A federal judge in Fort Worth declared a mistrial in the case of nine Prairieland ICE detention center shooting defendants Tuesday in response to an attorney's shirt emblazoned with a "politically charged message."
The shirt — worn by Maricela Rueda's defense attorney MarQuetta Clayton — bore black and white images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Shirley Chisholm and other people and scenes from the civil rights movement.
She appeared to wear it in honor of Jesse Jackson. The civil rights icon died Tuesday morning at the age of 84.
Judge Mark Pittman halted jury selection after getting frustrated with Clayton's questioning, then noticing her shirt.
"I don't know why in the world you would think that's appropriate," Pittman told Clayton.
The mistrial came after a vocal portion of the pool of 75 prospective jurors expressed anti-ICE and anti-President Trump sentiments when questioned by the judge and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith.
The decision is not likely to bring an end to the case, in which the nine defendants are accused of being part of a "North Texas antifa cell." All are accused of being involved in the non-fatal shooting of a police officer outside the Prairieland Detention Center after what defendants say was a July 4 noise demonstration outside the building.
The political overtones of the case came to a head with the mistrial Tuesday. The trial is gearing up to be the first federal prosecution of "antifa" as a domestic terrorist group and the first major test of Trump's desire to go after alleged left-wing extremists.
Jury selection will start again with a new jury pool on Monday. Clayton, who was seen leaving the courthouse with her shirt turned inside out, declined to comment. Pittman said Clayton would have to return for a hearing at some point to determine whether she'd be sanctioned for her shirt.
Clayton was the first defense attorney to begin questioning jurors. She began by noting the constitutional right to protest and mentioned Jackson's death.
Then Clayton asked jurors whether they knew the difference between a noise demonstration, a protest and a riot. Her co-counsel Lesa Pamplin brought a poster board that seemed to juxtapose images of seemingly peaceful protests with a fiery riot.
Pittman admonished Clayton for bringing the board without telling the court or prosecutors and ordered Clayton not to use it.
Clayton then asked potential jurors whether they believed a peaceful protest could cross the line into becoming a riot. She asked the pool to say on a scale of 1 to 5 — 1 being agreeing, 5 being disagreeing — whether they believed guns should be brought to a protest.
After a few answers, Pittman told Clayton to stop with her questioning and scolded her for not making good use of her time. Pittman gave the defense 10 minutes per defendant to question the jury — Clayton's questioning had taken 22 minutes, he said.
Pittman asked the jury to leave the room for a five-minute break then said he intended to call for a mistrial, something he said he's never done before. He expressed concerns over the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals — the federal appeals court for Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — overturning the verdict in the case if he didn't declare a mistrial.
"It's what (the shirt is) suggesting that's improper," he told attorneys.
Smith didn't express whether he supported a mistrial, but all the defense attorneys opposed the move, with some saying they hadn't noticed the shirt.
While Pittman said he admired King and Chisholm, he likened Clayton's shirt to a prosecutor wearing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement pin, or "a shirt with Donald Trump riding an eagle" with an ICE flag.
"Politics — as prevalent as they are, as divided as they are — don't have any business here," he said.
Nearly seven hours after jury selection began, Pittman dismissed the jury pool. He was "absolutely disgusted" with the state of the country, he said, and he encouraged jurors to pray that they could love their neighbor despite not agreeing with all their views.
In an interview with KERA News outside the courthouse, defendant Savanna Batten's sister Amber Lowrey called the mistrial frustrating.
"We've got everybody's clothes ready," Lowrey said of the defendants. "We've got our support people over here. Everybody's worked really hard to make this happen. So, it is disappointing in that regard to just have him say, 'I don't like your shirt.'"
Pittman, a Trump appointee, has drawn scrutiny from attorneys and supporters of the Prairieland defendants throughout the course of the case. The judge sanctioned defendant Zachary Evetts' attorneys last month for what he called "frivolous" motions seeking more evidence from the government.
Two years ago, the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Pittman abused his discretion by fining two lawyers for submitting declarations instead of notarized affidavits.
"I'm extremely disappointed that an action was taken that was merited neither by the facts nor the law, that none of the parties moved for," Patrick McLain, Evetts' lead attorney, said Tuesday. "But we're prepared to go to trial Monday to seek acquittal of our client."
Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA's law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.
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