Marshburn's day in court

Monday is production day around here, and also happened to be a day of breaking news. Production staff were not able to place this story in the print edition this week, so I wanted to make sure it was at least available to online readers. — JG

The Guilford County District Attorney dropped nine charges of misdemeanor communicating threats against William A. Marshburn on Monday, but District Court Judge Tom Jarrell found him guilty of misdemeanor disorderly conduct after almost two hours of testimony.

Marshburn, who had been upset about being annexed into the city of Greensboro, was arrested with a bullhorn and a can of mace outside the Melvin Muncipal Office Building at the beginning of a city council meeting last June.

“Mr. Marshburn, I understand your need for your attempt at civil disobedience,” Jarrell told the defendant. “Perhaps it was not carried out in the best way. It was my job to balance your constitutional right to free speech versus the safety of others. And in this situation law enforcement in Greensboro had to make that call immediately…. There was a perceived threat against some city council members. Were they waiting on you when you got there? I believe they were. Were they on lookout for you? I believe they had to. That was their duty that day. Things went downhill pretty quickly. You went to this meeting with instrumentalities of civil disobedience. By your own admission you had a bullhorn. That says just one thing: If I’m denied entry I’m going to go stand outside.”

Jarrell said he thought the worst punishment Marshburn could receive was to not be able to attend city council meetings, and sentenced him to 18 months of unsupervised probation with the stipulation that during that time he not go to any council meetings, not go about the premises of council members and not harass council members.

“We think he regrets his actions,” Assistant District Attorney Thomas Carruthers said. “That is exactly why the state took the measured approach it did with this prosecution, your honor. But we needed to prove the point that people carrying mace and carrying on outside the council chambers will not be tolerated.”

After the verdict was handed down, Marshburn denied the theory espoused by the prosecution and embraced by the judge that he had gone to the Greensboro City Council meeting on June 3, 2008 with the intention of committing a civil disobedience and getting arrested.

“If I were to be turned away then I would not have to walk back to my vehicle,” Marshburn said, explaining why he brought the bullhorn knowing that it was prohibited in council chambers. “I might have gone out on the street with it, but I didn’t know whether there was an ordinance prohibiting it, so I’m not sure I would have.”

During closing arguments, Carruthers had argued that the items in Marshburn’s backpack — a jug of water, a pair of socks, an apple and a book — were chosen with the knowledge that they were acceptable in the Guilford County Jail, and indicated a plan to commit civil disobedience.

“Your honor, what I think is truly indicative is the socks in the backpack,” Carruthers said. “He came prepared to be arrested.”
Marshburn said he always packs an extra pair of socks in case those on his feet get wet. He suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, which affects his ankles, and wears sandals instead of shoes.

Marshburn testified that he hadn’t known that he had a can of mace when he approached the Melvin Municipal Office Building last June for a meeting in which council was scheduled to set original zoning for land that was soon to be annexed.

Marshburn said when he entered the lobby of city hall, an unidentified officer approached him and asked him what he had in his pocket that was creating a bulge. Marshburn said he reported that he didn’t know and tried to reach inside to find out.

“He said, ‘We don’t know if you’re reaching for a weapon,’” Marshburn testified. “I said, ‘Oh.’” Marshburn said the officer then pulled his arm back, causing “a big blast of pain.”

“I was trying to control [the pain],” he said. “I was trying to tell them I was on disability.”

He said he started to go up on his tip toes to relieve the pain and the officer gently raised his elbows, causing further pain.

“I bent down low and said, ‘Dammit, man, why are you doing this?’” Marshburn recalled.

By that time, he had been escorted outside, and Marshburn acknowledged that he used profanity.

“When your hands are going in pockets and out of pockets and you’re screaming obscenities,” Carruthers said during closing arguments, “your honor, that is disorderly conduct. It is potentially a highly dangerous, illegal situation. There was nothing that any of the Greensboro police officers did that was improper. Public policy absolutely demands they protect our city council, and they need to protect the peace. They only approached him with reason. They received his permission to pat him down, and it’s only when the mace is about to come out that he starts resisting.”

Jarrell sustained a defense motion to prevent testimony about a phone conversation between Marshburn and Greensboro Senior Planner Frederick Boateng that took place a day before the city council meeting. The substance of the conversation formed the basis of nine separate charges — one for each city council member — that were dropped at the outset of the trial.
In that conversation, Marshburn asks Boateng when annexation goes into effect.

“It’s the thirtieth of June,” Boateng says.

“Ah, well, looks like I can go shoot my gun,” Marshburn says.

“Yeah, you can go shoot some deer,” Boateng laughs.

“No, I’m going to shoot anybody that’s higher up,” Marshburn says. “Duke Power. City council members — have them come out.”

Carruthers did not go into detail about his decision to drop the communicating threats charges.

“That was my call,” he said. “I decided that that was the appropriate thing to do as prosecutor.”