Cop Blocking Juror in Greenfield, MA says "NOT GUILTY"

This episode of http://Talley.TV is sponsored by http://CDEvolution.org where the following blog post appears:


The Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund has agreed to help fund more jury outreach. Typically it will be in the Shire, but our first successful interview with this approach was in Greenfield, MA where the "State" was prosecuting Pete Eyre and Ademo Mueller for allegedly wiretapping some public servants. You can learn plenty more about this case at CopBlock.org/Greenfield or Pete's most recent post with footage from the trial thanks to Beau Davis of Liberty on Tour.

Jason Repsher, Hannah Hoffman and I agreed to try and score an interview with any/all the jurors, offering $20 for 5 minutes. One accepted and his name is Darcy Merchant, a man who "Cop Blocked" from inside the jury room. He was one of the first two jurors, out of six, who said "NOT GUILTY" from the beginning. Darcy persuaded the other jurors, allowing a united jury to deliver the "Not Guilty" verdict to the State. Darcy makes it clear that Pete and Ademo "would be in jail if it weren't for the video."

The following is our interview with Darcy Merchant, Cop Blocking Juror from Orange, Massachusetts:

Talley.TV: What points were the 6 jurors deliberating?

Merchant: Whether he intentionally sent the telephone conversation. That was a big sticking point.

Talley.TV: How did the jury reach it's "not guilty" verdict?

Merchant: We started to talk about how if you were surrounded by a couple of police officers and prison guards you could possibly forget that you were attempting to make a phone call during all the confusion.

Repsher: You said that when [the 6 person jurory] first met it was a 4 / 2 [split]?

Merchant: Yeah, 4 / 2 to convict.

Repsher: Wow, Unbelievable.

Merchant: Yea, it was pretty close.

Repsher: 4 / 2 against?

Merchant: 4 / 2 for them to go to jail.

Talley.TV: For both of them?

Merchant: Yes.

Repsher: Oh my gosh.

Talley: So what swung [the vote] around?

Merchant: The Video Tape. I believe that [Ademo] could have been confused. I don't think that [Ademo] was intentionally trying to wiretap. That was my point. They ran the tape a couple of times and everyone eventually agreed.

Talley.TV: So do you think that because Pete and Ademo took video that it [proved their innocence]?

Merchant: It helped. They would be in jail if it weren't for the video.

Talley.TV: How did the defense and prosecution handle themselves?

Merchant: The defendants got the police officer to admit he lied, or was at least wrong on a couple of occasions. I don't know if you really want to call him a liar but that's how I felt.

Talley.TV: What about the prosecution?

Merchant: I just didn't think he did a very good job.

Talley.TV: Why do you think the prosecution pushed the case?

Merchant: Because he didn't like you guys, didn't like your t-shirts. Didn't like what you thought. They were mad at you. That's my personal opinion.

Talley.TV: He's probably really mad right now.

Merchant: Probably. Those are the breaks.

[ Ademo walks up and asks more questions and Darcy gets him up to speed. Ademo agrees to give Darcy a Cop Block t-shirt. ]

Merchant: We threw out the testimony of Dodge because you got him to either admit he was wrong or that he lied on at least two occasions.

Merchant: The way the statute was worded you had to willing do it. You have to think about it. I was just stuck on the fact that once they were around you it would be pretty simple to forget you were making a phone call.

Merchant: I didn't believe that just because I hear a recording that -- I didn't know where it came from -- I mean, honestly, I don't know if you got to the police station and they recorded you because they were pissed at you. Just because you have a badge doesn't mean I believe what you have to say.

-----

The weekend after the trial, Ademo had the random opportunity to meet up with Darcy Merchant in Keene. Many liberty activists work to improve their effectiveness in outreach. Pete and Ademo's targeted outreach to those 6 jurors proved that our ideas can connect with jurors, and others. Chances are, many of them may have been the victim of government violence at some level or know someone who has. Lets hope that more jurys will have their own Darcy Merchants standing up for transparency against a state that takes away rights instead of protecting them.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Cop Block
• Darcy Merchant
• Ademo Freeman
• Pete Eyre
• Greenfield
• MA says NOT GUILTY

[giggan1]

An incredible story, I'm so glad people like Darcey were able to get on the jury sway the tide by thinking critically.

[WhatsReallyGoingOnUS]

@CopBlockDurDeDur Clearly you're an idiot.

The people at copblock don't think all cops are bad, or that there shouldn't be laws. You need to clean out your earwax chum.

They only think the purpose of laws should be to protect people, not to act as devices for the state's revenue collection. I'd imagine they also think that ALL people should be accountable to the law, including cops and politicians.

Most people would agree with those principles.

[jsgdk]

They cant keep themselves honest.. that much is obvious..

But cops are just people.. some of them really should be in another line of work.

[Pax00Imperium]

@CopBlockDurDeDur You just made up your name to comment against CopBlock? You probably are some how connected to the incidents they are talking about and want to hide your identity.

[CopBlockDurDeDur]

Dur de dur we are cop block....duuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrr..­.....all cops and laws are bad

[blizznat]

CAN YALL FILM OUT HERE IN WILKES BARRE PA. THE COPS OUT HERE ARE BAD

[blizznat]

CAN YALL FILM OUT HERE IN WILKES BARRE THE COPS OUT HERE ARE BAD

[SPEEDKILLAR]

Nice titties in the beginning :)

[kindly4real]

This makes me want to serve on a jury!

[residentzombie]

The video was the reason they got arrested and the reason they got acquitted.

[jasonturner2]

Truly an inspiration! I will piggy back on giggan1, people thinking critically is key when dealing with the justice system! Great job guys!