WTC Attack Benefits Long Beach Ca Police -Anarchists Giving Up Legal Fight

[Subcommander Bob]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000075995sep22.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dcalifornia

Anarchists Giving Up Legal Fight
                       Court: Some charged in a riot plead no contest
amid doubts they could get a fair hearing after
                    the terrorist attacks. Others may go to trial.

                    By LOUIS SAHAGUN, TIMES STAFF WRITER

                    Last week's terrorism attacks on the East Coast have

                    complicated--and, in some cases, derailed--the
trials of dozens of
                    anarchists arrested in a violent May Day
confrontation with Long
                    Beach police.

                    The anarchists previously had been upbeat about
their imminent trials,
                    which they had hoped to turn into public forums for
their radical
                    political sentiments.

                    Now, defense attorneys wonder if their 37 fiercely
anti-capitalist clients
                    can get a fair trial in Long Beach or anywhere else
on such counts as
                    riot, attempted riot, unlawful assembly, and
conspiracy to commit a
                    crime. Over the past week, six defendants who had
promised to
                    challenge police tactics instead have pleaded no
contest or guilty to
                    misdemeanor charges. More pleas are expected,
according to deputy
                    city prosecutor David Gordon.

                    "When Sept. 11 occurred, they realized that no one
would pay much
                    attention to claims of police misconduct while
hundreds of officers lay
                    buried in rubble in New York," he said. "I think
that by early
                    November there will be but a handful of hard cores
left wanting to go
                    to trial."

                    Until last week, the demonstrators had predicted
exoneration, claiming they were victims of police
                    brutality. Beyond that, they stressed that
identification would be difficult because all of them had
                    been wearing masks and black clothes in downtown
Long Beach during the May 1 rally decrying
                    corporate greed. In addition, they pointed to a
federal judge's recent ruling that questioned the
                    validity of a city law requiring 30 days' notice for
a public demonstration.

                    Now such optimism has vanished, according to one
prospective expert witness for the defense,
                    Larry George, a professor of political science at
Cal State Long Beach.

                    "The tragic events," George said, "may well have
changed the background climate to the point
                    where the defendants would be identified as enemies
of the state and perpetrators of violence."

                    About 95 people, mainly teenagers and young adults
from Southern California, were arrested
                    during the protest that erupted into a running
street brawl with police in riot gear. At least a dozen
                    demonstrators were injured, and many more reportedly
suffered scrapes and bruises. Police said
                    their officers escaped serious injuries, but some
were bruised and cut by thrown rocks and
                    grappling with demonstrators.

                    To avoid sapping the city's legal resources if all
the defendants were tried simultaneously in one
                    courtroom, authorities divided them into small
groups to be tried separately and appointed publicly
                    financed defense attorneys.

                    Long before the East Coast terrorism, 23 of those
arrested in the demonstration were sentenced to
                    probation and time served under plea bargains
offered to them by city prosecutors. In addition,
                    more than two dozen juveniles were released and most
had the charges dropped.

                    Two other adults are awaiting trial on felony
assault charges. As of Friday, 31 more were each
                    facing six misdemeanor charges.

                    The first two defendants to go to trial were Louise
Emily Van Der Laan, 19, and Yutaka Bazil
                    Yokoyama, 31, both of whom pleaded no contest on
Sept. 12 to six misdemeanor counts just
                    after a jury was impaneled.

                    Superior Court Judge Brad Andrews sentenced them to
three years' probation and 30 days of
                    community service.

                    Their pleadings came less than an hour after Andrews
dismissed a motion by defense attorney
                    Lynda Vitale to delay the case for at least a month.

                    "The events of Sept. 11," Vitale said in an
interview, "would have made it impossible for jurors to
                    remain unbiased and fairly weigh the evidence
without thoughts of what happened."

                    Next in line for trial is Christopher J. Harrington,
who is represented by Torrance lawyer Alex
                    Griggs.

