David Suhor, a local religious freedom activist and Satanist, was acquitted Thursday of trespassing and resisting arrest at an Emerald Coast Utilities Authority board meeting after he successfully appealed his conviction.

First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jan Shackelford reversed Suhor's conviction in Escambia County Court, ruling that there wasn't enough evidence to convict Suhor of the two misdemeanors.

"I feel good that we won," Suhor told the News Journal on Thursday. "I feel that it's absolutely ridiculous that it got to this point. I have video proof that (ECUA chairwoman) Lois Benson lied under oath, and she knew it, saw I had the proof and didn't even bother to recant."

Suhor, a member of the West Florida Chapter of The Satanic Temple, was arrested in February 2018 on suspicion of trespassing and nonviolently resisting arrest when he attempted to deliver the Lord's Prayer before the start of an ECUA meeting to protest the board's practice of a board member leading a Christian prayer before the official start of the meeting.

Suhor had video footage of the entire incident, which shows Benson asked him to stop praying and when he didn't, Benson asked for him to be removed. Suhor was then arrested by an Escambia County Sheriff's Office deputy and dragged out of the room.

Despite the recent acquittal, Benson said she believes the board did the right thing.

"He repeatedly disrupted our meetings," she said. "We have tried everything to respect his rights, but once you become that disruptive in a public meeting — and he was not leaving on our request — I think we did the right thing. Obviously, there are legal issues that I don't understand. I don't pretend to be a lawyer."

Suhor had been removed once before from an ECUA meeting in August 2017 for praying to protest ECUA's policy, but he wasn't arrested or charged during that incident.

In 2016, Suhor drew national attention when he delivered a Satanic prayer before the Pensacola City Council, and he has also challenged other local governments' policies on holding prayers before meetings.

In the latest case, Suhor waived his right to a jury trial, and Escambia County Court Judge Joyce Williams held a bench trial in August 2018.

Williams found Suhor guilty of trespassing and resisting arrest without violence and sentenced him to three months of probation, prohibited him from using alcohol or drugs during probation and ordered him to stay away from ECUA headquarters, as well as to perform 25 hours of community service, pay $273 in court costs and a $100 fine.

Suhor appealed the ruling, arguing Benson never issued a legal trespassing warning. Benson testified during Suhor's bench trial that she had said Suhor would be arrested if he didn't leave.

Shackelford said in her Thursday ruling that based on the evidence, Suhor's conviction for trespassing could not stand.

"Even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, Benson merely asked Suhor to leave, and Suhor did not," Shackelford wrote. "Suhor's simple failure to comply with the request would not be a valid basis for an arrest for trespass after warning. Simply asking a member of the public to leave the area does not amount to issuing a trespass warning."

Shackelford also ruled based on other Florida cases that there's a common law right to resist an illegal arrest without violence.

Suhor said he's still barred from ECUA property and feels like he'll have to sue to get his free speech rights recognized.

"You can't bar someone from a public meeting because you don't like what they have to say," Suhor said. "It's been a year of that. Plus, twice they've had me physically escorted from the room because they didn't want me to exercise my right to pray before the meeting — the same thing that they're doing."

Benson said the ECUA board holds the prayers before the meeting officially starts to "accommodate" Suhor or anyone else who may be offended by the prayer.

ECUA is a government organization created by an act of the Legislature and its board members are elected by Escambia County voters.

"We've tried to accommodate him in any way that's possible," Benson said. "That's why we have the prayer before the meeting starts. If he's offended by our prayers, he will not be barred from the meeting. He can just come in after that prayer has been said. But his issue is making a political point rather than exercising his free speech as far as I'm concerned."

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.