Report: Judge tosses conviction of activist who laughed at Jeff Sessions
A judge has thrown out a conviction and ordered a retrial for an activist after she laughed during the confirmation hearing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to the Reuters news agency.
Desiree Fairooz, a 61-year-old Code Pink member, was arrested in January after she laughed at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when a lawmaker said Sessions treated all Americans equally. In May, a jury found her guilty of two charges related to demonstrating on Capitol grounds.
Chief Judge Robert Morin of the District of Columbia Superior Court overturned the verdict on Friday and ordered a new trial, saying that it was unclear if Fairooz was convicted for laughing or for speaking as she was removed, her lawyer, Samuel Bogash, told Reuters.
"The government's position was that laughing alone was enough to convict. But the judge made it clear that he didn't think it was," Morin said.
Code Pink said on Facebook that Fairooz called the retrial as a waste of taxpayer money.
"I would have never spoken out at the hearing if I hadn't been arrested for laughing, and now I am going to be tried again! It's absurd. This is a waste of everyone's time and a waste of tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayers money. The only thing more ridiculous than being tried for laughing, is being tried twice for laughing," she said, according to the post.
The judge did not set a date for the retrial, but scheduled a status hearing for September 1, according to Reuters.