                    "These people were exercising their rights to free
speech," Griggs said. "It would be a shame if the
                    current climate is such that they are curtailed from
doing that."

                    Nonetheless, Griggs said his client, whose trial is
scheduled to start Oct. 10, is considering the
                    implications of avoiding trial by entering a plea.

                    On Thursday, four other defendants pleaded no
contest to at least one misdemeanor charge.
                    Among them was Adam Steudle, 20, whose Culver City
attorney Noah Allen conceded, "There's
                    a huge fear that the events of Sept. 11 had a domino
effect on jurors."

                    The defendants insist that their goal was a peaceful
downtown demonstration and march on
                    International Workers Day behind a large banner that
read: "Capitalism Stole My Life."

                    The trouble started after some demonstrators,
chanting and cursing against "the police state," threw
                    rocks at officers, according to police.

                    "The rocks got it going," recalled Long Beach Police
Sgt. Erik Herzog.

                    Downtown streets were shut down for four hours as
police fired on some demonstrators with
                    rubber bullets and beanbags while chasing them in
and around an area known for its high-end
                    bistros, financial institutions and hotels.

                    Law enforcement authorities said it cost the city
$100,000 in overtime pay and the use of
                    equipment, including a helicopter, to handle the
disruption.

                    At the scene, police collected evidence including
rocks, hammers, a slingshot, bags of ball
                    bearings, pointed sticks, gas masks, plastic bags
filled with human feces, bombs used by fishermen
                    to scare off seals, and fireworks, including one
item that resembled a hand grenade.

                    Police said they also determined that some of the
demonstrators had arrived wearing crude shields
                    under their baggy black sweaters and sweat shirts:
thick layers of newspaper wrapped in duct tape
                    and strapped around their arms and over their
chests.

                    Critical to the prosecution have been 500
photographs and 14 hours of videotaped footage of the
                    demonstration taken by police and witnesses in the
vicinity of the bustling corner of 1st Street and
                    Pine Avenue.

                    Deputy city prosecutor Andrea Davalos said, "We went
over details in the photos and video
                    footage, frame by frame, over and over, 12 hours a
day, Saturdays and Sundays.

                    "We noted people's backpacks, shirts, logos, shoes,
even the tears in their jeans," she said.
                    "Eventually, we were able to make positive
identification of each and every one of them. We know
                    what each of them did and when they did it."

                    Prosecutors matched that information with
photographs of suspects when they were in custody
                    and unmasked.

                    City prosecutor Tom Reeves plans to play an edited
version of the videotape in court, including
                    slow-motion scenes of rocks being hurled at police.

                    "They conspired to come to this city armed and
disguised for the purpose of creating a riot, chaos
                    and disorder," Gordon said. "But now there are too
many ghosts floating around in the courtroom
                    for anyone with half a brain to expose themselves to
a jury or a judge."

                    In the meantime, local support for the anarchists
has been mixed.

                    Mark Bowen, a Los Angeles Unified School District
high school teacher and president of the Long
                    Beach chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union,
remains skeptical of local police.

                    It was not a crime, he said, if demonstrators cursed
at police and carried signs denouncing the
                    influence of multinational corporations. "The police
were beating the anarchists with clubs, and I
                    would not rule out the possibility that they planted
evidence," Bowen said.

                    Sharon Cotrell of the Long Beach Legal Monitoring
Committee said the defendants have been
                    "forced by circumstances to plead, which is very
sad," she said. "These young people did no
                    wrong. The police were outrageous."

                    Some other observers are not so sure.

                    Until Sept. 11, members of the Unitarian
Universalist Church of Long Beach had been considering
                    a proposal to back the defendants.

                    But Pat Marr, who is a member of the church's Social
Concerns Committee, said such a move
                    seems unlikely now.

                    "It sounds like it was a very difficult situation
for police," she said. "And with the World Trade
                    Center situation going on, it is not a good time to
be in the sort of trial the arrestees are fighting."

                    Added Marr: "Personally, their cases are on a far
back burner."