[Mpls] Activist, sister not guilty of obstructing police & Jury comments

[Shawn Lewis]

Activist, sister not guilty of obstructing police 
October 14, 2004 
    
  
Minneapolis community activist Alfred Flowers and his 
sister were found not guilty Wednesday of obstructing 
police during a scuffle a year ago outside the Urban 
League building in north Minneapolis. Flowers, 44, also 
was acquitted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. His sister, 
Alisa Clemons, a former Minneapolis police officer, was 
found not guilty of obstructing police, a gross misdemeanor.

The scuffle occurred after Flowers, a member of a group 
working to improve police-community relations, attended 
a meeting in September 2003 at the Minneapolis Urban League. 
He voiced concerns about funding matters involving the NAACP. 
The police were called when he was asked to leave because he 
allegedly became violent.

The six-member jury took 2½ hours to reach not-guilty 
verdicts after nearly three weeks of testimony. "We had a 
lot of reasonable doubt on every point," said jury foreman 
Raymond Moles of Plymouth. He and two other jurors said 
afterward that the defense had a strong case and they 
believed the defendants did nothing wrong and shouldn't 
have been charged.

Two jurors, Stacy Cremers of Maple Grove and Bob Borgeson 
of Brooklyn Park, said they thought police overreacted in 
how they handled Flowers, who was walking away from an 
officer who tackled him outside the Urban League building.

"I know the whole time that I didn't do anything," Flowers said. 
"I am saddened because I know that many African-Americans 
can't afford to defend themselves against charges like this."

"We never should have been here," Clemons said.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5031923.html
Posted by Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood


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