Update on NATO 3 Appeal Hearing

Yesterday, the NATO3 were back in court to appeal their convictions following their arrests in May 2012. While the NATO3 and their legal team beat the more serious terrorism charges in their original trial, they were each found guilty of two counts of mob action, possession of incendiary devices with intent to commit arson and possession of incendiary device with knowledge someone else intended to commit arson on February 12, 2014.

In April 2012, Occupy Chicago was infiltrated by two undercover Chicago police officers, Mehmet Uygun and Nadia Chiko, ahead of planned protests surrounding the NATO summit. Over the course of several weeks, the officers targeted and entrapped Brian Jacob Church, Brent Betterly, and Jared “Jay” Chase, later known collectively as the NATO3. The undercover officers continuously encouraged the young men to make molotov cocktails and talked about their plans to riot. As audio recordings later revealed, none of these ideas were more than idle talk for the NATO3. The more than two weeks’ worth of audio recordings that were presented during the trial showed that the NATO3 never concretely planned to do anything other than protest. Comments about doing more than protesting were fleeting, with conversations quickly turning to what folks were going to do that evening, who was able to grab beer, or when the weed would arrive.

The undercover officers went as far as buying alcohol for 19-year-old Church in an attempt to lure him and the others into making incriminating statements. After surveilling and pressuring the NATO3 for two weeks without any luck, the undercovers themselves proposed and took steps to make molotov cocktails on May 16, 2012. The molotov cocktails were only ever in the possession of the undercover officers, who quickly hid them in the house where they were staying and obtained a search warrant to go get them again. Later that evening, the home at which the NATO3 were guests was raided, and the NATO3 were disappeared to Chicago Police Department’s notorious Homan Square black site. After being assessed exorbitant money bails, they remained in Cook County Jail for nearly two years until their trial in 2014.

Now, more three year laters, Brent Betterly and Brian Jacob Church have finished their sentences and are living free. Jared Chase remains incarcerated by the Illinois Department of Corrections at Dixon prison in Northwest Illinois. If the appeal is successful, Brent, Jacob, and Jay would have the felony convictions removed from their records and Jay could potentially be released sooner. As a result of his poor health, Jay has picked up several new charges from conflicts with prison guards during his imprisonment.

The courtroom was packed with supporters for oral arguments in the appeal. The NATO3 are now being represented by the Office of the State Appellate Defender, the public defender’s office for appeals. Each of the NATO3 had their own attorney who made distinct arguments, which were then rebutted the state. The defense focused on challenging the convictions for possession of incendiary devices with intent to commit arson by arguing that the evidence presented by the state was insufficient to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt. These arguments were made primarily by the attorney for Brian Jacob Church, who focused her comments on several issues: the fact that it was the undercovers who repeatedly brought up and took steps to make molotov cocktails; that undercover officer Nadia Chiko was the only person who talked about using them; that the statements made by the NATO3 were fanciful rather than based in reality; and that the NATO3 were most concerned with defending themselves from overzealous riot cops protecting the NATO Summit. Most importantly, Church’s attorney argued that the evidence did not actually show that the NATO3 had any intention to use the molotov cocktails.

Brent Betterly’s attorney made an additional argument that statements of his that were introduced as evidence by the state should have been deemed inadmissible because they were evidence of other acts that the state could not prove actually occurred. During the trial, prosecutors entered dozens of hours of recordings made by undercover officers into evidence. One of the audio clips played in court featured Brent talking about throwing an “acid bomb” at a Sheriff’s office in Florida. Betterly’s attorney argued that since the event Brent was describing could not be substantiated, they should not have been entered into evidence and used to skew the jury’s perception of him. Betterly’s attorney closed her comments by reiterating that the evidence was weakest against Betterly, who was completely absent from the recordings in the nearly two weeks leading up to night the molotovs were constructed by undercover officers. Additionally, she reminded the court that the government’s own evidence showed that Brent was not present when the molotov cocktails were actually made. (He was inside the house while the others were outside.)

The defense for Jared Chase went last. His attorney’s arguments concentrated on Jay not having been fit to stand trial due to cognitive and physical disabilities resulting from Huntington’s disease. Jay first began experiencing the effects of the hereditary disease in 2008. Huntington’s causes people’s physical mobility to gradually decrease until coordinated movement becomes difficult and the person is unable to talk. It also causes cognitive impairments similar to dementia. For people like Jay who are experiencing early-onset Huntington’s, the effects are similar to Parkinson’s Disease. Jay’s attorney argued that the court did not conduct a full fitness hearing, and that if it had, the court would have found him unfit to stand trial. She cited evidence from the case, the court’s own comments regarding his deteriorating health, and the fact that he had to be prescribed antipsychotic medication in order to stand trial. The prosecution rebuked these claims with offensive comments about Chase’s medical condition.

The defense rested their case with Chase’s lawyer bringing up the importance of the First Amendment, stating that “dissent is the highest form of patriotism,” and again emphasizing the lack of evidence that the NATO3 intended to do anything other than protest. The court adjourned and will issue a decision anytime between two weeks and a year from now.

If you would like to write to Jared Chase, he can be reached at:

Jared Chase M44710‬
‪Dixon Correctional Center‬
‪2600 North Brinton Avenue‬
‪Dixon, Illinois 61021‬

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