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Driver convicted of assaulting pro-lifers

A driver who deliberately swerved his pickup to hit four Defend Life protesters and/or their protest signs in front of Greater Baltimore Medical Center June 18 was convicted of assault on November 24, thanks in great part to the persistence and efforts of protest coordinator Joe Frese.

The June 18 monthly protest of  GBMC's longstanding practice of performing abortions had proceeded peacefully for most of its regular 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. time slot, with pro-lifers holding signs, as usual, along the shoulder of the southbound lane of Charles Street, opposite the GBMC entrance. At 5:20 p.m., however, a dark pickup truck stopped in the southbound travel lane just after passing Malvern Avenue, near the first of the seven sign holders, who were spread out about 100-120 yards.

The driver paused about 30 seconds, then drove across the solid white line onto the shoulder, steering toward the graphic sign held by Joe's grandson, 14-year-old Michael Burger. Michael stepped back several feet, and the pickup did not hit him or his sign. The driver turned left, back toward the travel lane, then right again toward a sign held by Stanley Cochran.  Stan did not move, and the truck hit the sign, spinning it a quarter turn. The driver repeated this maneuver two more times, missing the third sign only because Bernie Gugerty moved back, but hitting the fourth sign held by Frese and knocking it to the ground. The driver then returned to the travel lane and continued south on Charles Street toward Baltimore.

Joe took down his license number and called the Baltimore County police, who arrived on the scene within minutes. The pro-lifers told police what had happened and said they intended to file charges. According to the report filed by police, the driver, Thomas Lee Brown, 47, told them he thought he had tire trouble and came toward the pro-lifers only to get off the road and check his vehicle.  Immediately after striking the signs, he said, the truck seemed to right itself; he had never intended to hit anyone or anything with his truck. He said that if the pro-lifers would call him, he would apologize to them "to keep this incident from going any further."

Joe wouldn't buy it. On July 2, the day after he received a copy of the crime report containing Mr. Brown's offer of apology, he went to the District Court in Towson and filed charges, writing on his complaint, "An apology still leaves us at risk unless Mr. Brown learns there are consequences to his assaults and is given a reason not to do it again."

Prior to the trial, Joe had to negotiate two hurdles he described as efforts by the court system to filter out a large proportion of potential cases and lighten the docket. He had to meet first with a commissioner, and later with an assistant state's attorney, both of whom tried to get him to either drop or "stet" the charges. A stet would mean postponing the case for a fixed period, usually 12 months.  If Mr. Brown had no further charges filed against him, all charges would be dropped. Despite their repeated efforts, Joe held firm and insisted that the trial go forward.

After all seven pro-lifers received subpoenas to appear as complainants, Joe contacted his long-time friend, attorney and strong pro-lifer Robert Donadio, who gave him pro bono advice on how to conduct himself prior to and during the trial.
"Defend Life owes Bob a great debt of gratitude for his ardent and ultimately successful counsel," says Joe. Six of the seven pro-lifers arrived at the District Court in Towson for the November 24 trial, which turned out to be the last trial of the day before Judge Robert Cahill, Jr.

They were all sequestered, with only Joe and Stan Cochran called in separately to testify. None of the Defend Lifers was present in the courtroom to hear the defense attorney question his only witness, Mr. Brown.  They learned later that he stuck with his original story, and made no attempt to express any regret.
At the conclusion of the defense's case, the six Defend Lifers were brought into the courtroom to hear the court's decision.

Judge Cahill began by looking straight at the defendant and saying, "Mr. Brown seems to be a reasonable man who is telling a completely unreasonable story.  I don't believe it at all.  Mr. Brown, I find you guilty of second-degree assault." He then addressed the courtroom in general:  "These people were peacefully and lawfully demonstrating on the shoulder of the road.  It seems to me there is nothing more important nor anything more fundamentally right that this court can do, no matter whether we agree or disagree with what they say, than to protect the people's right to peacefully and legally protest and express their views."

Judge Cahill sentenced Mr. Brown to 90 days in jail, suspended pending 18 months' unsupervised probation, and fined him $250 plus $55 court costs. "Mr. Brown now has a criminal record," Joe observed afterwards.

"Thank God for Judge Cahill's clearheadedness, character and integrity.  Because of his actions, Mr. Brown learned that First Amendment rights are real, they are backed up by law, and there are consequences for violating those rights."