Jan 8, 2007 6:06 pm US/Mountain
State Court Reverses Ruling Over Defendant's Shirt
DENVER (AP) ―
The Colorado Supreme Court overturned a 45-day jail sentence Monday given to a defendant who appeared in court wearing a T-shirt depicting the executed co-founder of the Crips gang, saying the judge didn't follow the right procedure.
A judge had sentenced Shareef Aleem to jail after finding him in contempt of court for his behavior during his trial on a charge of assaulting a police officer. Aleem had refused the judge's order to remove the shirt and was also accused of leading chants in the courtroom and showing up late for a hearing.
The shirt said "Redemption" and showed a picture of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a Crips co-founder who had been convicted of murder and was executed in California shortly before Aleem's trial.
Aleem told the trial judge the shirt had political and religious significance. During his last year's on California's Death Row, Williams renounced gang violence and wrote several children's books warning of the dangers of gangs.
The Supreme Court said Adams County District Judge Katherine Delgado had the authority to order Aleem to remove the shirt because of her duty to keep order in the courtroom. But the justices said she had failed to warn Aleem before holding him in contempt and had treated him inconsistently, first ordering him to remove the shirt and later permitting him to wear it in front of the jury.
The justices said wearing a shirt bearing a political message in a courtroom is not protected under the First Amendment.
The assault charge against Aleem stemmed from his arrested in February 2005 during a meeting of the University of Colorado's governing Board of Regents about Ward Churchill, the professor who likened some Sept. 11 victims to an infamous Nazi architect of the Holocaust.
Aleem's trial ended in a hung jury, but Delgado ordered a hearing on Aleem's behavior, finding him in contempt in March 2006. He was scheduled to stand trial again in late January.
University officials have recommended Churchill be fired on allegations of research misconduct. He has denied the allegations and appealed the recommendation. The appeal is pending.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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