The First Amendment stalking case resumed today in the New Haven Superior Court, presided over by Judge Peter Brown. An all White jury is about to decide whether VA resident Paul Boyne should be convicted of stalking family court judges. He is charged with 18 counts, a mix of various felonies and misdemeanors that could land him in jail for many years.

The jury listened to evidence presented by the State for 9 full days. The evidence consisted of the jury being read inflammatory blogs in which Boyne advocated for the death of a number of Family Court Judges. Boyne frequently made use of racist and anti-Semitic language. It is not a crime to use racist and anti-Semitic slurs. But the new “hate crime” laws turn a misdemeanor into a felony if you committed your crime using racist slang, regardless of whether you were drunk or didn’t even know if anyone was listening. Hate crime laws came about as a result of the political correctness movement. The hate crime laws targeted White criminals rather than Black criminals. When was the last time you heard of a Black criminal being charged with a hate crime because he called a woman “whitey” before he snatched her purse? Are racist criminals any more dangerous than politically correct criminals? Give me a break.

Recently the Untied States Supreme Court heard arguments about how prosecutors used the racist and violent language of a rapper defendant to impugn his reputation in a criminal case. The rapper’s attorneys argued that the language used in rap songs is “artistic expression” and “poetry” and used language experts to support his defense. Amicus, ie., Friend of the Court briefs were submitted that supported the Defense, arguing the following: “The State urged the jury to consider the lyrics as literal rather than metaphoric expressions and to interpret them as self-admissions of Broadnax’s intent to commit future violent crimes. The State’s use of Broadnax’s artistic expression was racially charged. It used his lyrics to appeal to the jurors’ racial and stereotypical fears of young Black men and rap music. In doing so, it capitalized on the jury’s apparent lack of understanding of rap music and the biases and stereotypes about rap music and artists common in American society. Ignoring the lyrics’ artistic form and intent, the State portrayed them as literal expressions of criminal intent to appeal to the stereotype that Black men like Broadnax are violent criminals. The State further compounded biases and fears triggered by Broadnax’s lyrics by comparing him to predatory animals…. Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. once described rap as a new vanguard of American poetry and noted that it manipulates language to the point that it complicates or even rejects literal interpretation. So, a literal reading of rap in any of its sub genres does the art form and its creators an injustice.”

Paul Boyne had public defender Todd Bussert representing him during his trial. Bussert never hired a Harvard professor to explain whether Boyne’s racist language is part of a sub genre of White American language not to be given a literal interpretation. The jury may very well convict Boyne because they didn’t like his racist language, just as the prosecutors in the State of Texas used Broadnax’s “rap lyrics to appeal to the jurors’ racial and stereotypical fears of young Black men and rap music.”

Judge Peter Brown stepped down from Boyne’s case today for “medical reasons.” Former Federal prosecutor Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton took over the case. How convenient. Judge Brown locked up Paul Boyne for two weeks for no reason whatsoever, see brief below. Brown should have recused himself for locking up Boyne merely because Boyne published the State’s witness list. Boyne urged his public defender to ask for Brown’s recusal, and his public defender declined without any explanation. If Brown stayed on as Judge, Boyne would have to be sentenced by Brown. Any sentence by Brown would have been challenged on appeal due to the clear personal animus Brown had shown to Boyne. That argument disappears with the appointment of Judge Dayton to the case. Bussert didn’t move to recuse Brown because he didn’t wish to embarrass the Judiciary. Bussert works for the Public Defender’s Office, which handles thousands of cases before the Judiciary every day. Judges have a lot of power over the Public Defender’s Office, from the way they administer their offices to their budgets. Supreme Court Justice Richard Palmer sits on the Commission that can hire and fire Public Defenders. A recent wrongful discharge case against the PD’s office exposed the level of influence the Judiciary has over the Public Defender’s Office. Brown left open the possibility that he may return to the bench to sentence Mr. Boyne after his medical issue “resolves.” I wouldn’t bet on it, but you never know, anything is possible in the “Constitution State.”

Judge Brown banned Boyne from accessing his cell phone during the trial in order to prevent Boyne from taking pictures of the courthouse and court documents, yet has now allowed Boyne to have his cell phone while the jury deliberates, so that Boyne can be contacted to hear the guilty verdict and the newly anointed Judge Dayton can determine whether to release Boyne pending appeal.

The jury heard closing arguments by the prosecution and the defense. The jury were read two hours of jury instructions on how to decide Boyne’s fate. Mr. Boyne is a brave man. Apparently he was offered a number of plea deals but refused. Boyne believes in his innocence regardless of whether he gets convicted. Boyne is not afraid of jail.

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