A Michigan state based militia known as the Hutaree have made a big splash in the headlines following criminal allegations that they were staging an attack against police. Nine members of the Hutaree militia have been charged by a federal court with seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, and teaching the use of explosive materials and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. At first look, the decision to plead not guilty appears futile, since federal officials have substantial evidence against the militia members including voice recordings, intelligence gathered by an undercover agent, and 300 pieces of physical evidence seized with a search warrant including explosives, firearms, and bomb parts. However, on closer examination, the criminal defense attorneys’ tactics are well substantiated by both the law and historical precedent. It seems like their federal attorneys have a game plan.
To begin with, the United States federal government has never won a seditious conspiracy case, conspiracy with aim to overthrow or destroy the state, against a right wing group. Leonard Zeskind, author of Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstreams writes that in order for the prosecution to prove seditious conspiracy they need more than “wild talk and gun charges” and must prove that Hutaree militia members had “imminent plans to cross the line from speech to sedition”(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonard-zeskind/strongthe-hutaree-militia_b_519066.html). The federal defense attorneys representing the nine members state that no crime was committed and that their clients were only exercising their right to free speech and assembly, including the right to dissent from the government. The defense has already further gained ground by complaining that they have not been allowed to cross examine the undercover agent who collected much of the evidence against the alleged federal conspirators.
Past precedent in cases of seditious conspiracy shows that in order for the prosecution to win, they will need witnesses that are extremely credible and believable to the Michigan jurors. Author Leonard Zeskind reminds us it is not a crime in itself to be a “conspiracy besotted gun nut.” One of the criminal defense lawyers for this case himself is arguing that “all you got is a lot of talk from people who like to dress up in fatigues and carry around guns in the woods.”
Will the jury find that the nine Hutaree are nothing more than gun totting, boy scout types talking a little smack against the federal government, or will they see them as domestic terrorists with serious intentions to use violence against the state? In previous trials of seditious conspiracy against right wing groups, jurors have been much more sympathetic with the defense than the prosecution. However, what is novel about this case is that the Hutaree have made statements that they planned on specifically targeting police and their families. Attacks against police are taken very seriously in this country and assault and battery of a police officer usually carries a greater punishment. While jurors may be sympathetic against fellow compatriots conspiring against Uncle Sam, planning to attack police officers that work to protect us every day may have crossed the line from to conspicuous to seditious.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/31/michigan.militia.hutaree/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonard-zeskind/strongthe-hutaree-militia_b_519066.html
