A Weld County jury Friday acquitted a man accused of hitting a Weld County sheriff’s deputy in the head with a pro-John Kerry sign at a rally for President Bush last fall.
“The Constitution is alive and well in Weld County,” said Lee Christian, who defended Michael McCarthy during the two-day trial.
The three-man, three-woman panel acquitted McCarthy of harassment and resisting arrest after less than a hour of deliberating. If convicted, McCarthy could have faced 18 months in prison.
A third charge – obstructing justice – was dismissed by the judge in the case.
Christian said McCarthy was arrested for his politics, not his actions last October during a Bush rally at Island Grove Park in Greeley.
McCarthy was among a group of protesters who waved anti-Bush banners and signs outside the facility. McCarthy got involved in a tussle with Deputy John Tucker, who was monitoring the anti-Bush protest.
Defense witnesses claim Tucker lost his temper and arrested McCarthy for expressing his political views. Tucker testified McCarthy hit him with the sign and he resisted arrest.
Jurors, however, didn’t hear from any witness who could fully support Tucker’s version of the events, Christian said. “He took offense at some of the signs … and his job was to act as a cop and cover the perimeter of this protest,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Weld County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors respected the jury’s decision.
“The jury came back with an intelligent, well-reasoned verdict,” Thea Mustari said.
