Make an example of those dang protesters.
That’s apparently the disposition of the Shelby County District Attorney toward four remaining defendants from the environmental protest at Valero Refinery on MLK Day Jan. 16, 2017. With another MLK Day around the corner, the DA’s “offer” that each defendant pay $6,000 as a “get out of jail” card apparently is still the only play on the table. A trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 22 in Judge Robert Carter’s Division III criminal court, and defense attorneys have heard no better offers to settle charges of “obstructing a highway or passageway.”
Judge Carter reportedly is not amused over the state prosecutor pushing Class C misdemeanor charges to the brink of a jury trial, which would be expected to take three days of the court’s time and resources.
Charges have been dismissed or settled against the other eight of 12 original persons charged last MLK Day when Arkansas Rising rallied “water protectors” to protest the 440-mile Diamond Oil Pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Valero Refinery on the banks of the Mississippi River. The remaining defendants were among seven chained together through 55-gallon drums filled with concrete.
$6,000 GET OUT OF JAIL CARD
Prosecutors in October proposed that each defendant pay up as restitution or reimbursement for the city’s massive deployment of police and fire services. Defense attorneys, who are working pro bono, were aghast at that play and said it was illegal and unconstitutional. The maximum punishment for a Class C misdemeanor is 30 days in jail, and thus the DA’s proposal for $6,000 is outsized for the crime, attorneys believe.
Two of the four defendants live in Oklahoma, one lives in Missouri and one is from Memphis. They have made four previous trips to Memphis and the Criminal Justice Center at 201 Poplar for court dates.
FIRST AMENDMENT ON SHAKY GROUND
The City of Memphis administration and police department join the Shelby County DA in showing their skepticism of the First Amendment. The city's recent foray into tightening its "public assemblies" ordinance on the brink of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination was further evidence that the local authorities want to regulate free speech -- just as they did last MLK Day when police shut down I-55 Exit 9 as well as access to MLK Riverside Park (yeah, that, too, on MLK Day), and arrested a journalist and a citizen observer for filming their show of force.
Since then, for example, police arrested seven persons after a rally against Confederate statues at UT Health Sciences Park on Aug. 19. All charges were dismissed in court. Six were dismissed outright without cost to defendants -- four as judges determined the arrest affidavits did not describe illegal activity, and two were dismissed when the arresting officer failed to show up in court. One was dismissed after the defendant accepted a small amount of community service to get the Class C misdemeanor charge of “obstructing a highway or passageway” (you see a pattern here?) off his record without further ado. And in February, 55 community activists discovered they were on a “black list” of persons targeted by the mayor and MPD and requiring an “escort” upon entering City Hall at 125 N. Main Street.
Police have turned over to defense attorneys an overwhelming amount of body-worn camera footage from the Valero action. But, it may not become relevant to any defense or prosecutor arguments – unless defense attorneys pore through cameras from arresting officers and find abuses that could impact a jury’s sympathies.
JURY TRIAL FOR CLASS C MISDEMEANOR?
The “obstructing a highway” Class C misdemeanor charge is all that remains for the four as earlier charges of disorderly conduct and criminal trespass were dropped by prosecutors. For the record, those chained to concrete-filled barrels were not on the sidewalk or street but were positioned a few feet up into the Valero entrance and exit driveways off Mallory Avenue. Tanker trucks were coming and going, maneuvering around the water protectors, until MPD and Valero administration jointly agreed to shut the place down.
While defendants and their attorneys are clearly hoping for some resolution or dismissal – as is the judge, no doubt – prosecutors have not proposed an alternative to the get-out-of-jail fee other than a jury trial for a charge that is usually dispatched more nearly like a traffic ticket.
Links to earlier stories:
“Valero Water Protectors Going to Trial for Misdemeanor”
whowillwatchthewatchersfilm.blogspot.com/...
“Valero Cases Dwindle as Judges Cite First Amendment”
“Cops Bust a Journalist, Chase One into the Bushes on MLK Day 2017”