Jurors decided Wednesday that Kathleen Ensz was guilty only of bad manners when she stuffed a political mailer full of dog feces and delivered it to U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave’s office.
A three-woman, three-man panel cleared the retired University of Northern Colorado French literature teacher of a misdemeanor charge of criminal use of a noxious substance. If she had been convicted, the 63-year-old Ensz would have faced up to six months in jail.
The not-guilty verdict came after two hours of deliberation and a day-and-a-half-long trial where talk of dog excrement – and the various synonyms for dog dung – was bandied about with all the seriousness that lawyers could muster.
“This was an unconscionable waste of resources,” said Ensz, noting two prosecutors argued the case for Weld County.
Ensz, meanwhile, also was backed by two lawyers. They argued Ensz disagreed with the Republican congresswoman’s politics, was tired of receiving her mailers and became so frustrated she decided to package her German shepherd’s droppings and use them as a political protest.
“We don’t find people guilty of a crime because they have bad manners,” said defense attorney Shannon Lyons.
But prosecutors argued Ensz’s actions interfered with the businesses and workers at the Greeley office complex where she dropped off the dog poop on May 31, 2006. “This was fresh dog poop, and it stinks,” said prosecutor Christian Schulte.
Schulte also argued that the defense notion that Ensz was being targeted because she aimed the dog poop at Musgrave was a smoke screen.
“She doesn’t have to worry about jackbooted thugs kicking down her door,” Schulte said.
Jurors, however, agreed that Ensz’s intent was political protest protected by the Constitution, said her other lawyer, Patricia Bangert.
“That was, for the most part, a political vendetta against her,” Bangert said.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
