Government responds to Y-12 protesters’ appeal; argues that sabotage convictions were jusitified

[bananas]

Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel

On Wednesday evening, the federal government responded to the appeal seeking to overturn the conviction of three Y-12 protesters on sabotage charges. The response was filed in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Theodore, who led the prosecution of the case in U.S. District Court in Knoxville and argued in his response to appeal that the Y-12 intruders did try to injure or interfere with the nation’s defense and that their convictions were justified.

In their motion filed with the federal appeals court in early August, attorneys for the Plowshares protesters — Michael Walli, Sister Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed — said it was only through “distorted and unmoored interpretation of the Sabotage Act” that the government was able to obtain convictions on the most serious felony charge related to the July 28, 2012 intrusion at Y-12.

Theodore refuted that statement and others in a point-by-point, 53-page response to the appeal.

“Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find that the defendants intended to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the national defense,” Theodore said in the response summary.

“The evidence at trial clearly established that Defendants wanted nuclear disarmament generally and wanted Y-12’s operations to cease; they sought to advance that objective by breaking into and damaging property at Y-12, a nuclear weapons production facility that is a unique and critical part of the United States’ national defense,” he wrote. “The jury could reasonably infer that Defendants knew and intended that their actions would disrupt operations at Y-12 in some way, whether by delaying construction of the UPF, by diverting resources for security and repairing damage, or by drawing publicity to the intrusion.

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Read more: http://knoxblogs.com/atomiccity/2014/10/22/federal-prosecutor-responds-y-12-protesters-appeal-argues-sabotage-convictions-jusitified/

[cosmicone]

1. Sabotage is never justified

and should be punished.

[GeorgeGist]

3. It is despicable ...

[Dustlawyer]

2. Yea, that spray paint they used could have eaten through the concrete.

The fact that they were able to get in that far which pointed out how bad security was also damaged their egos.