" blog shut down!
The judge instructed Defense attorneys to stop talking to the media but declined to order this blog shut down.
"The U.S. Attorney is clearly ashamed of his ongoing vicious assault upon freedom of speech and wants to operate in secret" said one person attending today's trial. "That's how government
goons like to operate - in secret" she continued.
We are able to tell you that the most prestigious program in broadcast TV news, "60 Minutes" had a camera crew at the Brooklyn federal courthouse today while two executive producers from that show sat in the courtroom during Turner's trial earlier this week. The fact that the most-viewed news program in the world is interested in the shenanigans taking place in this case is a good sign.
We wonder what Assistant US Attorneys William Hogan and William Ridgway will do when they arrive at work one day to a "60 Minutes" news crew asking them why they are prosecuting an American citizen for uttering an opinion.
It ought to be fun to watch them try to squirm their way out of that on national TV!
JUDGE HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO TOO
What makes the Turner case so astounding is that federal district Judge Donald Walter who is presiding over the case, turned his back on more than 40 years of Supreme Court case law and allowed the case against Turner to proceed.
It is long settled in the USA that advocating violence is lawful as long as it is done in a context which does not lend itself to imminent lawlessness. That precedent was established in the case "Brandenberg v. Ohio" back in 1969 and has been rock-solid free speech case law ever since.
We suspect that "60 Minutes" might ask Judge Walter if he chose to ignore "Brandenberg" because his knickers are in a twist over the nasty remarks Turner made about his fellow judges.
Birds of a feather. . . . .
Hal Turner's trial has been re-scheduled for March 1.
Mistrial in case of Internet shock jock Harold (Hal) Turner, charged with threatening to kill judges
By John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Monday, December 7th 2009, 2:49 PM
Updated: Monday, December 7th 2009, 3:12 PM
Ward for News
Internet shock jock Hal Turner blogged that three Illinois judges 'deserved to die' for upholding a local gun ban.
Take our PollShock jocks
Do you think free speech covers 'threats' or rants made by radio shock jocks?
Yes
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Federal judges to take stand in trial of New Jersey shock jock
Jurors deadlocked Monday in the Brooklyn trial of an Internet radio shock-jock charged with threatening to kill three Illinois federal appellate judges.
A mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquitting Harold (Hal) Turner who was originally indicted in Illinois, where the three judges preside on the U.S. Court of Appeals.
"I did think he (Turner) was a threat," juror Richard Gardener, 58, of Long Island, told reporters outside the courtroom.
"He's a publicity seeker and he wants to be a bigger force than he was. By acquitting him, he would become bigger and stronger."
The trial was moved to Brooklyn after defense lawyers argued he could not receive a fair trial in the same Illinois courthouse where the targeted judges worked.
Enraged by their decision upholding a local ban on handguns, Turner ranted on his blog that Judges Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner and William Bauer "deserved to die." He also posted photos of them, the courthouse and a Google map pinpointing the location of the courthouse.
"Thomas Jefferson, one of our Founding Fathers, told us, 'The tree of liberty must be replenished from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots.' It is time to replenish the tree," Turner said on his Web site.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan called Turner a "domestic terrorist" trying to incite his radical fans to violence, and rejected claims he was merely exercising his First Amendment right to be outrageous like Howard Stern and Don Imus.
Defense lawyer Nishay Sanan likened his client's comments to someone wearing a T-shirt that says, "Skateboard or Die."
The trial abruptly ended with the government calling only six federal agents and not the judges as planned.
"Evidentiary rulings shaped our trial strategy," Hogan said.
Louisiana Federal Judge Donald Walter, who was assigned the case, refused to lift a gag order on Turner and scheduled a retrial for March 1.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/12/07/2009-12-07_mistrial_in_internet_shock_jock_harold_hal_turner_case_charged_with_threatening_.html
Expecting the jury vote to be lopsided in favor of the government, prosecutors and the judge in the case were utterly stunned when it was revealed that Jurors had voted 9 NOT GUILTY to 3 guilty!
Making this even more stunning is that Turner did not offer any defense -- his lawyers called no witnesses and presented no evidence, but instead tore into the governments own evidence and own witnesses almost totally discrediting the government's case.
Turner was arrested by the FBI on June 24, twenty days after posting on his blog that three federal judges on the 7th U.S. Citcuit Court of Appeals were "traitors" to the United States who "deserve to be killed" for violating the US Constitution and for intentionally ignoring a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court.
The FBI charged Turner with "threatening to assault and murder" the three judges! Turner was held in federal prison for 119 days without Bail before being released on $500,000 cash only.
The government contends that saying the Judges "deserve to be killed" is a threat to actually kill them. Turner's lawyers argued that saying someone "deserves" anything is merely an opinion. Opinions, be they oral or written, are protected free speech.
Clearly, the Jury agreed since 75% of Jurors voted NOT Guilty.
In a troubling development, one of the Jurors who voted GUILTY was interviewed by the New York Daily News and revealed something startling: Instead of applying the law as he swore to do, the Juror told reporters "[Turner] "He's a publicity seeker and he wants to be a bigger force than he was. By acquitting him, he would become bigger and stronger." (CLICK HERE FOR THE NY DAILY NEWS STORY)
It is not the role of a juror to decide to convict someone for any reason other than for breaking the law. The fact that this juror admits that another reason drove his decision shows that political considerations came into play; something that is forbidden in Jury trials.
