A Michigan man is considering a federal lawsuit against a county judge who ordered him arrested for passing out flyers in front of the courthouse.
Mecosta County resident Keith Wood told MLive.com he was passing out pamphlets about the concept of jury nullification in front of the county courthouse in Big Rapids Nov. 24 when he was approached by court personnel.
The flyer was from the Montana-based Fully Informed Jury Association and informed readers that if they believe a law or prosecution is wrong, they have a right as jurors to refuse to find a defendant guilty, regardless of a judge’s orders.
Wood said he learned about jury nullification online, and wanted to ensure potential jurors knew their rights because they’re often not included in jury instructions before a trial, Fox 17 reports.
“I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ,” Wood said. “Jesus said ‘ the truth will set you free’ and I want people to know the truth.
“If you don’t use your rights, you lose them.”
Wood told the media he was handing out the flyers – titled “What rights do you have as a juror that the judge won’t tell you about?” – when a court employee came out and asked him to come inside to speak with a judge. Wood asked the woman if he was being detained, she said no, and so he opted to stay put, MLive reports.
Wood contends a court deputy later came out and threatened to call the Big Rapids Police to have him arrested if he did not come inside to speak with a judge, and he complied.
Once inside, “former 20-year county prosecutor and newly elected Mecosta County District Court Judge Peter Jaklevic told a deputy to ‘place him in custody for jury tampering,’” MLive reports.
Wood was then hauled off to jail, where he was arrested for jury tampering and obstruction of justice and jailed on a $150,000 bond. Obstruction of justice is a five-year felony, while the jury tampering charge carries a potential one-year jail sentence.
“When (the judge) told me the bond, again I was speechless,” Wood told Fox 17. “$150,000 bond for handing out a piece of paper on a public sidewalk? Speechless.”
Wood charged $15,000 to his credit card to post bond and was released after 12 hours in the clink.
David Kallman, Wood’s Lansing-based attorney, called his client’s arrest “outrageous,” especially because Wood did not have a case at the courthouse, and no jury was seated at the time he was passing out the pamphlets.
“There was no jury to tamper with,” Kallman told MLive. “The government can’t just come in and step on people’s First Amendment rights.”
The judge apparently denied Wood a court-appointed attorney, so he called Kallman. At first, Kallman thought Wood was omitting parts of his story, because he couldn’t believe his ears, but later realized the judge likely overstepped his authority.
“I thought there had to be more here, but there’s not,” Kallman said.
“It’s just a blatant illegal improper use of government power to squelch a person’s constitutional rights of free speech, that’s what this is,” he told Fox 17. “There has to be push-back, and judges and prosecutors and people need to know: you cannot squelch people’s free speech rights and get away with it.”
Wood told the site he refused a plea deal offered Tuesday. Jaklavic refused to comment and recused himself from the case.
Wood and Kallman are pressing to have the case dismissed and Wood’s credit card repaid. They are also considering a federal lawsuit over the ordeal.
Woods is scheduled for a preliminary examination Dec. 8, MLive reports.
“I truly believe in my heart of hearts I didn’t do anything wrong,” Woods told Fox 17. “I didn’t break the law, so they need to drop all of the charges against me.”
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