A jury pool in Missoula, Montana staged a "mutiny" last week when asked if they'd be willing to convict someone for possession of 1/16 ounce of marijuana. The vast majority of jurors agreed that the case was ridiculous. From Billings Gazette:
“I thought, ‘Geez, I don’t know if we can seat a jury,’ ” said (district Judge Dusty) Deschamps, who called a recess.
And he didn’t.
During the recess, (Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul) Paul and defense attorney Martin Elison worked out a plea agreement. That was on Thursday.
On Friday, Cornell entered an Alford plea, in which he didn’t admit guilt. He briefly held his infant daughter in his manacled hands, and walked smiling out of the courtroom.
“Public opinion, as revealed by the reaction of a substantial portion of the members of the jury called to try the charges on Dec. 16, 2010, is not supportive of the state’s marijuana law and appeared to prevent any conviction from being obtained simply because an unbiased jury did not appear available under any circumstances,” according to the plea memorandum filed by his attorney.
"Missoula District Court: Jury pool in marijuana case stages ‘mutiny’" (Thanks, Ed Szylko!)
