Victorian Gray
Lifer
- Nov 25, 2013
- 32,083
- 11,718
- 136
Maybe folks are placing the responsibility for the verdict in the wrong place.
What one of the jurors has said about the matter:
"One of the jurors who acquitted Ammon and Ryan Bundy emailed a Portland, Oregon, newspaper to say the prosecution failed to prove the fundamental elements of a conspiracy charge.
In his message to The Oregonian/OregonLive (http://bit.ly/2fnsow6), Juror No. 4 said the panel spoke with U.S. District Judge Anna Brown after the verdict and asked why the federal government chose the conspiracy charge when prosecuting those who spent weeks occupying a bird sanctuary in southeast Oregon.
The juror said he learned a possible alternate charge, criminal trespass, wouldn't have brought as serious a potential penalty.
The juror wrote he is baffled by the negative response from observers shocked by the acquittals, saying "don't they know that 'not guilty' does not mean innocent."
He says the jurors were aware their verdict might inspire future lawbreaking, but they had to focus on the charge before them."
http://www.khq.com/story/33507921/the-latest-bundy-juror-not-guilty-does-not-mean-innocent
Link to the longer article in the Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/10/juror_4_prosecutors_in_oregon.html
What one of the jurors has said about the matter:
"One of the jurors who acquitted Ammon and Ryan Bundy emailed a Portland, Oregon, newspaper to say the prosecution failed to prove the fundamental elements of a conspiracy charge.
In his message to The Oregonian/OregonLive (http://bit.ly/2fnsow6), Juror No. 4 said the panel spoke with U.S. District Judge Anna Brown after the verdict and asked why the federal government chose the conspiracy charge when prosecuting those who spent weeks occupying a bird sanctuary in southeast Oregon.
The juror said he learned a possible alternate charge, criminal trespass, wouldn't have brought as serious a potential penalty.
The juror wrote he is baffled by the negative response from observers shocked by the acquittals, saying "don't they know that 'not guilty' does not mean innocent."
He says the jurors were aware their verdict might inspire future lawbreaking, but they had to focus on the charge before them."
http://www.khq.com/story/33507921/the-latest-bundy-juror-not-guilty-does-not-mean-innocent
Link to the longer article in the Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/10/juror_4_prosecutors_in_oregon.html
