At the end of the day Friday, the jury deciding the fate of Mark Houck sent a note informing the judge that it is… deadlocked!
You see, on Friday morning, our Thomas More Society defense team put Mark and Mark Jr. on the stand – and they each delivered strong, clear testimony about what really happened on October 13, 2021. They testified that the two incidents that day were caused by the aggressive actions of now-former clinic escort Bruce Love.
In the first incident, Love chased Houck for 100 feet down a sidewalk and across a street to try to stop Mark from sidewalk counseling two individuals who had left Planned Parenthood. This resulted in Love and Mark making contact, with a startled Mark moving Love out of the way.
In the second incident, despite the fact that Mark and Mark Jr. were standing all by themselves 50 feet away from the entrance to the clinic and doing nothing but praying, Love walked directly at them and positioned himself just 2 feet away from Mark Jr. (then only 12 years old) and started saying vile and nasty things.
After Love wouldn’t stop harassing Mark’s young son despite having been told repeatedly by Mark to stop and go away, Mark finally pushed Love away. Neither of these incidents was a crime, much less a federal felony.
The clash of world views that brought us to that courtroom was on full display when the prosecutor cross-examining Mark asked him, “You consider it to be a battle, don’t you?” and Mark responded, “A spiritual battle.”
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After the evidence closed, our own Peter Breen delivered another strong argument on jury instructions to the court, and then Brian McMonagle, Philadelphia’s finest criminal defense attorney, presented the jury with a brilliant and compelling closing argument.
Friend, I don’t know how anyone could hear what we’ve heard over the past few days and think that Mark deserves to be in prison.
I don’t know how anyone could watch this grueling trial and think that Bruce Love was a helpless victim and Mark a violent monster.
And I don’t know how anyone could hear the moving and courageous testimony of young Mark Jr. and come away with their hearts hardened against his father.
As Brian McMonagle told the jury, “This case is about a father’s love for his child.”
With the jury deadlocked, we must pray that the Jury will render a just verdict when they return to the courthouse on Monday morning.
In the meantime, I hope you will take a moment to watch our ace Michael McHale’s full video update on the last day of the trial.
The Thomas More Society pulled out all the stops to defend Mark Houck.
I truly believe that we’ve sent a message to Biden’s DOJ and the abortion industry that, despite all their money and power, they can’t get away with abusing government power to destroy the lives of heroic sidewalk counselors without triggering a confrontation with the Thomas More Society.
The Thomas More Society will always fight back.
Planned Parenthood may have millions of dollars of funding and the federal government itself on their side, but we have God on ours.
LifeNews Note: Andrew Bath is Executive Vice President & General Counsel for the Thomas More Society.
