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GOP Convention Protester Acquitted 05/04/01 - Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man police accused of being a ringleader of the protests at the Republican National Convention last summer was acquitted Friday of the two misdemeanor charges against him. Terrence McGuckin was found guilty in November of disorderly conduct and obstructing a highway and was placed on three months' probation. He appealed the decision, and requested a jury trial. Common Pleas Court Judge Gary Glazer ruled during the trial Friday that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to convict McGuckin. McGuckin was arrested Aug. 2 and charged with a dozen misdemeanors in the sometimes-violent protests that shook the city the day before. His bail was set at $500,000, and he spent 10 days in jail. The other charges were subsequently dropped. "I think they've proven that they wasted everybody's time, including their own," said McGuckin, a 20-year-old freelance graphic designer and member of the Philadelphia Direct Action Group, which organized training sessions for activists in Philadelphia during the convention. Assistant District Attorney David E. Desiderio declined to comment. Of nearly 400 arrests during the July 31-Aug. 3 GOP convention, about a dozen have resulted in convictions. About 100 activists accepted plea agreements last fall, reducing misdemeanor charges to summary offenses. |
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