Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope has recently been indicted on several counts of malfeasance in office and he is also facing charges of felony perjury. Among the charges are claims that he had taken funds without the appropriate legal authority, totaling thousands of dollars.
The DA is reportedly looking to prove that Pope had committed perjury on more than one occasion and that he had also committed malfeasance in office.
Surprisingly, it's reported that Pope's lawyers are looking to have special instructions be given to the jury during the trial which includes notifying them of the power of jury nullification.
They have already reportedly filed a motion that is seeking to have the court instruct the jurors on nullification and to inform them that they have a right not only to judge the case at hand, but also the law and how it is being applied.
Jury nullification is a powerful tool that has traditionally given jurors the ability to judge the law itself that is being applied in the case. For example, if they felt that a law criminalizing drug use was draconian and unjust, then they might essentially determine that someone accused of drug-related crimes was 'not guilty,' despite the evidence supporting the notion that they had used drugs or been in possession of drugs etc.
Quite often, whenever there are activists who have gone to various court houses and tried to hand out fliers on jury nullification, to spread awareness of the concept, many of those individuals have been harshly dealt with and arrested. This includes areas like NJ, MI, CA, and other regions. The way that the state has commonly dealt with individuals who have been trying to bring awareness to jury nullification outside of various courtrooms, has fueled the narrative that perhaps it's something that they don't want people to know exists.
There are also many judges, lawyers, and other legal professionals, you can find today who will insist that the jury doesn't have any right to judge the law. Some reports have even insisted that this idea of jury nullification, giving them the power to judge the law itself, is a 'far right concept' that's promoted by 'extremists'. However, those familiar with jury nullification and the history of it will tell you that this is far from the truth. And when the state has frequently been seen to deal with those advocating for jury nullification in such a negative manner, it will be interesting to see whether or not they'll explore the opportunity to take advantage of jury nullification when it comes to a case involving one of their own.
Pics:
Pixabay
