http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/828 ... der+guiltyAfter a Pinellas County jury Wednesday found St. Petersburg NAACP president Darryl Rouson guilty of trespassing, his attorney asked for a poll of the jury.
One by one, they repeated the guilty verdict. But the bespectacled woman seated on the second row hesitated. "Guilty," she said, appearing reluctant.
Pinellas Judge Dorothy Vaccaro asked Cheryl Karner if she was sure.
Karner paused and looked down, on the verge of tears. She said nothing for about 10 seconds when finally Vaccaro broke in.
"I'm not convinced this is a true and accurate verdict," Vaccaro told the six-member jury. "I'm sending you back there again" to deliberate.
About a half hour later, the jury returned - with another guilty verdict.
This time, each juror said confidently that Rouson was guilty of misdemeanor trespassing stemming from his visit in June to a tobacco and accessories shop he criticizes for selling legal smoking pipes he calls "death utensils."
As she left the courthouse, Karner said she was conflicted about finding Rouson guilty.
"The man's a good man," she said. "He has a good purpose. It's sad that maybe there was a mistake. I have a problem convicting someone of trespassing when you are trying to do good."
Rouson, a lawyer, said the guilty verdict surprised him. "I'm a little surprised by it but undaunted," he said after the trial.
In June Rouson went to Purple Haze Tobacco & Accessories, 1437 34th St. S, looked over a pipe and asked manager John Pena how a "rock" could be smoked in it, referring to crack cocaine, prosecutors argued.
Pena, testifying on the first of the two-day trial, said he took the pipe from Rouson and repeatedly asked him to leave because signs in the store warn customers they aren't allowed to mention illegal drugs. Rouson, even after the store's owner showed up, refused, prosecutors said.
"Mr. Rouson exceeded his welcome, he was asked to leave and he refused. He trespassed," Pinellas-Pasco Assistant State Attorney Broderick Taylor said.
But Rouson, and his co-counselor and friend Jay Hebert, painted his visit to Purple Haze as as act of protest. The attorneys called to the stand a Catholic priest from Virginia who trained Rouson in nonviolent protest and civil disobedience.
"The mission was pure, the effort was right," Rouson said after the trial. "I'm going to do everything I can to attack this on all levels, which includes a legislative level as well as the street level," he said referring to pending state legislation targeting retailers that sell merchandise he says is used for illegal drugs.
Leo Calzadilla, owner of Purple Haze, asked the judge to sentence Rouson to the maximum 60 days in jail.
"He got what he wanted out of this, and what he wanted was media attention," Calzadilla said. "We all fell into it. I would have liked to see him do time. He's not into it because he's (against drugs)."
Vaccaro, who before sentencing Rouson, noted his anti-drug efforts were "admirable," withheld adjudication, meaning there will be no formal finding of guilt if he successfully completes the other terms of his sentence.
Vaccaro sentenced Rouson to six months' probation, 25 hours of community service, $500 in court costs, and $119 in restitution for the glass pipes Calzadilla said Rouson broke while at the store. It's unclear what action, if any, the Florida bar will take against Rouson, Hebert said.
He said Vaccaro asked Karner, the juror, about her verdict when he noticed Karner paused with her head down during the first polling.
"That gave me concern," Hebert said. "She had real questions about guilt or innocence."
Rouson said the trial's outcome won't curb his anti-drug efforts.
"I'm unafraid," he said. "I'm undaunted by what has happened. We may take some different tactics, we may use some different approaches. Civil disobedience and nonviolent confrontation are effective . . . but I may have to couple it with some other things."
During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution.
--James Madison, U.S. President
