RNC 8 charges dismissed for three defendants
Luce Guillen-Givens, Monica Bicking, and Erin Trimmer can breathe a little easier after the Ramsey County Attorney dismissed charges brought against them as part of the RNC 8 prosecution. A fourth defendant, Erik Oseland, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor -- consisting of talking about knocking over newspaper boxes -- as part of a plea bargain on August 27. The remaining four defendants (Rob Czernik, Garret Fitzgerald, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor) are scheduled to go to trial on October 25.
According to an email from defense attorney Bruce Nestor, "The State has mailed plea offers to the remaining four defendants as it seeks to settle the case prior to the scheduled trial date of October 25, 2010." Nestor says he heard about the dismissals via a copy of an email to the court indicating that charges against the three would be "in the interest of justice."
Nestor noted that Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner's office said the dismissal came because the trials would be costly and time-consuming.
"I don't think that Susan Gaertner should be allowed to hide behind this kind of justification," said Nestor. "For two years she and Bob Fletcher have claimed that the RNC Welcoming Committee was a criminal enterprise. It is absolutely shameful to charge them with conspiracy and terrorism charges and then dismiss those charges two years later because the trials are going to be time consuming. They [Gaertner and Fletcher] should stand up and say they were wrong."
The RNC 8 were arrested before the 2008 Republican National Convention began, and did not participate in any of the demonstrations or other actions during the convention. The prosecution is based entirely on the theory of conspiracy to commit crimes. That's the basis of the third-degree conspiracy plea by Oseland, whose testimony at the time of his guilty plea was about talking about knocking over newspaper boxes.
Luce Guillen-Givens said, "I'm relieved personally that the risk for me has been taken out of the situation, but all this really does is demonstrate what we said all along that this is a politically motivated case and an abusive prosecution and we are committed to keep on fighting for the other four."
Guillen-Givens also extended an invitation: "We have a dinner coming up on September 28 at Walker Church at 6:30 p.m. - it's a free community meal, which we do every month, and everybody is invited to come."
Full disclosure: In the past, Luce Guillen-Givens has done clerical work as an independent contractor for the Twin Cities Media Alliance, the nonprofit organization that publishes the Twin Cities Daily Planet.
The Twin Cities Daily Planet is an edited news source produced by professional journalists working in collaboration with citizen journalists from the local community. We publish original reported news articles, articles republished from media partners, and some content (Free Speech Zone articles, reader-submitted blog entries, comments) that is moderated but not edited. Click here for a complete description of our editorial policies. Support people-powered non-profit journalism! Volunteer, contribute news, or become a member to keep the Daily Planet in orbit. |
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Comments
thank you TCDP
This is so excellent. What a long 2 year waste of our tax dollars.
Thank you to the defendents, laywers and families who have held on to the solidarity. You are an inspiration. and for TC IndyMedia, TCDP, and UpTAke for staying on top of the story.
Still haven't seen anything in Star Trib or Pioneer Press.. they must have to lick their wounds.
I hope to see some coverage on the breakdown of the cost of the military state in the twin cities, and of the Kangaroo Trials.
Keep fighting!
Hooray! It's about time this happened - but now is time to redouble our efforts in defending the remaining 4 and all other targets of political prosecution and repression.
Supporters, neighbors and anyone interested should come to the RNC 8's dinner on the 28th, and look out for future events, before and during trial (see http://rnc8.org) - let's celebrate and stick together to see this ordeal through.
So much for the "terrorism" hype
Having attended several of the pre-trial hearings for the RNC 8, it was (and is) abundantly clear that there is no credible evidence against any of the defendants from the paid informants and undercover agents. No only is this a collosal waste of taxpayers money and the Court's time, this dismissal exposes what this case was about from the very start: an attempt to criminalize dissent against an illegal and immoral war.
Gaertner pushed this for political reasons but no one was fooled. Now, it is time to prosecute the real "criminal" behavior during the RNC- Sheriff Bob Fletcher.
Goof Balls
Why do we even waste time with this self-absorbed irrelavent goof balls. The leftys here would have a fit if a Tea Party group acted the way these dorks acted. I they are happy, they got their names in the paper and along with their 15 minutes of fame.
Huzzah!
Gaertner's clearly still thinking of this as a showtrial. Oh no! We only got one to settle for a month in the clink! (talking about knocking over mailboxes??? PULHEASE!) And now - gee, the jury's gonna laugh at me, maybe I got to let all the women off, because maybe those skinny anarchist boys will somehow seem more of a threat! <eyeroll> I'm looking forward to the day when they drop the rest of the case. Fong Lee, these three... we're getting the end of the Bush era police state cases out of our systems. Now if we could only get an inditement for the Gang Task Force (Shredding enough evidence WORKS!!)
Consequences
Where are the consequences for Fletcher and Gaertner's abuse of power? What kind of government first indicts people as terrorists, then waits two years and says "never mind." I used to be a neighbor of three of the eight, and it was clear the government never believed they were terrorists or they never would have let them wander around the neighborhood like the normal people they are (they were great neighbors, BTW). Why is the government allowed to defame and terrorize people like this?
Thank you!
I think this is a good time to thank the members of the RNC 8 for their solidarity in standing up to the government and police repression over the last 2+years. You are the ones who were singled out, called "Terrorists", and had your lives disrupted. It could have been any of us. Thank you for staying strong and standing up for all of us by fighting all the crazy charges against you, and thank you for fighting for our rights to dissent, assemble, organize, think and speak.
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