So if we take care of the fastfoward and up-to-date cases before the log call then we could check for the merge commits before we start any cherry picking.  E.g.

		for (RevCommit commit : commitsToUse) {
			if (commit.getParentCount() != 1)
				throw new JGitInternalException(
						JGitText.get().canOnlyCherryPickCommitsWithOneParent);
			cherryPickList.add(commit);
		}