Patterico's Pontifications

8/8/2019

Lawyer Argues That Man Who Attacked Teen For Not Removing Hat Was Following Trump’s Orders

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:29 am



[guest post by Dana]

In a follow-up to the story about a man who fractured the skull of a teen when he slammed him to the ground for not removing his hat during the National Anthem, we are learning that the accused man’s lawyer is arguing that his client believed he was acting on Trump’s order:

The attorney for a 39-year-old man charged with assaulting a child who didn’t take his hat off for the national anthem says his client, compromised by a traumatic brain injury, believes he was acting on an order from President Donald Trump.

Superior resident Curt Brockway was charged Monday with felony assault on a minor. His defense attorney, Lance Jasper, told the Missoulian Wednesday the president’s “rhetoric” contributed to the U.S. Army veteran’s disposition when he choke-slammed a 13-year-old, fracturing his skull, at the Mineral County fairgrounds on Aug. 3.

“His commander in chief is telling people that if they kneel, they should be fired, or if they burn a flag, they should be punished,” Jasper said. “He certainly didn’t understand it was a crime.”

Jasper also contends that Brockway’s injury impedes his ability to think for himself:

Brockway sustained a traumatic brain injury in a vehicle crash in the winter of 2000, Jasper said. He was on active military duty at Fort Lewis, Washington, at the time, and was driving home to visit family for the holidays, Jasper said. He was honorably discharged from the military due to disability, according to Jasper.

He said Brockway’s military background has been central to his identity since suffering the injury to his frontal lobe, which controls cognitive functions like judgement and problem solving.

Couple that injury, Jasper argues, with the president’s calls to weed out those who have protested the national anthem or criticized the nation, and Brockway is no longer thinking for himself but responding to a presidential order.

“Obviously he (Brockway) owes a big portion of accountability for what took place, but it’s certain that there was other things at work here that definitely contributed,” he said.

Moreover, Jasper believes Brockway’s vulnerable state leaves him open to being exploited by Trump’s rhetoric:

“Trump never necessarily says go hurt somebody, but the message is absolutely clear,” Jasper said. “I am certain of the fact that (Brockway) was doing what he believed he was told to do, essentially, by the president.”

Jasper plans to deploy that argument. “There is the defense that his mental illness or brain injury that will be raised, along with permission given by the president,” Jasper said. “Whether that passes muster with the court as a viable defense is for a different day.”

Two things: As for the teen, his mother Megan Keeler said that he bled from his ears for six hours after being slammed down on the ground. He has since been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.

Also, in spite of the state’s request that Brockway’s bond be set to $100,000, Brockway was released on his own recognizance, per the judge’s order.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

29 Responses to “Lawyer Argues That Man Who Attacked Teen For Not Removing Hat Was Following Trump’s Orders”

  1. I suspect this line of argument will continue to increase. Whether or not it flies, is another question.

    Dana (fdf131)

  2. That’s the insanity defense. Montana’s hospital for the criminally insane must be nicer than its prison.

    nk (dbc370)

  3. I was hoping you would chime in, nk. What do you think of using that strategy in this case? It seems that it would have less of a chance of success in Montana as opposed to a place like Chicago.

    Dana (fdf131)

  4. Dana at #3: How close are they to Missoula or to a reservation?

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  5. you’ll find a lawyer to defend anything, except probably traditional marriage in California,

    https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2019/08/07/trump-supporters-cleaned-baltimore-neighborhood-local-newspaper-not-happy/

    narciso (d1f714)

  6. I spoke too soon. Montana has abolished the insanity defense. The verdict now is “guilty but mentally ill”. According to Mr. Google, “the judge may sentence the individual to
    the custody of the DPHHS Director for placement at an appropriate correctional, mental health, or
    developmental disability facility”
    . In English, he could go to prison, a mental hospital, or even a group home, as the Department of Public Health And Human Services determines is appropriate.

    nk (dbc370)

  7. And in direct answer to your question, Dana, it sounds like it has a good chance. It will depend on the testimony of the experts, but jurors are much more likely to bring in “guilty but mentally ill” than they are to bring in “not guilty by reason of insanity”. It’s a compromise verdict of recent vintage to help out prosecutors — one of the ways the system has been stacking the deck against defendants for the past forty years.

