BY ED FELIEN
About the middle of September, Todd Lipelt got called to serve as a juror in Hennepin County District Court.
It was a horrific experience.
Todd Lipelt
He was rejected for a trial the first day, but he got picked for one the second day. The case was the State of Minnesota against Luke John Merrick. The charges were: Driving While Impaired, with presence of a controlled substance and, Count Two, Driving After Cancellation.
The Defense claimed a Necessity Defense.
The Prosecution called Trooper Gus Culbeaux. He was the arresting officer. Culbeaux was recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving as having the most Driving Under the Influence arrests in one year.
Merrick was pulled over on 35W around Diamond Lake Road at about 2:30 am on May 4, 2023. Culbeaux said he was speeding and weaving, so he thought there might be a DUI violation. Video from the trooper’s car shows Merrick’s truck staying within the lines on the highway but possibly touching the line on the right shoulder at one point. Merrick’s truck was travelling 58 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone.
It should be noted that Luke John Merrick is Native American with a long braid.
When he was pulled over, Merrick told Officer Culbeaux, “I don’t have a license. I know I shouldn’t be driving.” He said the passenger, Tina Patterson (who had a brace on her foot) complained of a pain in her foot, and Merrick agreed to drive.
Culbeaux arrested Merrick for driving without a license, and told Tina Patterson she would have to drive the truck.
While Merrick was being booked, in his short-sleeved orange jump suit, Culbeaux noticed what he thought were needle marks on his arm. He decided to conduct a sobriety test.
He asked Merrick to close his eyes for 30 seconds and then open them. Merrick closed his eyes for 23.7 seconds according to Culbeaux’s timer. That’s 79 percent but not good enough. 24 seconds was passing according to Culbeaux.
Culbeaux then asked Merrick to touch his nose and then put his hand down. Culbeaux counted it wrong if the subject touched the bridge of their nose or their nostrils and if they didn’t immediately put their hand down.
Officer Culbeaux determined that Merrick failed the sobriety test.
He asked for a blood test. The blood test said there were traces of methamphetamine in Merrick’s system.
All six jurors agreed Merrick did not fail his sobriety test, and that he did not drive impaired, and that Culbeaux didn’t have probable cause to stop Merrick. They had reasonable doubts about whether Merrick was asked by Patterson to take over driving the truck (the necessity defense) or whether he’d been driving it all along, but it was impossible to prove that one way or the other.
The six jurors wanted to acquit, but the instructions to the jury said that if the defendant’s body contained any amount of Schedule II you have to find defendant guilty: “It is not necessary for the state to prove that the defendant was under the influence of a controlled substance.”
The jury felt they had no choice but to find Merrick guilty.
No one wanted it.
One juror broke into tears when they came to their conclusion.
And they couldn’t look at him in the courtroom when they announced their verdict.
But there was something they could have done.
The jury could have decided that Luke John Merrick had not committed any serious crime, and that the instructions to the jury that demanded a guilty verdict were unreasonable and unjust.
Our legal system is based not so much on books of written laws or written instructions to a jury, but on what twelve ordinary people decide is fair and just. It is perfectly legal and proper for a juror to vote not guilty for any reason they believe is just.
It’s called Jury Nullification.
The Hennepin County Attorney should include in the instructions to jurors an acknowledgement that our legal system, our government, our entire social structure depends on what ordinary people, our peers, determine is fair and just. The County Attorney must recognize that the moral and ethical values of ordinary citizens are the foundation of our society. The County Attorney should include in their instructions to jurors the right of those citizens to say a law is unjust or is being enforced in a cruel and unusual manner.
The people have a right to say no.
And instructions to jurors should recognize that.
