No jury trial for naked TSA protestor

An update from our happy mutant comrade John Brennan, who removed his clothes at the Portland Airport durning a TSA screening.

Portland, OR-July 3, 2012--Judge David Rees issued a ruling on Friday, June 29th, 2012 that John Brennan, the man who stood up against the TSA, is not entitled to a jury trial for the charges of indecent exposure. However, Judge Rees did grant that the appropriate burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Mr. Brennan was arrested with the charge of disorderly conduct, which is a misdemeanor. The DA is prosecuting the case as a violation. A violation is a lesser charge, as opposed to a misdemeanor, which is a crime. The original charges entitled Mr. Brennan to three benefits of the law that he is not normally entitled to under a violation: The right to a court-appointed attorney, the right to a jury trial, and the right to be held to the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Mr. Brennan through his attorney, Michael Rose of Creighton & Rose, asked the court to allow the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt and a jury trial to be retained for his trial. Judge Rees split the request for Mr. Brennan's Motion to Determine Trial Procedure.

John Brennan's indecent exposure trial is set for July 18 at Multnomah County Courthouse.

On April 17, 2012, John Brennan was flying from Portland International Airport to San Jose on business. Going through TSA screening, he opted out of the backscatter machine.

Once a "male assist" TSA agent arrived, John passed through the metal detector with no problem, then they moved to a special screening area where John received a thorough a pat-down. When the TSA agent finished, the agent took a small piece of paper from a dispenser and transferred the residue from the gloves used for John's pat-down to the paper. The TSA agent latched the machine around the paper with the residue, and the machine made a noise. The noise seemed to raise an alarm for TSA, but John was not informed what was happening.

John noticed there was more activity around his screening area and, after asking what was going on, discovered that he had tested positive for nitrates, an explosive. Believing that one or more people from TSA were about to see him naked anyway, and wanting to speed the process up, John removed his clothes and said that he was not carrying explosives.

John believed he was within his legal rights to free speech (to be nude but not lewd as a form of protest) in Oregon, including Portland. Once his clothes were off, TSA agents and supervisors asked him to put them back on. He stated that he believed he was within his legal rights to be nude. John awaited TSA to resume his screening as the TSA threatened to have him arrested. John stood calmly and stayed focused on TSA staff. He was grounded, calm and responsive.

TSA called the Port of Portland Authority who asked John to put his clothes back on. John repeated that he believed he was within his rights to be naked as a form of protest. He was given another chance, then arrested, draped, and escorted through the airport to a holding cell where he was told that he would, in addition to the criminal charges, be subject to an investigation for interfering with the screening process. John was transferred to county jail and charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.

The next day the disorderly conduct charges had been dropped, leaving only the misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure and the possible civil action for interfering with the screening process.

• [Dr. Roboto]

  Yeah misdemeanor potential to face up to a year in jail, felony a year or more.  But, if this is a local ordinance violation, I would hope, at least he wouldn’t be placed on some sex criminal list if convicted.

  • [bobbrusow]

    misdemeanor is up to 90 days in jail a gross misdemeanor is up to a year

    • [Marc Mielke]

      The pic is pretty gross. 

    • [Dr. Roboto]

       The misdemeanor v. felony distinction is pretty standard in the US and it’s as I defined.  Which jurisdiction are you referring to?

• [Todd Daganaar]

  Doesn’t Portland have a nude bike ride every year? I remember hearing that their local codes allowed public nudity.

  • [hardwarejunkie9]

     As mentioned in previous stories: he’s a member of that bike ride.

• [technogeekagain]

  Pity the airport isn’t considered federal land. There is no federal statute against nudity. (Which is why nude beaches tend to be federal beaches.)

• [EH]

  Ha ha, Star Chamber for you, motherfucker!

• [V]

  Upon further review, the judge declared that the evidence would not stand up in court….

• [txhoudini]

  What am I missing here? I think it’s safe to assume he will be found guilty of indecent exposure with or without the need to prove it ”beyond a reasonable doubt.” Breaking the law in protest is still breaking the law, even if you declare that you believe you are within your legal rights. It seems to me that the court is doing him a favor since he will receive a lesser punishment and, I assume, avoid being a convicted sex offender.

  • [Sagodjur]

    Which is probably why he wanted a jury trial. If his lawyer could convince even one juror not to convict him (and I’m sure you can find quite a few people in the jury pool who don’t have kind thoughts for the TSA or their procedures), he could get off pants free!

    • [Bottle Imp]

      Oregon allows non-unanimous jury verdicts. Though, finding more than one person on a Multnomah County jury that sided with him should not have been hard. Hell, finding someone on the Multnomah County bench to side with him might not be that hard.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    I think it’s safe to assume he will be found guilty of indecent exposure with or without the need to prove it ”beyond a reasonable doubt.”

    You’re assuming that his exposure is indecent rather than political, a premise that he should have the right to put to a jury of his peers.

• [Listener43]

  I had no idea the TSA had “male assist” agents.

  I may have to start flying.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    I like the part about how he “received” a pat-down.  Like it’s Christmas and he just got a pony.

    • [pmocek]

      …and like it’s a pat-down rather than a police-style body search.

      • [Tynam]

         It’s definitely not a police-style search.  The police know how.  They get actual training and everything.

        • [pmocek]

          Regardless, what TSA’s airport security guards do to people and call a pat-down is much more invasive than what police call a pat-down.

        • [Kat Stevens]

          Police know how to kill kids and get away with it.

• [panhead20]

  “Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government. Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and putting terror in every heart.”

  Justice Robert Jackson, chief U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials

  I will not subject myself nor my family to needless radiation exposure nor TSA molestation. My family and I will not be flying until the TSA changes these procedures.

• [NoOneSpecific]

  He really is lucky.

  Not arguing “his right to be nude”. He’s lucky there wasn’t a kid present with a parent filing to have him labeled as a sexual offender. Wouldn’t put it past them (TSA) to see this happen, had there been a child within line of sight.

  • [Kat Stevens]

    Being naked in front of a child does not constitute as being a sexual offender!  

    • [NoOneSpecific]

      Actually, publicly exposing your genitals to other people’s children is most certainly enough to be arrested and charged as a sex offender.

      Don’t believe me, try it in a crowded school playground and get back to us!

      • [Antinous / Moderator]

        Public nudity is legal in many places in the US, even if there are children in the vicinity.

        • [NoOneSpecific]

           Understood, and as I have expressed, in certain circumstances, it is not. Anywhere.

          Walk naked, without any children of your own, into a public playground. Let us know how that works out for you.

    • [guest]

       ah, but it does; i had an uncle in texas who mowed the lawn while drunk… and nude.

      after the arrest, he was labeled a sex offender, and had to move due to nearby schools and churches. 

• [Captain Assclown]

  “…Mr Brennan was also charged $50 for his second ball, due to the airline’s ‘one carry-on ball’ policy.”

• [DRAGONRACER]

  they’re just mad because they didn’t get to feel his junk. i say we all go naked as a form of protest. what are they gonna do arrest us all?

  • [penguinchris]

    what are they gonna do arrest us all?

    …yes

  • [billstewart]

    No, but they’d happily kick a group of naked people out of the airport, and then decide there was some reason that meant they had to kick all the clothed people out as well (might have conspired to sneak something in during the distraction, y’know!), so that lots of people would miss their planes and blame the naked terrorists.

    Or alternatively, Yes. Either way it’s not going to make the public happy, and it’s not going to make the TSA behave themselves.

• [Bill Hart]

  When will these people learn that they only have the right to bare arms.

• [catherinecc]

  Just in time for Freedom Day!