Jury finds Cirignano not guilty

Larry Cirignano, the former executive director of Catholic Citizenship charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, has been found not guilty by a Worcester County jury. Shortly after resuming deliberations Oct. 22, the jury sent a note to Judge David Despotopulos telling him that they were "at an impasse." Despotopulos urged them to go back into deliberations, consider every juror's position carefully and try to come to a unanimous verdict. Just an hour and a half later, at 12:30 p.m., they did.

Cirignano's attorney Michael Gilleran described the verdict as an act of "justice" and said that it was "not a victory" for the anti-marriage equality side.

In an official statement, he added, "We believe the overwhelming evidence was that the complainant in this case, Sarah Loy, tripped over someone's foot and was not pushed by Lawrence Cirignano. In addition, the law is clear that since the Let the People Vote rally had a permit to hold its rally and therefore Ms. Loy did not have a right to disrupt that rally by bearing her contrary message into the permitted rally. The judge agreed with our position on this point and dismissed the violation of civil rights charge again Mr. Cirignano. Now the jury has agreed with the defense's position on the assault and battery charge and exonerated Mr. Cirignano. This is a fortunate result for Mr. Cirignano and the law."

The charges against Cirignano stem from an incident last December during a rally against civil marriage rights for same-sex couples held by VoteOnMarriage.org at Worcester City Hall. Cirignano was a speaker at the rally, and when Loy, who was at the rally as a counter-protester, entered the VoteOnMarriage crowd with a sign announcing her support for same-sex marriage, Cirignano put his hands on her to move her out of the crowd. She fell to the pavement, where she hit her head. A reporter for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette and a minister both testified that they saw Cirignano push Loy to the ground.

Cirignano was charged with civil rights violations and misdemeanor assault and battery. After Assistant District Attorney Joe Quinlan rested his case against Cirignano Oct. 18, Despotopulos said that he wasn't convinced that Loy had a First Amendment right to walk into the VoteOnMarriage crowd and hold her sign up and subsequently dropped the civil rights charge against Cirignano.

Immediately after the verdict was announced, Loy quickly left the courtroom with her husband and Quinlan. Outside the courthouse, Cirignano was greeted and hugged by close to 10 family members and supporters.