SFC13557
NES Member
From Saturday's WSJ.
Hmmm, any link to 6 January riot?
"Prosecutors are inevitably going to lose some cases in our jury system, but they should win the big ones or confidence in honest justice declines. That explains the surprise, if not shock, on Friday when a federal jury failed to convict four men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The prosecutions made national headlines in 2020 as supposed evidence that political polarization may have been driving Americans to violent extremism. The indictments fit a popular media narrative, fed by Democrats, that right-wing radicals were prepared to commit terrorist acts.
The Justice Department said the defendants were associated with the Wolverine Watchmen, a militia group that conducted combat training and planned to kidnap Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat, and try her for treason or worse. As motive, prosecutors said the men were unhappy with her Covid-19 policies. The charges sure sounded serious, and politically motivated terrorism is especially dangerous in a democracy where disputes have to be mediated by elections and legislatures.
But after a four-week trial, a jury found Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris not guilty of all charges, including kidnapping conspiracy. The jurors failed to reach a verdict on two other defendants, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, and so the judge declared a mistrial. Two others had pleaded guilty and testified at the trial, which makes the verdicts all the more startling.
The jurors may explain their doubts to the press, but one possibility is that they believed the defense claim that the Federal Bureau of Investigation entrapped the men into taking steps toward a kidnapping that they never intended to carry out.
The FBI has lost cases on entrapment grounds in the past, and it’s true that the line between entrapment and genuine intent can be narrow. Agents have to be careful not to let a plot be carried out, but that can lead to unfair or premature arrest.
Prosecutors said they plan to retry Messrs. Fox and Croft, but you have to wonder what will be different the next time. Evidence of criminal intent should be clear and convincing to bring this kind of case.
All the more so given Attorney General Merrick Garland’s high-profile announcement that investigating domestic terrorism is a Justice Department priority. The Whitmer acquittals are a black eye for the department that shouldn’t be repeated."
Appeared in the April 9, 2022, print edition.
Hmmm, any link to 6 January riot?
"Prosecutors are inevitably going to lose some cases in our jury system, but they should win the big ones or confidence in honest justice declines. That explains the surprise, if not shock, on Friday when a federal jury failed to convict four men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The prosecutions made national headlines in 2020 as supposed evidence that political polarization may have been driving Americans to violent extremism. The indictments fit a popular media narrative, fed by Democrats, that right-wing radicals were prepared to commit terrorist acts.
The Justice Department said the defendants were associated with the Wolverine Watchmen, a militia group that conducted combat training and planned to kidnap Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat, and try her for treason or worse. As motive, prosecutors said the men were unhappy with her Covid-19 policies. The charges sure sounded serious, and politically motivated terrorism is especially dangerous in a democracy where disputes have to be mediated by elections and legislatures.
But after a four-week trial, a jury found Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris not guilty of all charges, including kidnapping conspiracy. The jurors failed to reach a verdict on two other defendants, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, and so the judge declared a mistrial. Two others had pleaded guilty and testified at the trial, which makes the verdicts all the more startling.
The jurors may explain their doubts to the press, but one possibility is that they believed the defense claim that the Federal Bureau of Investigation entrapped the men into taking steps toward a kidnapping that they never intended to carry out.
The FBI has lost cases on entrapment grounds in the past, and it’s true that the line between entrapment and genuine intent can be narrow. Agents have to be careful not to let a plot be carried out, but that can lead to unfair or premature arrest.
Prosecutors said they plan to retry Messrs. Fox and Croft, but you have to wonder what will be different the next time. Evidence of criminal intent should be clear and convincing to bring this kind of case.
All the more so given Attorney General Merrick Garland’s high-profile announcement that investigating domestic terrorism is a Justice Department priority. The Whitmer acquittals are a black eye for the department that shouldn’t be repeated."
Appeared in the April 9, 2022, print edition.
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