    nk (dbc370)

  8. How much does the fact that this is in Montana play a part, nk?

    Dana (fdf131)

  9. I don’t really know, Dana. That they are one of only four states that have abolished the insanity defense leads me to believe that there is a law and order ethos generally. Localities may differ.

    nk (dbc370)

  10. We are only going to see more incidents like this, and likely much more violent ones, with Trump supporters attacking the president’s perceived enemies. And we are also likely going to see more comparable incidents from the other direction, with increasingly violent attacks against Trump supporters individually or in larger groups, with the attackers claiming self-defense. It seems almost inevitable at this point. But hey, Republicans and Democrats killing each other like this may well be the only remaining WIN/WIN political scenario for the rest of us.

    marauga (a5f8d4)

  11. leniency is odd in some places,

    https://saraacarter.com/top-fbi-deputy-assistant-director-who-leaked-to-media-revealed-former-doj-declined-prosecution/

    so which reporters did he leak to, and what other quid pro quos were involved,

    narciso (d1f714)

  12. I think the thread you want is this one, narciso: https://patterico.com/2019/08/08/breaking-news-off-topic-links-882019/ DRJ out it up first thing today.

    nk (dbc370)

  13. if it’s going to be about another evil, that has been loosed on the land, I have no sympathy for said persons, if they did something let them own it,

    narciso (d1f714)

  14. Movin’ to Montana soon
    Gonna be a dental floss tycoon

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  15. I wonder if “Allah told me to do it” will become an insanity defense? That I know of the jihadists are portrayed as “lone wolves” that don’t represent actual Islam.

    BuDuh (872f60)

  16. If he has a brain injury that diminishes his judgment to the point where he will violently strikes a 13 year old child for not taking of their hat during the national anthem I think the following things are clear.

    1. He’s not fully responsible for his action and any punishment should be modified accordingly.
    2. He’s a danger to those around him and there’s a legitimate interest in protecting the public.
    3. The fact that he may have been influenced by Trump’s rhetoric isn’t really important.
    I’ll go on to make a wager that most of the news coverage and headlines will emphasize the Trump part over the brain injury part. I’m sure the articles will cover both parts, but I doubt the headlines will. Gotta get those clicks.

    Time123 (235fc4)

  17. gotta find me a dental floss bush
    next to a pygmy pony

    mg (8cbc69)

  18. I’ll go on to make a wager that most of the news coverage and headlines will emphasize the Trump part over the brain injury part. I’m sure the articles will cover both parts, but I doubt the headlines will. Gotta get those clicks.

    Precisely what happened here:

    Lawyer Argues That Man Who Attacked Teen For Not Removing Hat Was Following Trump’s Orders

    BuDuh (872f60)

  19. Its going to get worse before 2020 election.

    lany (a45b6f)

  20. I hope you mean the headlines, lany.

    DRJ (15874d)

  21. Not the insanity.

    DRJ (15874d)

  22. Isn’t the NA sort of secondary in this? He could have been picking his nose or ‘chewing gum on line’ –and we know how Hedy Lamarr in Blazing Saddles [‘That’s Headly!’] handled that.

    Smacking a kid– anybody- like that just basic assault, right? The lawyers here can explain.

    But trying to hang this on the Trump hat brings to mind scenes from Phyllis Bottome’s ‘The Mortal Storm’ which I reread several months ago– for the unfamiliar, you may have seen the old Jimmy Stewart film but the book depicts how a society in day to day life turns fascist. This sort of incident and the rationale could have been taken from it.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  23. Anymore, the headlines are the insanity.

    Dana (fdf131)

  24. Next will come, “Where’s your MAGA armband?! Why aren’t you wearing it to the school board meeting?!!”… this sort of zealotry is what we all have to watch out for.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  25. Defense attorneys do what they gotta do. What, he couldn’t have “Shusshed him”?

    rcocean (1a839e)

  26. I bet he was just following the example of the current Congress critter from Montana that is currently running for governor.

    MasterBaker (bcae7b)

  27. Alex, I’ll take what is a defense “I’ll never attempt for $1,000.”

    Advocaat (80f9a5)

  28. I’ll bet he gets acquitted.

    Rip Murdock (d6b59b)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0870 secs.