BINGHAMTON, New York - Four Ithaca protesters convicted Monday of trespassing and damaging government property when they spilled their blood in a Lansing military recruiting office can continue peaceful protests “to their hearts' content” until they are sentenced in late January, a judge said.

Daniel Burns is shown Monday outside federal court in Binghamton with his baby, Francis, after he and the other three members of the St. Patrick's Four were found not guilty of conspiracy to impede a federal officer, but guilty of two misdemeanor charges of trespassing and damaging federal property. (KATHRYN DEUEL / Gannett News Service)

The charges Peter De Mott, Clare Grady, Daniel Burns and Teresa Grady were indicted in February on federal charges for spilling their blood March 17, 2003, in a military recruiting office in Lansing. The indictment contained the following counts: • Conspiring to impede an officer of the United States, innocent. • Injuring and damaging government property, guilty. • Entering and damaging a military station for unlawful purposes, guilty. • Entering a military station after having been previously removed. DeMott, Burns and Clare Grady were found guilty; Teresa Grady was not indicted on this count.

But they were warned Monday by Judge Thomas J. McAvoy not to break any laws while protesting, something the judge said would land them in jail before they are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 24-27. McAvoy turned down a request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Miroslav Lovric to put all four protesters in jail on Monday.

A 12-member jury said Monday that Ithacans Daniel Burns, Peter De Mott, Clare Grady and Teresa Grady broke the law, convicting them on two misdemeanor-level counts of trespassing and damaging federal property. The four could each get sentenced to up to one year in federal prison, though one of their legal advisers said a prison sentence of several months for each protester was more likely.

The jury found the four protesters, who represented themselves in court, not guilty of conspiring to impede a federal officer, the most serious of the four counts. A conviction on that count could have landed them in federal prison for up to six years.

Three of the four — De Mott, Burns and Clare Grady — were convicted of an additional count of trespassing.

William Quigley, a Loyola University law professor who was one of three legal advisers to the four protesters, called the jury's decision Monday a victory for dissent in the United States. “Given what the jury heard, the verdict was a good outcome,” the New Orleans resident said.

The verdict was a signal to the government that it overreacted with the conspiracy charge, Quigley said. Misdemeanor-level trespassing convictions are more typical convictions for protesters charged in federal courts, Quigley said after the verdict was announced.

The four had been forbidden by McAvoy to use international law as a defense, namely that what they did at the Lansing recruiting office was not a crime because they acted to prevent a larger crime — war with Iraq. But despite the judge's warning, protesters continued to try to raise the issue during their six-day trial.

The jurors, who deliberated six hours on Friday before returning to court Monday for at least 1 1/2 more hours, declined comment after the trial. The verdicts were announced about 11:20 a.m. Monday.

Lovric said afterward that he was not disappointed with the verdicts.

“The defendants are going to be held accountable,” the prosecutor said. Their jury trial last year in Tompkins County ended in a mistrial after jurors couldn't agree on state charges lodged against them in connection with the March 17, 2003, protest.

The four admitted they spilled their blood on the walls, floor, door and windows of the recruiting office. Blood was also poured on an American flag and other items in the lobby of the office. A recruiter testified that some of the blood ended up on one of his hands.

Lovric, who said he'd recommend jail time for all four offenders at sentencing, isn't confident that the protesters will refrain from further law-breaking.

“They think they have the right to do this if they choose,” he said.

Lovric praised the jurors for doing their job under what the prosecutor described as a circus-like atmosphere.

A courtroom packed with the protesters' supporters frequently burst into applause. Anti-war protesters armed with signs were present outside the courthouse on Henry Street throughout the trial. The judge cited Teresa Grady, Peter De Mott and Daniel Burns with contempt of court after they either failed to tell the jury who drew the blood used in the protest or brought up issues they'd been forbidden to mention by the judge. The judge has not yet decided on punishment for the contempt citations, which carry possible jail time and fines.

But Quigley defended the protesters' conduct.

“(Lovric) may call it a circus,” the attorney said. “We call it democracy.”

Copyright © 2005 The Ithaca Journal

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