Judge acquits Moorish defendants on all or most charges

A JUDGE on Friday acquitted three defendants who are members of the "Moorish Nation" of all or most charges stemming from an incident that happened in Family Court when the three refused to stand up, raise their hands and be sworn in during a court proceeding.

Members of the "Moorish Nation" consider themselves not subject to the jurisdiction of local courts.

At the end of Friday's trial, Municipal Judge David Shuter acquitted Janaya Pulliam, 32, and Alexis Sloan, also 32, of misdemeanor charges of defiant trespass and conspiracy.

He also acquitted Khayree Lee, 27, who goes by Khayree Lee-El, of the same charges as well as disorderly conduct, but convicted him of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.

Shuter earlier dismissed other charges after the prosecution rested based on a lack of evidence, granting defense requests for judgments of acquittal.

Before the trial began, Shuter noted that Pulliam and Lee wanted him to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, claiming that state law does not apply to them. Shuter denied their motion.

During the trial, the three defendants were respectful of Shuter's authority, politely speaking when they testified and listening to his rulings.

In April, the three defendants were in Family Court before Common Pleas Judge Allan Tereshko on a dependency case involving Lee and Pulliam's son. The two are not in a relationship anymore.

Sloan, Lee's wife, was at the Family Court hearing to support Lee as a potential witness.

Assistant District Attorney Jeff Hojnowski on Friday called one witness to the stand - Deputy Sheriff Aaron Pierce, who works in Family Court at 15th and Arch streets in Center City.

Pierce testified that on April 20, he was called to Tereshko's fifth-floor courtroom for a "slight disturbance." He said as soon as he came into the room, Lee, Sloan and Pulliam "badgered" him and questioned why he was there.

He said Tereshko was asking "them to stand up and take the oath," but the three said they were not governed by the court.

He said Tereshko ordered him and his supervisors to remove the three from the courtroom. Tereshko then left the room, he said. Pierce said he and his supervisors repeatedly asked the three to leave, but they refused.

"They had to be subdued and forced from the room," Pierce said. He said he and other deputies "more or less got into a tussle" with Lee.

Lee, Sloan and Pulliam were eventually taken into custody and removed from the courtroom, he said. Pierce said he was not involved in the arrest of the two women.

Sloan, who testified at the start of the defense case, said that at the beginning of the Family Court proceeding, she, her husband and Pulliam "decided not to stand to be sworn in. We were upholding our First Amendment rights."

She said while her husband was reading a "Delegation of Authority" document, Tereshko got off the bench and left the courtroom. She said when she saw Pierce, she felt threatened because he had a gun. And, she said, while other people in the courtroom were told by the deputies to leave, the three of them were not.

Asked by her public defender, Ashley Oakey, if she would have left if told to, she said "yes."

Pulliam, who represented herself in the trial with her court-appointed attorney Paul Sosnowski as backup counsel, contended Pierce and another deputy created a "barricade" so she, Lee, and Sloan could not leave.

Lee testified that the "Delegation of Authority" document he was reading was "challenging the jurisdiction of the court."

Asked by his attorney, Eric Spade, if he had challenged the authority of the deputies, Lee said, "No, I just asked [the deputies] if the judge was coming back."

He contended Pierce just approached him, grabbed him "and started eye-gouging my eye."

Hojnowski, in his argument, contended Lee's account wasn't credible. Court staff and two attorneys were in the Family Court room that day, he said. It wouldn't have made sense that the deputy sheriffs would have brutalized Lee the way Lee claims, the prosecutor said.

In acquitting Pulliam and Sloan of the defiant trespass and conspiracy charges, Shuter cited "the dearth of testimony" from Pierce about what they did and the women's own testimonies.

He acquitted Lee of the same charges and of disorderly conduct, but convicted him of resisting arrest. "I understand people have beliefs and want to express their beliefs," Shuter said. But, he said, people need to obey courtroom rules and deputies' orders.

He also said he didn't find Lee's testimony about the eye-gouging to be credible.

After the trial, Shuter sentenced Lee to two years' reporting probation.

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