Jury exonerates local car dealer

A jury agreed with Iolan Mitch Sigg, who said his actions during a traffic stop involving his son nearly two years ago did not warrant a disorderly conduct charge.
The six-person jury took less than 30 minutes Wednesday to hand down the not-guilty verdict in front of Judge Gary House in Allen County District Court.
“I’m happy the jury took in all of the evidence, looked at the case and found me not guilty,” Sigg told the Register afterward. “I was pleased with how everything went.”
The verdict capped the two-day criminal trial, which featured testimony on Tuesday by Sheriff’s Deputy Jarod Tingley for the prosecution and Mitch Sigg in his own defense.
The case has garnered added interest after Sigg and his son, John, filed separate $1 million federal lawsuits last week against the Allen County Commission and Allen County Sheriff Bryan Murphy, alleging their civil rights were violated during the Feb. 2, 2013, traffic stop and the Siggs’ subsequent arrests.

WEDNESDAY’S focus was on closing arguments by County Attorney Jerry Hathaway, prosecuting attorney, and Sigg’s defense attorney Linus Thuston, Chanute. The jury’s deliberations and verdict followed shortly thereafter.
Thuston hammered at the state’s arguments, calling Tingley’s arrest of John Sigg illegal in itself because a computer mistakenly reported the registration to the car he was driving had expired. Tingley also testified he was unaware of a provision in state law that exempts dealership vehicles from having to show proof of insurance. John Sigg was stopped while driving a car owned by Mitch Sigg’s auto dealership.
Tingley arrested John Sigg after he initially refused to sign a citation alleging he did not have valid insurance. Mitch Sigg was arrested soon after arriving at the scene minutes later.
Thuston said Mitch Sigg was justified in being angry while questioning deputies about seeing his son in handcuffs as he arrived at the scene minutes later.
Further, he said, Mitch Sigg’s verbal tirade toward the officers was protected under the First Amendment.
“What my client did was exercise his constitutional rights,” Thuston declared. “Criticism of police is not a crime. Mitch’s comments were an expression of disapproval of a police officer, with whom he had just had a run-in.
“Criticism is not only lawful, but is protected by the First Amendment,” Thuston concluded.

Hathaway — in his first high profile case back in office after he was sworn in Dec. 31 to replace the outgoing Wade Bowie — argued the trial was about Mitch Sigg, not his son.
“The state is not required in this trial to prove anything with regard to John Sigg,” Hathaway told the jury. “Did the defendant use offensive or obscene or abusive language that would tend to reasonably arouse anger or resentment in others, in this case the Allen County sheriff’s deputies?”
Both attorneys referred to a 25-minute videotape shown Tuesday, from a body camera worn by Tingley, that showed Mitch Sigg’s verbal tirade toward Tingley and fellow Deputy Jason Kegler as the elder Sigg arrived at the scene.
Hathaway noted Sigg was recorded shouting obscenities at the deputies for 7½ minutes.
Hathaway pointed out Tingley did not know Mitch Sigg prior to the traffic stop.
“I submit to you, an unknown, angry, irate, confrontational stranger shouting obscenities, arriving at the scene of an arrest,” Hathaway said. “A reasonable person in that situation would be alarmed.”

THUSTON’S CLOSING argument also referred to one word central to his client’s charges. The “F” word.
Thuston noted no one would consider it disorderly conduct to accuse another of being a clown, idiot, moron or being otherwise stupid, all of which Mitch Sigg was recorded saying on the videotape.
“The real word we’re talking about is the F word,” Thuston said.
Thuston noted several instances in American history, where elected officials like Vice President Dick Cheney, President Lyndon Johnson, Mayor Richard Daley, Sen. John McCain and Vice President Joe Biden were caught saying the F word in public.
“Guess how many of them got arrested for it,” Thuston said. “Zero. Guess how many were charged with saying that word? Zero. If a vice president can tell a sitting senator to f__k himself multiple times, there is nothing Mitch Sigg said that could have been so bad.”
“Apparently a number of elected officials have said the F word,” Hathaway responded. “Does he have any video of anybody at a police stop for 7 ½ minutes? Dick Cheney, Lyndon Johnson or anybody else? The state does (of) the defendant.”
Thuston said, “Deputy Tingley never said he was upset about the language. He never said he was threatened. He said he was more upset about the body language.”
Thuston also noted John Sigg fired off several verbal shots at the deputies, but was not charged with anything.
“They had to come up with something to charge my client with,” Thuston said. “Here, all you’re concerned with is the language. Every single one of you has admitted you’ve used the word. You’ve all admitted you’ve heard other people say it. But nobody suggested such language warranted an arrest.”
After the verdict, Mitch Sigg told the Register he and his son planned to proceed with their civil suits.