|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charges Dismissed Against Five Shareholders Denied Entry to Annual Meeting, Arrested, and Charged with Trespass.
February 10, 2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arrested were ( l to r) John, Bill, Tom, Marilyn and Pepper. |
|
|
|
|
(Minneapolis) In an unusual move, before the stipulations had been agreed upon or the jury chosen, the prosecuting attorney for the City of Eden Prairie, Jennifer Inz, requested Judge Lloyd B. Zimmerman decide on his jury instructions before she proceeded with the case.
Simultaneously, the defendants presented Judge Zimmerman their "Memorandum in Support of Proposed Jury Instructions". The document cites several Minnesota State Supreme Court rulings on how "claim of right" can be used as a defense and how it should be defined for the fact finders (jury) in a trespass case. The defendants also included three previous Hennipen County Court jury instructions as examples of previous Judge's instructions in similar cases.
Judge Zimmerman then took a 30 minute recess to review the material and come to a decision.
Upon reconvening, Judge Zimmerman explained that Minnesota Supreme Court rulings appeared clear to him, that in this case, the jury would benefit from a clear explanation of the trespass law including the concept of claim of right - a reasonable belief you are allowed on the property based upon a rule, regulation or law.
Prosecutor Inz, upon hearing the judge's decision on jury instructions, announced that the State of Minnesota was dismissing the cases as the charges were unprosecutable.
UPDATE
Several weeks following the scheduled trial, the city of Eden Prairie notified Alliant Techsystems that in the future, they would neither detain nor arrest legal shareholders attempting to attend the companies annual meeting. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
