U.S. District Court Judge Stephen McAuliffe who ruled that he had been "constrained" by a 2007 federal appeals court ruling "to conclude that Tobin is entitled to a judgment of acquittal."
The appeals court last year overturned Tobin's 2005 conviction and sent the case back to McAuliffe's trial court for review of whether Tobin's action had fit the crime with which he had been charged and convicted.
Tobin's attorneys moved for acquittal last September, but last month, McAuliffe issued an order setting out a schedule for a new trial but had not ruled specifically on the acquittal motion. Tobin's attorney appealed that pre-trial order last week.
Late this afternoon, McAuliffe acquitted Tobin, but said he believed that the case will ultimately be reviewed again by an appeals court.
I know there's no honor among theives, and all, but in reading through smaller fish phone jammer Allen Raymond's How to Rig an Election, it becomes pretty clear that Tobin is high enough on the GOP food chain that he needed to be protected. And since the DoJ slow-walked Tobin's prosecution in the first place, I'm suspicious of every chapter of Tobin's court story, including this one.
Morning Update: From the comments (Paul Twomey):
The statute is indeed a poor fit for the crime.
And it begs the question, which I asked the DOJ to no avail, of why Tobin wasnt simply charged with what he did--- a conspriacy to violate the constitutional right of speech and association of the victims.
They originally charged him with a conspiracy to interfer with the get out the rides program, which was thrown out at trial when Allen Raymond told the jury that he had never mentioned that the calls would go to the ride program, because Chuck Mcgee only came up with that idea later.
This charging decision, like that to allege harassment, is problematic. The DOJ had interviewed Raymond a year earlier and had to know that the charges either didnt fit or couldnt be proved.
The matter will now return to the court of appeals for resolution on the question of the charging decisions. For the truth we will have to wait upon the House Judidiary Committee hearings on the DOJ mishandling of the case.
