To: Melissa Nelson, State Attorney 4th Judicial Circuit, Florida and Pamela Bondi, Florida Attorney General
And Justice for All!!!
Everyone deserves a fair trial, and an unbiased jury.
For members of the LGBTQ of Florida, that repeatedly Has not been the case. Prosecutors in the 4th Judicial Circuit are fighting against bringing possible religious beliefs to light in cases where they may have influenced the verdict against an LGBTQ community member.
For members of the LGBTQ of Florida, that repeatedly Has not been the case. Prosecutors in the 4th Judicial Circuit are fighting against bringing possible religious beliefs to light in cases where they may have influenced the verdict against an LGBTQ community member.
Why is this important?
Over the last 4 years I’ve been privy to information and the proceedings of a clear case of wrongful conviction and overcharging. Under our last state attorney, these things were quite common and it was well known. I campaigned for our new state attorney, but there’s one case still lingering, and it seems the prosecutor who handled that case, is very reluctant to let the truth about how religious beliefs can effect the outcome of a trial for LGBTQ community members. In the case in question, weeks after a guilty verdict was handed down on a 23 year old gay male, the jury foreman on that trial, a Pastor of a local WELS Lutheran Church, was spoken to on 2 separate occasions, both recorded in affidavits and audio as saying such things as: “ Sodom and Gammorah was God’s final judgement on Homosexuality”, “ we must go to war against homosexuals and knock them down whenever they try and stand up “ , “ Homosexuals are intrinsically evil and possibly demonically possessed “, and possibly most importantly that he believes as a Pastor, it’s his job to make sure homosexuals don’t hurt anyone else. He also professed in one affidavit that the Supreme Court Justices that have forced same sex marriage upon us will be judged by God for their decision.
This quickly became an issue with the young man’s Appeal Attorney, William Sheppard. William had fought the State of Florida’s Attorney General in the Florida Supreme Court and won Same sex marriage rights in the State before it ever became the law nationwide.
The young man served a prison sentence for the crime that never happened and is finally home. Yet the issue with Juror #4 has never been resolved. It can’t be. Because the State Attorney’s office located in Jacksonville if delaying it and fighting that resolution tooth and nail every step of the way.
William filed a motion to bring that juror into the courtroom and hold a hearing in which the judge could then decide based on the jurors answers to inquiries, whether or not their had been bias by the most important person in the deliberation room that day. The judge understood the issues someone’s religious beliefs might present in being fair and impartial and he granted us the right to bring the juror to a hearing.
The State immediately went to work delaying the process, and asked for reconsideration of the judge’s decision. The second hearing was held 3 weeks after the first. The state prosecutor presented virtually the same arguments. None. Just that he intended to possibly fight it. He was again denied, and the defense was allowed to subpoena the juror.
12 days later, the Prosecutor filed another motion for reconsideration along with a motion to halt all proceedings and he filed an appeal to the 1st District Court of Appeals, where the motion to question the juror will most likely languish for a minimum of 2 years or die altogether and be forgotten.
This issue has come up in two other cases in Florida already and been ruled in favor of the defendant.
Why is the 4th circuit afraid of? What are they trying to suppress? Jury bias when recognized has been a big trial issue throughout the years and has always been corrected as swiftly as possible.
The first job of a prosecutor is to seek truth, not hide bias.
This quickly became an issue with the young man’s Appeal Attorney, William Sheppard. William had fought the State of Florida’s Attorney General in the Florida Supreme Court and won Same sex marriage rights in the State before it ever became the law nationwide.
The young man served a prison sentence for the crime that never happened and is finally home. Yet the issue with Juror #4 has never been resolved. It can’t be. Because the State Attorney’s office located in Jacksonville if delaying it and fighting that resolution tooth and nail every step of the way.
William filed a motion to bring that juror into the courtroom and hold a hearing in which the judge could then decide based on the jurors answers to inquiries, whether or not their had been bias by the most important person in the deliberation room that day. The judge understood the issues someone’s religious beliefs might present in being fair and impartial and he granted us the right to bring the juror to a hearing.
The State immediately went to work delaying the process, and asked for reconsideration of the judge’s decision. The second hearing was held 3 weeks after the first. The state prosecutor presented virtually the same arguments. None. Just that he intended to possibly fight it. He was again denied, and the defense was allowed to subpoena the juror.
12 days later, the Prosecutor filed another motion for reconsideration along with a motion to halt all proceedings and he filed an appeal to the 1st District Court of Appeals, where the motion to question the juror will most likely languish for a minimum of 2 years or die altogether and be forgotten.
This issue has come up in two other cases in Florida already and been ruled in favor of the defendant.
Why is the 4th circuit afraid of? What are they trying to suppress? Jury bias when recognized has been a big trial issue throughout the years and has always been corrected as swiftly as possible.
The first job of a prosecutor is to seek truth, not hide bias.