Time: Wed May 28 18:38:46 1997
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Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 18:35:57 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Laura Kriho LTE in Washington Post (fwd)
>Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 16:26:56 -0600 (MDT)
>From: Jury Rights Project <jrights@darkstar.cygnus.com>
>Subject: LTE: Washington Post (5/28/97)
>To: Jury Rights Project <jrights@darkstar.cygnus.com>
>
>The Washington Post
>Wednesday, May 28 1997
>Letters to the Editor
>Page A18
>
>When Courts Violate the Founders' Intent
>
>
> I want to thank Saundra Torry for her April 7 Business column "When
>Jurors Choose to Ignore the Law," which discussed my prosecution for my
>service as a juror on a drug-possession case in Colorado. I was convicted
>of contempt of court, in part for failing to volunteer my knowledge about
>the doctrine of jury nullification to the court during jury selection,
>even though I wasn't asked about it. I was fined $1,200, though I could
>have received six months in jail.
> Although I did discuss jury nullification in the jury room, I was not
>trying to nullify the drug laws. I had reasonable doubts that the
>defendant was guilty based on the lack of evidence.
> My investigation and prosecution was caused by "improper" arguments I
>made in the jury room about jury nullification and the harsh sentence the
>defendant could receive. If I had voted guilty, I never would have been
>prosecuted.
> My conviction for contempt illustrates just how threatened judges and
>prosecutors are by jurors. Many judges and prosecutors see jurors as an
>inconvenience, a formality and an impediment to conviction. I believe
>they want to make me an example to other jurors: an example of what will
>happen if you refuse to convict.
> The practice of prosecuting jurors based on evidence of "improper"
>jury-room deliberations is reminiscent of medieval inquisitions and Nazi
>fascism. There is no kinder way to describe it.
> In Ms. Torry's column, defenders of jury nulification argue that juries
>were designed to protect citizens from unjust laws and unjust application
>of laws. The jury has been called the last line of nonviolent defense
>against a tyrannical and oppressive government.
> When courts have the power to punish and imprison jurors, the
>jury system no longer can stand between the citizen and the government.
>The jury system has then become a rubber-stamp for the government
>prosecution.
>
>LAURA KRIHO
>
>Nederland, Colo.
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Re-distributed by the:
> Jury Rights Project (jrights@welcomehome.org)
> Background info.: http://www.execpc.com/~doreen
> To be added to or removed from the JRP mailing list,
> send email with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the title.
>Donations are requested for the court appeals to overturn the conviction
>of former juror Laura Kriho, convicted of contempt of court for failing to
>volunteer information about her political beliefs during jury selection:
> -- Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund --
> c/o Paul Grant (defense attorney)
> Box 1272, Parker, Colo. 80134
> Email: pkgrant@ix.netcom.com
>
>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness
email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU
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