Judge Halts Dan Choi's Trial

Dan Choi is on trial this week for his 'protest' from last November. However, the judge halted the trial for 10 days to investigate if the federal government is guilty of malicious prosecution. 

On Wednesday, the judge presiding over the current case said he believes Choi has shown, at least preliminarily, that he is being treated differently because of the subject of his protests: "don't ask, don't tell." President Barack Obama put an end to the policy in July. As of Sept. 20, gay service members will be able to acknowledge their sexual orientation openly.


Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola said the testimony presented at trial suggested that "the nature of his speech or what he said," meant Choi was prosecuted differently, according to a transcript of the proceedings.


As a result of Facciola's statements, an attorney for the government, Angela George, said she planned to have the judge's actions reviewed by higher authorities, and Facciola put the trial on hold for 10 days. In papers filed with the court, George says Choi was treated no differently than other similar protesters.


One of Choi's attorneys, Robert Feldman, said he believed that the judge's comments Wednesday mean his client has "effectively won the case" and that the charges against him will ultimately be dismissed.

We will see how this goes, but I hope this doesn't turn into "Obama wanted Dan to suffer" type of drama.

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