Jurors deadlocked in Sean Thompson\u2019s pie throwing trial were ordered to resume deliberations Thursday afternoon. \u00a0Jurors told Sacramento Superior Court Judge Curtis Fiorini that they deadlocked 7-5 and 9-3 on the felony assault and misdemeanor battery charges the local activist faced in the Sept. 21 incident at Sacramento Charter High School in Oak Park.<\/p>\n
The panel\u2019s forewoman said jurors took three votes on one of the charges and two votes on the other, casting their latest vote about 11 a.m. Thursday without reaching a unanimous decision.<\/p>\n
The forewoman told Fiorini, sitting in for trial judge Sacramento Superior Court Judge Robert Twiss, that jurors needed a clearer definition of the charges against Thompson, who struck then-Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson in the face with a pie at the September benefit.<\/p>\n
The local activist in the months leading to trial maintained the surprise pieing was meant as an act of political theater, a last-ditch protest against the then-mayor and his inaction on homelessness in the city. His stage was a benefit featuring civic leaders and local celebrities that his pro bono attorney Claire White described as a symbol of the city\u2019s haves and have nots.<\/p>\n
At trial, attorney White told jurors that the wrong man was on trial for the wrong crime, saying the pie prank did not rise to the level of a felony assault.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Thompson was engaged in an act of civil disobedience. Mr. Thompson disturbed the peace,\u201d White said in her closing argument Tuesday. \u201cThere are charges for that, but you won\u2019t see them because the District Attorney charged Mr. Thompson with felony assault.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson\u2019s prank was met with Johnson\u2019s fists, leaving the Sacramento man bloodied before Johnson was pulled away by his security detail in an ugly scene that White returned to time and again at trial. White accused Johnson of avoiding defense attempts at a subpoena to testify and criticized prosecutors who said they had no plans to call Johnson to court. Johnson, nor Thompson, testified at trial.<\/p>\n
But prosecuting Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Anthony Ortiz said the charges were appropriate. He argued that Thompson\u2019s political protest crossed into criminal conduct when he struck the mayor, calling the case against the pie-throwing activist \u201cclear and straightforward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defendant didn\u2019t agree with (Johnson) and he decided to step up and assault him,\u201d Ortiz told jurors Tuesday in his closing argument. \u201cThis is an assault on a public official.\u201d<\/p>\n
BY DARRELL SMITH<\/p>\n
Source: \u00a0sacbee.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"