Two Acquitted in Whitmer Case, FBI Misconduct Central

[DKW 86 7,505]

And the appeal of the two convicted is already underway. Apparently the judge MAY have limited the cross examinations in some way.

Please remember folks, the two acquitals were FBI vs FREE PUBLIC DEFENDERS. That's right. our FBI got humiliated by freebie public defenders doing a half assed job.

If that dont tell it all, nothing does.

[Didba 5,298]

5 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

And the appeal of the two convicted is already underway. Apparently the judge MAY have limited the cross examinations in some way.

Please remember folks, the two acquitals were FBI vs FREE PUBLIC DEFENDERS. That's right. our FBI got humiliated by freebie public defenders doing a half assed job.

If that dont tell it all, nothing does.

It actually tells nothing about the FBI because it was prosecutors vs public defenders who may or may not have been doing a half ass job. FBI doesn’t prosecute. If anyone the prosecutors got humiliated.
 

Further, after a quick Google of the attorneys who represented the acquitted defendants they most definitely are not public defenders. They may have been appointed by the court and working pro bono but both have firms working in criminal defense with various accolades over the last 25 years in the legal field. Neither were solely public defenders fresh out of law school. 
 

Further, just because appeals are underway doesn’t mean they have any substance. Criminal defendants have a right to one appeal as a matter of law. Limiting cross examination is not abnormal and is unlikely to be anything but harmless error which will not result in a win at the appellate level. 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Didba

[icanthearyou 4,465]

Thank god Trump exposed the FBI for what they really are.

[DKW 86 7,505]

20 hours ago, Didba said:

It actually tells nothing about the FBI because it was prosecutors vs public defenders who may or may not have been doing a half ass job. FBI doesn’t prosecute. If anyone the prosecutors got humiliated.
 

Further, after a quick Google of the attorneys who represented the acquitted defendants they most definitely are not public defenders. They may have been appointed by the court and working pro bono but both have firms working in criminal defense with various accolades over the last 25 years in the legal field. Neither were solely public defenders fresh out of law school. 
 

Further, just because appeals are underway doesn’t mean they have any substance. Criminal defendants have a right to one appeal as a matter of law. Limiting cross examination is not abnormal and is unlikely to be anything but harmless error which will not result in a win at the appellate level. 

1) You obviously do not understand public defenders. Almost all PDs come from the same pool you just talked about.

2) I never implied that the appeals were going to be sound, they are just pro-forma. 

3) The Jurors in the first trial felt that the FBI was to blame for the entrapment angle. They repeatedly offered $5K to totally broke men to do the kidnapping etc and were leading the entire exercise. These men were harmless kooks until the FBI and their paid informants went in to try and incite them. That is why they were found not guilty.One informant was paid >$65K for a few months of work trying to get these guys to do what they did not have any real chance of doing if the FBI hadnt bankrolled the whole thing, They refused $$$ from the FBI multiple times.

[DKW 86 7,505]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/following-verdict-in-whitmer-kidnapping-case-some-see-freedom-and-others-danger

 

Outside the Michigan courthouse where a jury did not convict any of the four men charged with planning to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a defense lawyer said jurors saw the alleged plot as what it was: Dirty FBI tactics and “rough talk.”

The men — who were heard on audio during the trial talking about killing Whitmer, blowing up a bridge and other violence — didn’t say anything shocking, attorney Michael Hills said. He noted one of the defense witnesses he considered calling to testify planned to assert that he’s “heard worse from pregnant mothers up on the Capitol.”

“If I don’t like the governor and it’s rough talk, I can do that in our country. That’s what’s beautiful about this country. That’s what’s great about it,” Hills said. “So hurrah, freedom in America. It’s still here.”

READ MORE: Michigan jury deadlocks on some charges in Whitmer kidnapping plot trial

But to others, Friday’s outcome following a weekslong trial was a chilling reminder that the political violence that is raging across the U.S. too often goes unpunished. From attacks on social media and elsewhere that disproportionately affect women lawmakers, to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the plan to abduct Whitmer, people are increasingly angry and feeling emboldened to act on it, they say.

