Greenpeace Acquitted

[Michael MASINTER]

DoJ's prosecution of Greenpeace, the first prosecution modern history of a
nonprofit advocacy group for the nonviolent civil disobedience of its
members, ended abruptly this afternoon when, at the close of the
government's case, the trial judge ruled the evidence insufficient to
create a jury question on the offense of sailor mongering and therefore on
the offense of conspiracy to commit saiolor mongering, and entered a
judgment of acquittal.

As a side note, when the trial began yesterday morning, the government
brought as a demonstrative aid for its opening statement, intended to show
the jury that the ship Greenpeace boarded was a very large vessel, a
graphic that showed 1) the tallest building in Miami, 2) a Boeing 737, and
3) the ship.  The trial judge forbade the government from using the
exhibit.  

Michael R. Masinter			3305 College Avenue
Nova Southeastern University		Fort Lauderdale, Fl. 33314
Shepard Broad Law Center		(954) 262-6151
masinter at nova.edu			Chair, ACLU of Florida Legal Panel