FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 15, 2012
November 15, 2012
Queens Defendants Found NOT Guilty of Serious OGA Charges
Queens, NY – A Queens jury today found four men not guilty of obstructing the NYPD’s 103rd Precinct last year. The high-stakes trial for political protesters began October 23, delayed several times by weather, and almost ended with a mistrial because of the highly unusual arrest of a sitting juror last week.
Carl Dix, Jamel Mims, Morgan Rhodewalt and Robert Parsons were charged with two counts of Obstruction of Government Administration, a Class A misdemeanor which carries a possible sentence of 12 months in jail. Prosecutors failed to convince the jury that the men, who were part of a group of 20 who loudly protested the NYPD stop-and-frisk policy last November 19, had disrupted normal functioning of the precinct.
Dix said today, “The prosecution attempted to make us pay a heavy price for protesting against stop and frisk. They crafted the case from the beginning, and failed in this objective. They put on a case, but couldn’t provide any evidence that we obstructed the precinct, or that we intended to do that. At the 103rdPrecinct last year, and today in court, we delivered a loud message against NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, and we won’t stop protesting this unjust, unconstitutional, racist, policy.”
The jury found the defendants guilty of one count of disorderly conduct, a violation. They will be sentenced January 7. 13 more defendants await trial next year for the same incident.
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Carl Dix, Jamel Mims, Morgan Rhodewalt and Robert Parsons were charged with two counts of Obstruction of Government Administration, a Class A misdemeanor which carries a possible sentence of 12 months in jail. Prosecutors failed to convince the jury that the men, who were part of a group of 20 who loudly protested the NYPD stop-and-frisk policy last November 19, had disrupted normal functioning of the precinct.
Dix said today, “The prosecution attempted to make us pay a heavy price for protesting against stop and frisk. They crafted the case from the beginning, and failed in this objective. They put on a case, but couldn’t provide any evidence that we obstructed the precinct, or that we intended to do that. At the 103rdPrecinct last year, and today in court, we delivered a loud message against NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, and we won’t stop protesting this unjust, unconstitutional, racist, policy.”
The jury found the defendants guilty of one count of disorderly conduct, a violation. They will be sentenced January 7. 13 more defendants await trial next year for the same incident.
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The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice, a 501c3 tax-exempt
organization. Tax-deductible contributions accepted online or checks made payable to the "Alliance for Global Justice," with "Mass Incarceration Network" in the memo line may be sent to:
Stop Mass Incarceration Network
c/o P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station
New York City, New York 10002-0900
Phone: 347-979-SMIN (7646) * Email: [email protected] * Facebook: stopmassincerationnetwork * Twitter: @StopMassIncNet