Jacques is facing a mandatory 10 year sentence if convicted of burning down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield.
Michael JacquesSPRINGFIELD – A half day of jury deliberations produced no verdict Tuesday in the trial of a Michael F. Jacques, the white man accused of burning down a black congregation’s church to register his disapproval of Barack Obama’s election.
The 12-member jury will reconvene today to weigh evidence presented during a three-week trial in U.S. District Court. While Tuesday’s session was cut short for court scheduling reasons, the jury is scheduled for a full day on Wednesday.
Jacques, 26, of Springfield, is facing a mandatory 10-year sentence if convicted of burning down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ on Nov. 5, 2008 after learning that Obama had been elected the nation’s first black president.
Two others – Benjamin F. Haskell and Thomas A. Gleason, both 24, of Springfield – pleaded guilty in June to torching the $2.5 million project being built on Tinkham Road in Sixteen Acres.
Like Haskell and Gleason, Jacques confessed to the crime after making incriminating statements to an undercover state trooper looking for arsonists to burn a building in Holyoke.
The defendant later recanted, claiming he was coerced during a 6½-hour videotaped interrogation that was used by the prosecution and defense during the trial.
During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors said they had presented overwhelming evidence of Jacques' guilt, from the videotaped confession to testimony from Gleason and a more than a dozen other witnesses.
Defense lawyer Lori H. Levinson said the case was built on coerced confession, no physical evidence, and conflicting accounts from witnesses with grudges or motives to mislead.