DRAKE: LET JURORS REJECT BAD LAWS

Politics: The Reverend Wants Initiative On The Ballot In The Wake Of Recent
Conviction.

BUENA PARK - A pastor convicted of violating city laws by housing the
homeless at his church plans to launch an initiative drive aimed at giving
jurors the option to reject unjust laws.

The Rev. Wiley Drake maintains that jurors have "the lawful right and
power" to disregard unjust laws.

Drake plans to unveil a petition drive Friday to get his proposal on the
California ballot.

If his measure passes, judges would be required to instruct jurors that
they have the right "to acquit the defendant, or find him/her not liable
for damages" if they find that a law is unjust or that the application of
it would be unjust.

Drake and the First Southern Baptist Church were each found guilty of four
misdemeanor counts in July. He was sentenced to 1,500 hours of community
service and given three years' probation.

But the pastor maintains that several jurors later apologized "for their
misguided conviction" of him.

William Kopeny, an Irvine appellate attorney, said the proposed initiative
probably would be found unconstitutional by the courts because it violates
a person's right of equal protection under the law.

However, jurors always can disregard a law, and their reasons for reaching
a verdict can't be used to overturn that verdict, Kopeny said.