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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Indiana Tree-sitters charged Dropped!! |
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by Steve Hinnefeld
Email: hinnefeld (nospam) heraldt.com (unverified!) |
24 Oct 2001
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Charges where dropped for the 16 people arrested on July 6-7 trying to block a developement in Bloomington IN |
 Charges where dropped for the 16 people arrested on July 6-7 trying to block a developement in Bloomington IN |
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October 24, 2001
Charges dropped against tree-sitters
Prosecutor says cases don't warrant time, expense of trials
By Steve Hinnefeld ,
Herald-Times Staff Writer
Prosecutor Carl Salzman
Prosecutors are dropping charges against more than a dozen people who were arrested in July when police broke up a tree-sit aimed at stopping a westside Bloomington construction project.
Monroe County Prosecutor Carl Salzmann said the time and resources required to prosecute the cases — not only for his staff but for police and public officials — can be put to better use.
"In my humble opinion, all these people have more pressing matters than to go to 14 different jury trials," he said.
Sixteen people were arrested July 6 and 7 when police cleared a protest site on the east side of Ind. 37 north of Bloomfield Road. Most were charged with criminal trespass; about half were also charged with resisting arrest.
The action, which began in March with a lone protester occupying a platform in an oak tree, was aimed at stopping construction of the planned Canterbury House affordable- housing complex. Opponents said construction shouldn't be allowed on the environmentally sensitive wooded property, which includes springs and sinkholes.
Two defendants settled their cases before the decision was made to drop the charges.
Marie Mason of Detroit pleaded guilty Monday to criminal trespass. Her sentence was the one day in jail that she served when arrested, plus $500 in court costs and restitution.
Shane Becker of Bloomington entered a pre-trial diversion agreement with the prosecutor's office in September. The agreement also covers charges filed when Becker was arrested in late March for allegedly blocking traffic in a downtown critical-mass bicycle ride. Under the agreement, his record will be cleared if he stays out of trouble for a year.
Charges are being dismissed against: Steven Greg Chadwick, Mike Englert, Ruth Hanford, Lucille Bertuccio, Liam Mulholland, Jared MacKinnon, Matthew Berghs, Marc Haggerty, Amanda Skinner, Megan Hise, Hannah Jones and Matthew Turissini, all of Bloomington; Jen Weiss of Nashville and Normand Turcotte of Toronto, Canada.
Some were arrested when police said they refused to leave the site. Others said they were there to support friends or record the activity.
Salzmann said he offered pretrial diversion to all, but most refused the deal, insisting they hadn't done anything wrong. They demanded jury trials and said they planned to represent themselves in court. And they filed lists of dozens of potential witnesses, including fellow activists, police, journalists, and county and city office-holders.
The first trial, for Chadwick, an Indiana University student, was scheduled Thursday, forcing prosecutors to decide this week whether to drop the charges.
Englert, the last tree-sitter to climb down and be arrested, said he was glad the charges were being dismissed.
"It's exactly what we felt should happen," he said. "I mean, we've already done our time in the trees."
He said the tree-sit and protests may not have blocked the 208-unit apartment complex, which is under construction. But they called attention to development in and around Bloomington, he said.
"It did cause everybody to look at it a lot more carefully," Englert said. "And it also caused a lot of political debate in Bloomington. The Democratic Party was shaken up by it a little bit."
Salzmann said the developer, Indianapolis-based Herman Associates, and property owner Bill C. Brown supported dropping the charges. And he said the decision doesn't set a precedent for similar cases in the future.
"You have to call them as you see them as time goes on," he said.
While trespassing is a crime, he said the cases seem to lose some of their urgency in light of the security and law-enforcement concerns raised by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
"I think the world's changed since 9-11," Salzmann said. "The things people are dealing with now are of a more critical and life-threatening nature."
Reporter Steve Hinnefeld can be reached at 331-4374 or by e-mail at hinnefeld (at) heraldt.com.
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