Judge Dismisses All Charges for Northeast RNC Activists
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On the fourth day of trial, a judge dismissed all charges against the "STAAC 7" - northeast activists arrested at the RNC in St. Paul.
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA - Friday morning, Ramsey County District Court Judge Michael Fetsch dismissed all charges against the "Wall 7," some of the first activists to go to trial in connection with the RNC. The seven activists from the Northeast were all facing multiple trumped-up misdemeanor counts after being penned in by a Mobile Field Force and SPPD bicycle unit at 6th and Wall Streets on September 1, 2008.
The trial began on Tuesday; this morning the defense made a motion to dismiss all charges due to the prosecution's lack of evidence connecting specific people to specific actions. After reviewing the charges one by one, the judge agreed and the case was dismissed before the defense needed to present any of its half dozen witnesses.
Previous days in the trial saw the City of St. Paul attorney try to connect actions by a group at 9th and Wacouta on September 1st to the arrests at 6th and Wall, but police testimony was spotty, and testimony as to the number of people at each intersection varied from 10 to 40. The prosecutor also brought two witnesses who were stopped in a car by the 9th and Wacouta soft blockade, who testified that one protester pounded on the hood of their car but that it was not one of the defendants.
Check back later to Twin Cities Indymedia for more information and analysis of the case.
background: http://tc.indymedia.org/2009/jan/staac-rnc-trial-tues-jan-20-0
