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The eight people facing felony conspiracy charges from their pre-emptive arrests ahead of last year’s Republican National Convention will go to trial together, not separately.
The RNC Eight are greeting that news as a victory.
In a statement, co-defendant Luce Guillen-Givins said, ”This is an affirmation from Judge Warner of what we’ve argued all along: that separation for trial would have undermined the interest of justice in this case. Our best defense comes through standing in solidarity with each other, both inside and outside of the courtroom.”
Ramsey District Court Judge Teresa R. Warner “saw through” Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner’s bid for multiple trials that would increase chances for a conviction, said Bob Kolstad, attorney for co-defendant Nathanael Secor.
No trial date has yet been set.
In other rulings, Warner granted some defense requests for information about the evidence against them, but denied a request for disclosure of evidence from seized personal computers in accessible format, according to the RNC Eight.
Last April, Gaertner’s office dropped terrorism charges against the eight.
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4 Comments »
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 1:16 pm
It will be interesting when we learn exactly what the government “moles” were instigating when they infiltrated the groups. As an old man who walked the protest in shorts, surrounded by Darth Vader lookalikes with riot shields and nightsticks, I can tell you that “over-reaction” and “intimidation” were in full force.
On the other hand, the police got to play dress-up for a week and make good overtime money. Oh, I heard there were a few broken windows, and that all of St. Paul would have burned down if these 8 people hadn’t been stopped at a cost of millions of dollars.
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 5:43 pm
As much as they would love it, there will be no divide an conquer by the prosecution!
They are doing everything they can to justify the $50 Million plus that was spent on security for the RNC…
Drop the charges!
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 7:37 pm
Good. I was thinking of this early this morning, because Judge Warner had 90 days to decide about a joint trial and time was passing. I wondered when she would announce her decision, & voila! She did so today.
I was in the courtroom on 8 October when the defense asked for a joint trial, and joint trial was very much what the Eight wanted. So, a victory for us!
In any case, if the Democratic Party, thru Susan Gaertner, is going to suppress American dissidents, then there should be a bit of openness about it, in the form of a joint trial.
Up the Eight! Down the forces of repression!
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 11:51 pm
We came a snails breath close to totalitarianism in America and these 8 are patriots in my book.
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