Judge: Man who stripped nude at airport NOT GUILTY

[Poll_Blind]

Last edited Thu Jul 19, 2012, 01:01 AM - Edit history (1)

[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: none; border-radius: 0.3846em 0.3846em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Judge: Man who stripped nude at airport not guilty[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: none; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3846em 0.3846em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]PORTLAND, Ore. – An Oregon man who stripped nude at Portland's airport security to protest what he saw as invasive measures was found not guilty of indecent exposure.

Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge David Rees ruled Wednesday that Brennan's act was one of protest and therefore, protected speech.

Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Joel Petersen argued that Brennan's strip-down was an act of indecent exposure.

"I was aware of the irony of removing my clothes to protect my privacy," Brennan said from the witness stand on Wednesday.
The article goes into some of the details of the case and backstory behind the incident. I found it interesting. For instance, the fact that he'd originallyrequested a jury trial but was denied.

[center][/center]

PB

[PoliticAverse]

1. Good. n/t

[Zalatix]

2. First Amendment WINS AGAIN!!!

[roguevalley]

25. Oregon Rules. That is all. :D

[NYC_SKP]

3. I'm off to Dulles right fucking now.

In a bathrobe.

[Poll_Blind]

6. Just beware, there could be a...

...whole 'nother set of problems with you doing that!



PB

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. Saw that on the Daily Show.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-2-2010/jonah-falcon-needs-a-job

[Manifestor_of_Light]

27. Jonah Falcon is utterly useless.

Because I said so.

I am not impressed.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

28. I am not impressed.

His shorts are....

[freshwest]

33. Well, you know what they say about women and math. It's not true, but..

[freshwest]

13. LOL!!!

[midnight]

4. I to find the jury trial denial interesting.... Any legal minds care to help us understand why?

[Poll_Blind]

7. I suspect, and this is only a guess, but I suspect the same judge who...

...ruled for him also made the call to deny a jury trial. The judge knew from the get-go that the prosecutor didn't have a (third) leg to stand on and that the prosecution was bunk.

I could see the judge essentially going "Fuck this, let's just get this over with. There's no way in shit you're going to nail him on this based on the facts of the case and the law at hand."

That's the only way I can possibly imagine this went down. Because it would normally be a bit horrific that a request for a jury trial would be denied like this.

PB

[PoliticAverse]

8. The charge had been downgraded from a misdemeanor to a 'violation', below that

for which there is a right to trial by jury.

See: http://www.pqmonthly.com/2012/07/judge-denies-request-for-jury-trial-for-naked-protestor/

[Poll_Blind]

10. Ah, thank you for the information! nt

PB

[former9thward]

9. I don't know the specifics of this case

but if there is no jail time at risk then a jury can be denied in cases like this. The prosecutor may have told the judge they would not seek jail time, just probation/fine, in the event of a guilty verdict.

[jberryhill]

12. Misdemeanor

[nashville_brook]

5. oh fuck yeah.

k and r that shit.

[freshwest]

14. This thread is useless without pictures. This man could go naked anywhere and be found not guilty:

Last edited Wed Jul 18, 2012, 09:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Okay, just screwing around. Good verdict.

That citizen sure showed 'em, didn't he?

Wait, no, still screwing around. All Skip's fault.

Keep your hands to yourself!

[bluedigger]

16. Oh, the irony.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002920072

[freshwest]

19. Ah, no! I'll edit with another picture! Argh! But I bet the guy at the airport was a Bagger!

[Poll_Blind]

17. ...

[Bake]

18. OMG ... is that the Beastmaster?

I saw that movie decades ago -- literally, decades.



Bake

[Poll_Blind]

21. Heh heh...same here!

Those ferrets have long-since tapped out, methinks.

PB

[freshwest]

22. Ooh, thanks. Never sarcastic without a smilie, though. Just don't keep up with celebrity gossip.

But this guy is a well-known liberal and a strong Obama supporter. Although, alas, his mom went off the rails:



Hey, is that Beastmaster guy a Democrat? I'm not sure he's even from the United States. My kid loved that show. And I think the bad guys were all Republicans...

[Smilo]

15. Sigh

why am I never there when these men take their clothes off

[freshwest]

24. You should visit my area. We have nude marathons and bicycle rides. Not appealing, though...

Some people are improved by wearing clothing, especially at certain stages of their lives, anyway.

[Smilo]

31. Imagination is a wonderful thing

[4th law of robotics]

20. And yet he could have been ordered to strip nude and it wouldn't even have gone to trial.

[freshwest]

23. If they'd ordered me to strip nude, it woulda been the last thing they ever saw. Yes, struck blind.

[Poll_Blind]

26. Updated OP! nt

PB

[freshwest]

32. Oh, no, how could you? You cannot un-see that! I need brain bleach. Definitely a bagger. Yuck!

[nilram]

29. John could still use donations to his legal defense fund --

http://www.facebook.com/john.brennan.civil.rights/

He's apparently just only halfway to what he needs. Anything remaining goes to the ACLU.

[woo me with science]

30. DU Rec

[RebelOne]

34. Kudos to this guy. He had the nerve to do it. n/t