Muller v. State

196 P.3d 815 (2008)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D and eight or nine other protestors arrived at Senator Stevens's office to protest the war in Iraq. The protestors planned to read a list of 6000 names of civilians killed in the Iraq war. Another protester said he had an additional 3200 names of American soldiers who had been killed. At 4:00 p.m., the office's normal closing time, the protestors still had about 8500 names to read. The office manager asked the protestors to come back the following morning. A security guard then asked the protestors to leave. When they refused, the guard called the police, and the police arrived at about 4:15 p.m. Three of the protesters, including D, were arrested. d was charged with the misdemeanor offense of second-degree criminal trespass. D gave notice that he intended to raise the defense of necessity, and proposed the pattern jury instruction on the necessity defense. The judge rejected the pattern jury instruction and substituted her own. D admitted that he stayed in Senator Stevens's office after closing. D testified that the Iraq war was an 'infinitely greater harm' than staying past closing in a government office. D was convicted and appealed.