PROSECUTOR WHINES ABOUT THIS FAMILY BLOG
In another interesting development, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan asked the court to gag Defense Attorneys from speaking to the media and also asked the court to order this "Family of Hal Turner" blog shut down!
The judge instructed Defense attorneys to stop talking to the media but declined to order this blog shut down.
"The U.S. Attorney is clearly ashamed of his ongoing vicious assault upon freedom of speech and wants to operate in secret" said one person attending today's trial. "That's how government
goons like to operate - in secret" she continued.
We are able to tell you that the most prestigious program in broadcast TV news, "60 Minutes" had a camera crew at the Brooklyn federal courthouse today while two executive producers from that show sat in the courtroom during Turner's trial earlier this week. The fact that the most-viewed news program in the world is interested in the shenanigans taking place in this case is a good sign.
We wonder what Assistant US Attorneys William Hogan and William Ridgway will do when they arrive at work one day to a "60 Minutes" news crew asking them why they are prosecuting an American citizen for uttering an opinion.
It ought to be fun to watch them try to squirm their way out of that on national TV!
JUDGE HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO TOO
What makes the Turner case so astounding is that federal district Judge Donald Walter who is presiding over the case, turned his back on more than 40 years of Supreme Court case law and allowed the case against Turner to proceed.
It is long settled in the USA that advocating violence is lawful as long as it is done in a context which does not lend itself to imminent lawlessness. That precedent was established in the case "Brandenberg v. Ohio" back in 1969 and has been rock-solid free speech case law ever since.
We suspect that "60 Minutes" might ask Judge Walter if he chose to ignore "Brandenberg" because his knickers are in a twist over the nasty remarks Turner made about his fellow judges.
Birds of a feather. . . . .
Hal Turner's trial has been re-scheduled for March 1.
Mistrial in case of Internet shock jock Harold (Hal) Turner, charged with threatening to kill judges
By John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Monday, December 7th 2009, 2:49 PM
Updated: Monday, December 7th 2009, 3:12 PM
Ward for News
Internet shock jock Hal Turner blogged that three Illinois judges 'deserved to die' for upholding a local gun ban.
Take our PollShock jocks
Do you think free speech covers 'threats' or rants made by radio shock jocks?
Yes
No
Related News
Articles
Federal judges to take stand in trial of New Jersey shock jock
Jurors deadlocked Monday in the Brooklyn trial of an Internet radio shock-jock charged with threatening to kill three Illinois federal appellate judges.
A mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquitting Harold (Hal) Turner who was originally indicted in Illinois, where the three judges preside on the U.S. Court of Appeals.
"I did think he (Turner) was a threat," juror Richard Gardener, 58, of Long Island, told reporters outside the courtroom.
"He's a publicity seeker and he wants to be a bigger force than he was. By acquitting him, he would become bigger and stronger."
The trial was moved to Brooklyn after defense lawyers argued he could not receive a fair trial in the same Illinois courthouse where the targeted judges worked.
Enraged by their decision upholding a local ban on handguns, Turner ranted on his blog that Judges Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner and William Bauer "deserved to die." He also posted photos of them, the courthouse and a Google map pinpointing the location of the courthouse.
"Thomas Jefferson, one of our Founding Fathers, told us, 'The tree of liberty must be replenished from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots.' It is time to replenish the tree," Turner said on his Web site.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan called Turner a "domestic terrorist" trying to incite his radical fans to violence, and rejected claims he was merely exercising his First Amendment right to be outrageous like Howard Stern and Don Imus.
Defense lawyer Nishay Sanan likened his client's comments to someone wearing a T-shirt that says, "Skateboard or Die."
The trial abruptly ended with the government calling only six federal agents and not the judges as planned.
"Evidentiary rulings shaped our trial strategy," Hogan said.
Louisiana Federal Judge Donald Walter, who was assigned the case, refused to lift a gag order on Turner and scheduled a retrial for March 1.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/12/07/2009-12-07_mistrial_in_internet_shock_jock_harold_hal_turner_case_charged_with_threatening_.html
FROM THE COMMENTS SECTION OF NY DAILY NEWS:
What is the difference between what this clown did and what Bill O'Reilly did on TV outing the abortion doctor in Kansas (I think it was Kansas) with his photo and his address? The result was the abortion doctor was shot to death in his own church by some right wing nut. If some idiot took this 'shock jock's' advice and shot these three judges, I believe the trial outcome would be significantly different. I certainly believe in the 1st amendment but yelling fire in a crowded theatre when there is NO fire is NOT protected speech. This clown should have been convicted, period!
Joepotter1... Tell it like it is.. These neofascist love to hide behind the constitution and bill of rights when it applies to them only.
Since Hal can't speak,I'll do it for him.The government has been after Hal ever since he cost certain people big money by revealing the results of the banks' stress tests.John Scopes is turning over now.
How many people have been killed as a result of Hal's outstanding broadcasting career?Now how many have died as a result of Al Sharpton's community organizing?
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