Whitmer, a Democrat, has blamed former President Donald Trump for stoking anger over COVID-19 restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists. On Friday, her office said people across the country are experiencing “a normalization” of violence. A Democratic state lawmaker said the threats posed won’t be taken seriously “until someone dies.”

“The plot to kidnap and kill a governor may seem like an anomaly. But we must be honest about what it really is: the result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country,” Whitmer’s chief of staff, JoAnne Huls, said in a statement. “There must be accountability and consequences for those who commit heinous crimes. Without accountability, extremists will be emboldened.”

Whitmer has not commented publicly on the outcome of the case. She wasn’t a trial witness and didn’t attend the trial.

Four men — Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris — were arrested in October 2020. Federal prosecutors said they wanted to kidnap Whitmer because they were angry over pandemic restrictions she imposed, and saw her as a “tyrant” who needed to be removed.

The charges came at a particularly divisive time, with debate raging over the pandemic and just weeks before the 2020 presidential election between Trump and Joe Biden. Armed protests were occurring at the Michigan Capitol and elsewhere in the U.S., and in the streets of many cities, demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd at times turned violent.

Prosecutors presented evidence at the federal trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from undercover agents, an FBI informant and two men who pleaded guilty to the plot. Jurors also read and heard secretly recorded conversations, violent social media posts and chat messages.

Defense attorneys argued that the men were entrapped by the FBI — pulled into an alleged plot they would never have participated in if not for the government and its informants luring them. They painted the men as wannabes who were frequently high and easily influenced, or in one case, a former member of the military who wanted to brush up on firearms training.

A militia group with no political affiliation from Michigan, including Pete Musico (R) who was charged October 8, 2020 for his involvement in a plot to kidnap the Michigan governor, attack the state capitol building and incite violence, stands in front of the Governors office after protesters occupied the state capitol building during a vote to approve the extension of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency declaration/stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan, U.S. April 30, 2020. Photo by Seth Herald/Reuters.

Before returning their verdicts, the jury said that after nearly five days of deliberations they could not agree unanimously on all 10 of the charges against the men.

Harris, 24, and Caserta, 33, were found not guilty of conspiracy. Harris also was acquitted of charges related to explosives and a gun.

The jury could not reach verdicts for Fox, 38, and Croft, 46, which means the government can put them on trial again.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said after the verdicts that “We have two defendants that are awaiting trial and we’ll get back to work on that.”

Hills, who defended Caserta, said the outcome was a message to the government that the FBI’s actions were “unconscionable.” He said the federal government should “let it go” rather than take Croft and Fox to trial a second time.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, tweeted after the verdict that the “FBI and DOJ need a complete and total cleansing. … All the rot must be removed and these agencies must be restored.”

Others were stunned by the jury’s decision, and said it set a dangerous example.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat, called for an end to “the hatred and division in this country” and said she is “Deeply concerned that today’s decision in the Whitmer kidnapping trial will give people further license to choose violence and threats.”

Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist called on elected officials, parents, teachers and others to stand up to “these hateful actions and teach our kids that there is a better way.”

“Our differences must be settled at the ballot box, not through violence,” he said. “We need to be honest and clear about what causes violence by extremists and do all we can to address the root cause of it.”

Michigan state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat, noted on Twitter that a man who threatened to kill her in 2020 was acquitted.

“The next time you ask why we can’t get good people to run for office, consider today’s verdict,” she said, adding, “This won’t be taken seriously until someone dies.”

Left: FILE PHOTO: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer addresses the media about the flooding along the Tittabawassee River, after several dams breached, in downtown Midland, Michigan, U.S., May 20, 2020. Photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters.

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[Didba 5,298]

5 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

1) You obviously do not understand public defenders. Almost all PDs come from the same pool you just talked about.

2) I never implied that the appeals were going to be sound, they are just pro-forma. 

