Jacques' sister testified that he lavishes affection on the son she fathered with a black man.
Michael F. Jacques, of Springfield, seen in Hampden Superior Court last year, is not expected to testify at his trial on arson charges in the burning of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ on the night Barack Obama was elected president. SPRINGFIELD – The defense in the Macedonia Church of God in Christ arson case is expected to rest Monday without defendant Michael F. Jacques taking the witness stand.
After calling several witnesses Thursday who attested to the defendant’s character and lack of racial prejudice, defense lawyer Lori B. Levinson told the court said she expects to call Jacques' mother, Carol, as her last witness on Monday.
Michael Jacques, 26, is charged with burning down the future home of a black congregation – on Nov. 5, 2008 to protest Barack Obama’s election. Two other defendants, Benjamin F. Haskell and Thomas F. Gleason, both of Springfield, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court last year to torching the church construction site on Tinkham Road.
Until Thursday, the 13th day of testimony, the prospect of Jacques taking the witness stand seemed likely. His name was on the defense witness list and, in an unusual move, he insisted on testifying during a November pre-trial hearing. After Thursday’s session ended, Levinson would not comment.
Jacques' sister, Amy, 19, told the jury that her brother never expressed any racial antagonism toward the black father of her 3-year old son David, and lavishes affection on the child.
To reinforce the point, Levinson showed a photo taken last year of David sitting on his uncle’s shoulders.
Referring to the first meeting between her brother and Terah Carter, the boy’s father, Amy Jacques said her brother acted “like any other person who meets someone.”
Previous witnesses testified that Jacques often used racial slurs, told racist jokes and held a low opinion of many blacks.
Another witness, Kenny Cullins, testified that he never saw Jacques or Haskell hanging out at Gleason’s home at 315 Tinkham Rd. in the hours before the fire, as prosecution witnesses have testified.
Cullins, the boyfriend of Gleason’s sister Kelly and father of her 2-year old child, said he and Kelly Gleason spent election night watching television at a friend’s apartment, switching between the election returns and mixed martial arts fights.
When they returned to Gleason’s home around 1 a.m., Gleason was there; he recalled smoking marijuana with Gleason, then going to bed before 3 a.m.
“If there were sirens, we most likely would have walked down the street to see what was going on,” Cullins said.
But under cross-examination from Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Lee Ndumele, Cullins acknowledged being unsure of the time he returned to Gleason’s home, and also admitted that his memory of working earlier on election day at a fast food restaurant was mistaken.
Gleason testified this week that he led Jacques and Haskell through the woods behind his house to the church property, but turned around and began walking home before the fire started. The three men had spent election night drinking beer, smoking marijuana and complaining about Obama’s election before deciding to burn down the church, Gleason testified.
Also on Thursday, Kelly Gleason said she never saw Jacques or Haskell at her house, and had never met Jacques.