LOS ANGELES - A jury Friday rejected claims in a lawsuit that the Rev. Jesse Jackson cursed and threatened a conservative minister at a 2001 gathering.

The Superior Court panel also rejected most of the suit’s claims against Jackson’s son Jonathan, but split 6-6 on a claim of simple assault. The defense said it would ask the judge to issue a directed verdict. The plaintiff’s side indicated it would oppose that and would seek to refile that part of the case.

The lawsuit was brought by the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of the conservative Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny.
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The jury rejected the claim that Jackson’s son actually struck Peterson - the alleged battery - or prevented him from leaving, but the panel split 6-6 on a claim of simple assault that contended he “may have threatened to touch him,” Sobel said.
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After the verdict, Peterson insisted that he was harassed by the Jacksons.

“There were people in the room who saw it, and there are people who agree with me, but because of their fear of Jesse Jackson they’re afraid to come forth (and testify),” Peterson said.

As for Jesse Jackson, “to go on the stand and to just outright lie and to call himself a reverend, I have no respect for him,” the minister said.

Peterson was represented by lawyers from Judicial Watch, a conservative Washington public-interest group that said it considered it a victory even to get Jackson into court.

“We’re pleased that Jesse Jackson was held accountable for his conduct in a court of law…. We got our day in court,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a telephone interview.

Michael Hurley, Peterson’s lead lawyer, said he was disappointed by the ruling and would consider whether to appeal.

“We believe we had the truth on our side here,” he said.

Much of the case involved testimony from people at the meeting who claimed they did or did not see Peterson roughed up but “there weren’t many impartial witnesses,” Hurley said.

Hurley said he spoke to jurors after the verdict and they told him: “We wished we had more proof.”
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Jesse Jackson had threatened to boycott the automaker after seeing an ad printed on free postcards that showed a close-up of a dark-skinned man’s mouth with an image of a gold Toyota RAV4 on one tooth.

Instead, he reached an agreement in which the company would spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year to train and hire more minorities, buy from minority companies and spend with minority advertisers.
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