Charges Dismissed in Pennsylvania Prosecution for Attack on "Zombie Mohammed" Atheist Parader

(Eugene Volokh)

PennLive.com reports on this case, in which Talaag Elbayomy was accused of attacking a man who was marching in a Halloween parade (alongside a "zombie Pope"), and shouting "I am the prophet Mohammed, zombie from the dead" [UPDATE: and apparently carrying a sign that said "only Muhammed can rape America"].

The judge concluded there wasn't enough evidence to convict Elbayomy of the crime, and it's possible that there was indeed inadequate evidence. A police officer reports that Elbayomy had admitted that he grabbed the parader and tried to grab his sign; but it's possible that the judge found this evidence to not be credible enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, it appears that Elbayomy was prosecuted for criminal harassment, which requires an "intent to harass, annoy, or alarm," and a mere physical attack with an attempt to grab a sign might or might not qualify, see the pen-grabbing discussion in this case. The acquittal itself might thus be justified, depending on exactly what evidence was introduced.

But the worrying thing is what the judge (Mark Martin) seems to have said at the trial, based on what appears to be a recording of the hearing: The judge — who stated that he (the judge) was himself a Muslim and found the speech to be offensive — spent a good deal of time berating the victim for what the judge saw as the victim's offensive and blasphemous speech, which seems to raise a serious question about whether the judge's acquittal of the defendant was actually partly caused by the judge's disapproval of the victim. Consider, for instance, this statement, at 4:45 in the video (which apparently includes an audio recording of the trial):

Then what you have done is you have completely trashed [Muslim observers'] essence, their being. They find it very, very, very, offensive.

I'm a Muslim, I find it offensive. I find what's on the other side of this [sign] very offensive. But you have that right, but you're way outside your bounds of first amendment rights.

Likewise, earlier in the audio recording on the video, at around 2:00, the judge says,

Having had the benefit of having spent over 2 and a half years in predominantly Muslim countries I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam. In fact I have a copy of the Koran here and I challenge you sir to show me where it says in the Koran that Mohammad arose and walked among the dead. I think you misinterpreted things. Before you start mocking someone else's religion you may want to find out a little bit more about it it makes you look like a doofus and Mr. [inaudible] is correct. In many other … Arabic speaking countries … something like this is definitely against the law there. In their society in fact it can be punishable by death and it frequently is in their society.

If anyone has more details on this incident, I'd love to hear them. American Atheists has a post about this at Opposing Views.

Note that, since the judge concluded that the prosecution didn't introduce enough evidence against the defendant, the Double Jeopardy Clause bars a retrial, so I don't think the state can appeal.

UPDATE: What seems to be the entire audio of the hearing is here; the video from the parade is here.