Ky. gay couple fined 1 cent in fight for marriage

Andrew Wolfson | The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dominique James and the Rev. Maurice "Bojangles" Blanchard all but admitted on the witness stand Tuesday that they'd broken the law by staying in the Jefferson County clerk's office after closing time — protesting when they were denied a marriage license.

But in a brief but emotional trial in Jefferson District Court, they insisted they were "spiritually obligated" to stay there.

"If you are called by God to do something, you do it," Blanchard said.

After three hours of testimony in which their lawyers hailed them for their civil disobedience, while the prosecution urged jurors to stick to the facts, Blanchard and James were convicted Tuesday of trespassing — but fined only a penny.

Blanchard called the penalty a vindication of their protest in support of same-sex marriage.

"It shows they understood what we were doing," he said after jurors returned their verdict following 90 minutes of deliberations.

James' lawyer, Annie O'Connell, said the fine may have been the smallest ever imposed in a criminal trial in Kentucky.

Blanchard's counsel, Ted Shouse, said in court that he had never tried a case in which the maximum penalty — $250 — "was so low and the stakes were so high."

Jessie Halladay, a spokeswoman for the county attorney's office, said after the verdict that prosecutors had no choice but to take the case to trial.

"We respect the right of the defendants to protest, but we also respect the law, and the law doesn't distinguish what causes are worth breaking the law for," she said.

She also noted that the defendants rejected a plea offer in which the charges would have been dismissed in return for both serving five hours of service for the charity of their choice.

Shouse and O'Connell said their clients refused to take the deal because they felt they had done nothing wrong.

The jury sent a note to Judge Sheila Collins asking if they could convict the defendants and impose no fine, but she told them they had to fine the defendants something. The jury foreman could not be reached for comment.

Collins conditionally discharged the fine and waived court costs, crediting the defendants for the brief time they served in jail after their Jan. 22 arrest.

Seven witnesses testified for the prosecution that the couple refused to leave the office after its 5 p.m. closing time, despite being asked to do so by a security guard, the chief deputy sheriff and Louisville Metro Police.

"Did these two men have your permission to stay there?" Assistant County Attorney Matthew Welch asked Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw.

"No, they didn't," she replied, adding that a clerk who grants a marriage license to a same-sex couple can be removed from office and convicted of a crime under Kentucky law and the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

But law enforcement officers, including Metro Lt. Robert Shadle, who arrested the men when they refused to accept a citation, said they were quiet, peaceful and respectful.

Shadle, who called the arrest "cordial," said he shook their hands before taking them into custody.

Testifying as the only defense witnesses, Blanchard said he was driven to seek a marriage license after a gay man in his ministry was recently barred from visiting his partner as he lay dying in a hospital.

"They said he wasn't family," Blanchard said.

James said he wanted to marry Blanchard, whom he met nine years ago at a cookout, so they could legally adopt a child and "in recognition that our relationship is equal to that of our heterosexual brothers and sisters."

"Would you have left before 5 p.m if you had been issued a license?" O'Connell asked.

"Certainly," James replied.

In his closing statement, Welch asked the jury to convict on "overwhelming evidence of guilt," though he left the amount of the fine up to them.

In their summations, Shouse and O'Connell likened their clients to peaceful protesters of past generations who they said are now viewed as heroes.

Shouse asked jurors what they would tell their families on Thanksgiving about their jury service.

"Are you going to be able to tell them that you stood up for the best of America?" he asked.

O'Connell said James was "too humble" to compare himself to civil rights protesters of the past. But she asked the jury to find him not guilty.

"The word 'guilty' implies wrongdoing, and Mr. James did not do anything wrong," she said. "He did what is right."