3) The Jurors in the first trial felt that the FBI was to blame for the entrapment angle. They repeatedly offered $5K to totally broke men to do the kidnapping etc and were leading the entire exercise. These men were harmless kooks until the FBI and their paid informants went in to try and incite them. That is why they were found not guilty.One informant was paid >$65K for a few months of work trying to get these guys to do what they did not have any real chance of doing if the FBI hadnt bankrolled the whole thing, They refused $$$ from the FBI multiple times.

I understand public defenders just fine. It appeared to me you were implying the PDs were barely competent defense lawyers with your statement. Which was not the case. However, with this statement it seems you weren’t implying that. All good. 

[Auburn85 434]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/3-men-charged-plotting-kidnap-michigan-gov-gretchen/story?id=103154701

 

 

Quote

 

Last 3 men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer found not guilty

ByMeredith Deliso

September 15, 2023

 

The last three men to stand trial in connection with a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have been found not guilty on all counts.

Eric Molitor and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null were among the 14 men charged in state and federal court over the alleged plan to kidnap the governor at her vacation home in Antrim County in 2020, largely over the Democratic governor's strict COVID-19 shutdowns.

Molitor, 39, and the Null brothers, both 41, had pleaded not guilty to state charges of providing material support for terrorist acts and illegally possessing firearms.

The Antrim County jury reached its verdict on Friday after about a day of deliberations following a three-week trial. Molitor broke down in tears of relief after his verdict was read.

During closing arguments on Wednesday, prosecutor James Rossiter told the jury that the defendants were going to help the plot leaders "bring terrorism to Antrim County."

"If you're going to help somebody, knowing that they planned a terrorist act, that's wrong," Rossiter said.

Molitor's defense attorney, William Barnett, said in his closing that the state's case is "weak" and accused the prosecutors of attempting to mislead jurors in their presentation of evidence.

"This thing just became a good story they couldn't back out of. They're here pulling the shortcuts to try to get somebody convicted, an innocent person," Barnett said.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that the three men "hated" their government and assisted in the kidnapping plot, with the Nulls providing the "muscle" and Molitor recording video of Whitmer's Antrim County property.

William Null and Molitor testified in their own defense, claiming they didn't know the true nature of the plot until the last minute.

William Null told the jury that while on a nighttime surveillance mission, he didn't know they were going to the governor's cabin.

Molitor testified he feared for his life during surveillance of the cabin with Adam Fox, one of the plot leaders who was convicted on federal charges.

"What happens if we don't do this stuff?" Molitor told the court. "He wasn't saying, 'Shoot somebody' -- that would have been a hard no. He didn't say, 'Blow something up' -- that would have been a hard no. He said, 'Take a video.' I took a video."

Michael Null declined to testify.

The men were linked to the militia group the Wolverine Watchmen, prosecutors said. They were arrested in October 2020 after a member of the group turned into a confidential FBI informant once talk turned to harming law enforcement and public officials, according to prosecutors. Whitmer was unharmed.

Previously, nine of the militia members have been convicted in state or federal court in connection with the alleged plot, while two have been acquitted.

Pete Musico, Joseph Morrison and Paul Bellar were found guilty by a jury in Jackson County of providing material support for a terrorist act, the most serious charge, as well as firearms charges and membership in a gang and given yearslong state prison sentences in December.

Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were found guilty of federal conspiracy charges in a retrial last year after a previous trial ended in a hung jury. They both received double-digit sentences.

Kaleb Franks and Ty Garbin pleaded guilty to lesser charges last year and agreed to testify in the federal case against Fox and Croft. Franks was sentenced to four years in prison, while Garbin was sentenced to 30 months.

Brian Higgins and Shawn Fix each pleaded guilty to reduced state charges earlier this year in Antrim County and have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Both have yet to be sentenced.

A jury found two of the members -- Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta -- not guilty of federal conspiracy charges during a trial last year.

In a statement released following that verdict, Whitmer's office said the alleged plot was "the result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country."

"There must be accountability and consequences for those who commit heinous crimes. Without accountability, extremists will be emboldened," her office said in the statement.