A jury took just under an hour to decide that the campaigners had a lawful excuse for their actions, as they had been worried about cross-pollination, pollution to conventional crops and possible effects on the food chain.
22.
An eight-man, four-woman jury disagreed, finding her guilty on a 10-to-2 vote of causing criminal damage without lawful excuse, an offense with a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
23.
They claimed a lawful excuse in that they had acted to protect their own property located near the base; their reasoning was that the base would at some point in the future attract a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union.
24.
Sylvia Boyes argued in court that the British government were acting illegally by bombing Iraq and that she therefore had a " lawful excuse " for spraying paint on the Cenotaph war memorial and on the doors of the Ministry of Defense.
25.
He faces : 18 counts of aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring the commission of an offence of intentionally and without lawful excuse inserting data into a Commonwealth computer contrary to sections 5 and 76C of the Crimes Act ( Cth ), 1914.
26.
For example if a person is charged with speeding, in a hypothetical case the prosecution has to prove that the person was the driver of the motor vehicle and that it was being driven in excess of the proper speed without any lawful excuse.
27.
In 2010, a jury found the activists, who invoked the lawful excuse defence, according to which it can be lawful to commit an offence to prevent a more serious crime, not guilty of conspiring to cause criminal damage to the factory.
28.
"' Trespass to land "'is a common law tort or crime that is committed when an individual or the object of an individual intentionally ( or, in Australia, negligently ) enters the land of another without a lawful excuse.
29.
On the facts of that case, it was held that the arrests were not lawful and constituted false imprisonment as the police officers did not have in mind the element of " without lawful excuse " when arresting the Falun Gong protestors for obstruction of public place.
30.
Any detainee who has been permitted to engage in employment or is granted leave who remains at large without lawful excuse or fails to return to his place of detention after the direction or leave has been revoked is deemed to be unlawfully at large and to have escaped from lawful custody.
