9/19/2000: JUDGE RULES "NOT GUILTY!"

Sent FIRST to the almost 2000 recipients of CUADPUpdate
and later, to other abolitionist lists
Please excuse cross posts


Greetings all!

Several weeks ago many of you saw the press release we issued about my going to trial in State College, PA to challenge a traffic ticket I received while protesting at the National Governors Association meetings last July.  I won't re-tell the story here - you can see it, including photos in living color, on the web page referenced in the press release below. 

There are, however, several anecdotes I wanted to share which are not in the press release or on the web page....

#1 - After the judge had recessed the trial, he asked me if I really know Sister Helen Prejean.  No, her name did not come up in trial.  She is an advisory board member for CUADP, and Justice Prestia had seen her name on the letterhead in pre-trial correspondence I had mailed to his office.  This self-described "conservative" told me he was very impressed with her book, Dead Man Walking.  I told him where to look for me if he ever gets a chance to see the film.  AND you can bet he'll be receiving a specially autographed copy of the book now that he has ruled.  ;-)

#2 - While we were preparing for the trial that morning in State College, Chrysanthi called to get directions to the State Police barracks so that we could pick up the chain and banner which they had confiscated during the arrest.  (This, by the way, was the chain they were looking for when they stopped me!)  So imagine our surprise when the State Trooper who had written the ticket came into the courtroom and told us, "Hey, I've got your box out in the car, so when all this is over you don't have to go out to the barracks."  What a nice guy!  Of course, he complained about the weight and threatened to sue me if he injures his back...  joking, of course.  BUT, 75 feet of chain is *very* heavy!  This leads to:

#3  After the trial, Trooper Bernier brought his car up next to mine, we made the transfer (see photos on the web site referenced below), and then he and Corporal Branis started asking about our work against the death penalty!  The discussion went on so long that Rev. David Miller (whose daughter helped coordinate "Redirection 2000" and in whose home we stayed the night previous to the trial) invited us all to lunch, and the State Police agreed!  SO, off we went to lunch with the same cops who were our adversaries only moments previously.  The discussion was quite interesting and centered on activists and various forms of protest.  Corporal Branis shared that he had no problems with civil disobedience - that "this country would not be what it is without it!"  When we confronted them with their use of pepper spray on Jeff and Noah during the action, they gave us a line about officers being trained to protect themselves, but we didn't let them off the hook!  The bottom line is that we found a lot of common ground, and it is possible that there will be some meetings between police and activists in the future.

ALSO, I did want to publicly thank a number of people whose involvement was integral to the success of our action. In no particular order....

Attorney Andrew J. Shubin and his assistants Tina and Steven. http://members.aol.com/shubinlaw Andy helped me understand how to approach Justice Prestia, a former police chief who hates sloppy police work, and Tina and Steven did some leg work for me in preparing the subpoenas. Andrew was on vacation the week of the trial, but he also represented me pro-bono at the pre-trial hearing on the actual arrest - it was Andy's work at that hearing which forced the state to drop all charges against the "NGA-15," which is how we who were arrested at that action refer to ourselves. And for all that work, all they got was a lousy t-shirt!
(see http://www.cuadp.org/abolitionwear.html)

Rev. David Miller and family, for their wonderful hospitality, and to Rev. Miller for supporting me at trial and, of course, for lunch!

Chrysanthi Settlage, for standing by me, for testifying on my behalf, and for taking the time off work to come to State College for the trial. 

All my cohorts during the action-packed weekend, but especially Kurt Rosenberg, who pestered me until I agreed to come.  This was the third time Kurt and I were arrested together!

Rev. Melodee Smith, for preparing and sending an affidavit to the court on my behalf.  (I had called Melodee, who is also an attorney, while I was being detained.)

Hilary Naylor, who wrote on 7/19/2000:
>Dear Abe,
>
>I would be happy to pay your $93 ticket... reading the report
>scared me -- I don't know that I would be brave enough to do
>what you and the others did... especially the pepper oil...
>aren't you afraid they'll break your hearing aids?
>:)
>cheers
>Hilary

I asked Hilary to make it a loan, which I would then pay back if I won the case.  That was the deal.  BUT, when I told her I won, but had spent more than $500 just in travel to fight the ticket, she made it a contribution!

And with that, I'd like to invite you to contribute to CUADP to help defray the costs of this action.  The more we can collect, the more we can do in the future!  Here are some of the more significant costs incurred while doing the NGA action.

July Airfare: $360
July Rental Car: $237
Chain & Related items: $275 (Paid by PAUADP)
July Food: $100
Ticket Collateral: $99.50 (donated)
September Airfare: $260
September Rental Car: $247
September Food: $40
Photography: $100+
Web Design: $60+
Plus misc. (fuel, phone, etc.), donated time, housing,
and other support

TOTAL:  $1,778.50

Want to help?  Please visit http://www.cuadp.org and click on "Support CUADP."

Thanks!

--abe

All truth passes through three stages:

1. It is ridiculed.
2. It is violently opposed.
3. It is accepted as being self-evident.

--as seen on a bumper sticker


AND NOW, today's press release!


>Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 18:06:24 -0400
>To: media@cuadp.org
>From: "Abraham J. Bonowitz" <abe@cuadp.org>
>Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Activist found "NOT GUILTY"
>
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>(please forward as appropriate)
>
>19 September 2000
>
>Contacts:  Abe Bonowitz: 800-973-6548
>     Chrysanthi Settlage: 202-547-6000
>     Jeff Garis: 215-724-6120
>
> ACTIVIST DECLARED "NOT GUILTY"
> PA State Police Interdiction Team Exposed
>
> (For further details & photos, visit
> http://www.cuadp.org/natgovassocmeet.html)
>
>
>STATE COLLEGE, PA --  In an unexpected move, District
>Justice Carmine W. Prestia, Jr., has ruled that Abraham J.
>Bonowitz, an anti-death penalty activist harassed by PA
>State Police at the summer meetings of the National
>Governor's Association this past July, was "NOT GUILTY" of
>failing to signal a right turn.  Instead, Prestia agreed
>with Bonowitz' argument that his vehicle was singled out
>by police because of his activist activities.
>
>Notified by mail of the decision, Bonowitz said, "I am
>elated.  I provided clear evidence that the police fabricated
>an infraction to cover up harassing and detaining peaceful
>activists, and Justice Prestia's ruling validates that.  I
>only hope this ruling prevents similar behavior by police in
>the future."
>
>Bonowitz and another activist, Chrysanthi Settlage, a staff
>member dealing with criminal justice matters for the Friends
>Committee on National Legislation, asserted in court that
>they were detained and harassed by a special squad of
>Pennsylvania State Police trained specifically to interdict
>and disrupt activists.  They had come to State College to
>nonviolently express their constitutional rights of freedom
>of assembly and freedom of speech, and because of their
>activities they were singled out by the state police.  They
>maintain they were singled out by this special squad simply
>because they were activists.
>
>The case hinged on whether Bonowitz could convince District
>Justice Prestia that the police had more in mind then a simple
>traffic stop when they pulled him over in State College
>during the July 8-11 National Governors' Association summer
>meetings.  During the trial, he asked each of three state
>troopers about the likelihood that they would stop a person
>for failing to signal an otherwise perfectly legal maneuver:
>All three said doing so was at the discretion of the individual
>officer.  After showing enlarged photos taken at the scene,
>Bonowitz asked about the nature and number of vehicles
>used to make the traffic stop.  "Isn't it unusual to have so
>many unmarked state police vehicles participate in a routine
>traffic stop for such a minor infraction?" Bonowitz asked.
>Trooper Drayer acknowledged that there were as many as eight
>unmarked vehicles in the photos, and that this was, in fact,
>unusual.
>
>During the trial, Bonowitz was able to elicit testimony that
>Drayer and other officers were part of a special unit of the
>state police which had been in training for two years in
>anticipation of the NGA meetings and the Republican National
>Convention.  This is the same unit that infiltrated the
>"puppet factory" in Philadelphia during the RNC.
>
>In the end, the case hinged on a 911  tape from a call
>Bonowitz had made just prior to being stopped.  Bonowitz feared
>those following him were upset over anti-death penalty messages
>on his car.  The 911 tape of the conversation between Bonowitz
>and Centre County Emergency Services Operator #22, Jim Millander,
>was subpoenaed but was not able to be heard during trial because
>the court was not equipped with a tape player.  Justice Prestia
>questioned Millander about the contents of the tape and tone of
>voice Bonowitz used, and closed the session by saying he would
>listen to the tape and issue his ruling by mail.
>
>On September 12, 2000, District Justice Carmine W. Prestia, Jr.
>wrote to Mr. Bonowitz, "...Based on the tape and testimony at
>the trial I am finding you NOT GUILTY of the offense."  The
>letter included a check refunding the $99.50 Bonowitz had
>posted as collateral.
>
>"It's wrong to detain people based on what you think they
>*might* do," said Settlage.  "We've now seen preemptive police
>actions against activists during the World Bank protests in
>Washington, DC, last April, in Philadelphia during the Republican
>National Convention, in this case, and in others.  "I'm not a
>lawyer, but I am fairly certain the constitution requires that a
>crime be committed before citizens are identified and detained.
>Simply driving while being an activist is not a crime!"
>
>BACKGROUND
>
>Bonowitz and Settlage were driving to a protest rally in State
>College on July 8 when they noticed they were being followed by
>individuals who had an "unscrupulous" look to them. Bonowitz
>called "911" on a mobile phone to report the situation and seek
>assistance from the police. "We thought they were local people
>who did not like our anti-death penalty bumper stickers," he said.
>After speaking to the "911" operator for several minutes, suddenly
>another unmarked car appeared with a dashboard emergency light
>flashing and pulled the activists over. Within minutes, no fewer
>than eight unmarked state police vehicles, some driven by uniformed
>PA State Troopers were on the scene. After some time, and without
>detailing the purpose for which the vehicle had been stopped, the
>police asked for and were refused permission to search the activists'
>car.  After more than 40 minutes, the activists were allowed to go,
>but only after being ticketed for "failing to signal a right turn." 
>
>The next day, while under arrest for engaging in nonviolent
>civil disobedience (on charges which were later dismissed), PA
>State Trooper James L. Drayer told the activists that they had
>been followed since the time they had made a purchase of PVC pipe
>and chain at a local hardware store (Lowe's).

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