[Imc-newsroom] CHARGES DROPPED ON BLUEBIRD 16 tree sitters!!!

[blackwidow]

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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