Patterson's co-defendant has conviction erased

A federal appeals court overturned an alleged drug dealer's conviction Wednesday, saying he could not get a fair trial because of shouting, swearing and other courtroom misbehavior by his co-defendant, former death row inmate Aaron Patterson.

The three-judge panel also held that alleged small-time gang member Mark Mannie was denied a fair trial because some spectators watching the proceedings made gang signs and stared in a threatening way at the jurors.

"The combination of what the jury was exposed to in this case -- Patterson garbed in prison attire verbally assaulting his attorneys, a campaign of intimidation by members of the gallery, a violent courtroom brawl -- amounts to prejudice," Judge Joel Flaum said in a 12-page opinion.

Patterson is one of four former death row inmates pardoned by then-Gov. George Ryan in January 2003 on the grounds that police had tortured the men into confessing. The pardons followed a series of cases in which death row inmates were found to have been wrongfully convicted.

The pardons also put a spotlight on Patterson, who in the wake of his release cast himself in the role of a community leader and was highly critical of the police. Little more than a year after his release, he was arrested and accused of dealing drugs as a ranking street gang leader.

Mannie and Patterson were convicted in July 2005 of marijuana, heroin and firearms charges after a tumultuous trial before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer.

Mannie was sentenced to five years and Patterson to 30 years.

Patterson's frequent outbursts, some profane, were a prominent feature of the trial. On one occasion, jurors were rushed out of the courtroom as Patterson attacked his own attorneys.

The appeals opinion described the July 25 clash this way: "While Mannie's counsel was cross examining a government witness, Patterson interrupted and yelled at counsel to 'get off (his) case' and accused the defense attorneys of setting him up for a fall."

"He then stood up, knocked one of his attorneys to the ground, grabbed the other attorney by his necktie, and threw him to the ground as well," the opinion continued. "Both attorneys were in a tangle in the corner and one limped around afterwards."

Mannie's trial attorney, Thomas More Leinenweber, repeatedly asked for a mistrial because of Patterson's out-of-control courtroom behavior.

Leinenweber said Thursday that "it was a circus atmosphere unlike anything I have ever seen before, but I did tell the judge that I thought she did a tremendous job under the circumstances."

Thomas L. Shriner Jr., whose Milwaukee law firm was appointed by the court to handle the appeal, said: "I guess I feel strongly that Judge Flaum had it right -- this was not a fair trial."

"It's not a question of assessing blame," Shriner said. "But when you look at what happened, it's very difficult to indulge a presumption that the jury was responding to the evidence rather than the circus."

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, Randall Samborn, said he had no comment on the appeals court's decision.

Defense attorneys said they expected to try to get Mannie released from prison pending his new trial.