.Charges vs. student immigration protesters dropped

[SargeUNN]

Source: Arizona Republic


The Maricopa County Attorney's Office dropped charges against nine college students arrested in April for chaining themselves to the old Capitol Building doors in protest of Senate Bill 1070.

The students and their attorneys, who were notified Wednesday, said they were surprised and pleased with the motion.


"Going into this action, we expected that we would have to deal with some consequences," said Justine Garcia, one of the protestors. "So I'm not sure how I feel now. I'm happy, but also just kind of indifferent."

The motion to dismiss, filed June 8 by Deputy County Attorney Christine Trusken, was approved by Justice of the Peace Don Calendar the next day.

Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said the cases were dropped because they were charged incorrectly. Romley said the students were charged with disorderly conduct, but should have been charged with trespassing. However, the charge of trespassing requires other factors, such as being asked to leave and refusing. Because those conditions were not met, the students could not be recharged.

The students chained themselves to the old Capitol's doors on April 20, the day after the immigration bill cleared the state Legislature.

The students' protests were in an effort to convince Gov. Jan Brewer to veto it. When the students indicated they would not leave, they were arrested and charged.

Brewer signed the bill into law on April 23. Arizona's immigration law makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest shall, when practicable, ask about a person's legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.

Disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor offence that carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and fines up to $2,500.

Garcia and fellow protestors Faviola Augustin, Leilani Clark, Daisy Cruz, Ernesto Lopez, Ruben Lucio Jr., Gregorio Montes de Poca, David Portugal Jr. and Armando Rios were all students at the time of the arrest.

Six were students at Arizona State University, two were students at Pima County Community College and one was a student at South Mountain Community College.

Other than the initial appearance before the court in April, the defense attorneys said they had not heard from the County Attorney's Office.

"Nobody called us," said Tyler Allen, the lawyer representing one of the students. "We were expecting to go to court next week."

The attorneys said they were glad the cases were dismissed.

"I hope the charges were dismissed because it served the best interest of justice," said Martin Quezada, the attorney representing Augustin. "They were trying to make a statement, and they certainly aren't bad people."






Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/06/17/20100617arizona-charges-dropped-student-immigration-protesters.html

[SargeUNN]

1. For Those who Forgot

These are the dream act students who could have been and still could face deportation however had guts enough to stand up and be counted. The video of them on that day was posted here and many commented about it in threads, so I thought you might enjoy knowing the charges were dropped.

[alstephenson]

2. Good news. Thanks for posting.