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"While the evidence against Waters may have been sufficient to sustain her conviction, our review of the record does not leave us convinced that her conviction was fairly obtained."
Writing for the panel, Judge A. Wallace Tashima said prosecutors made a "number of errors," including letting jurors review "highly prejudicial" articles, alleging Waters gave them to another defendant, who copped a plea for leniency.
He continued:
"We believe that the appropriately skeptical eye would have excluded the articles from (her) trial. (They) were highly prejudicial. While most espoused anarchist political theory, a number advocated violence in no uncertain terms," including attacks on US landmarks. "Their repugnant and self-absored embrace of destruction is likely to have swayed jurors' emotions, leading them to convict Waters not because of the facts before them but because she represents a threat to their own values."
During trial, prosecutors also prevented defense attorneys from showing jurors a documentary she worked on supporting nonviolence, thus "compounding errors" against her, "depriving her of her opportunity to demonstrate that her purported belief in nonviolence was genuine."
Waters Reindicted
Attorney General Eric Holder has proved as callously outrageous as Ashcroft, Gonzales and Mukasey, pursuing wrongful/vindictive/shameless prosecutions for political advantage against innocent victims like Waters. Moreover, they persist even when courts overrule them.
As a result, on January 26, Waters was reindicted on nine counts, including:
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