 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 Most Charges Against 3 Protesters Thrown Out They were accused of tussling with Timoney and other police during the convention. Misdemeanor counts stand. 10/13/00 - by Linda K. Harris - Philadelphia Inquirer Characterizing their actions as "stupid teenage behavior," a Common Pleas Court judge yesterday threw out dozens of charges against three protesters who allegedly tussled with Police Commissioner John F. Timoney and other officers during the Republican National Convention. Judge Pamela P. Dembe dismissed all felony charges relating to the assault on Timoney but upheld those pertaining to Officers Clyde Fraser and Raymond Felder, who suffered a concussion in the melee. A misdemeanor assault charge in the Timoney fracas was upheld. "I was a little disappointed," Timoney said of the judge's decision. "The underlying conspiracy charge was dropped. I was at the scene. I saw what went on. The officer was knocked unconscious. They were acting together. I wish the judge had been there to see it." The men charged - Darby Landy, 20; Eric Steinberg, 22; and Camilo Viveiros, 29 - were arrested Aug. 1, the second and most boisterous day of the convention. They were held on $450,000 bail each. The hearings were conducted yesterday in response to defense attorneys' request that charges be dropped. The lawyers were pleased with the rulings. "The judge looked at the transcript, and the allegations were drastically exaggerated," said Robert J. Levant, attorney for Viveiros. Cathie Abookire, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, said her office disagreed with the judge's decision to throw out the various charges. "Right now, we're reviewing our options," she said. The highly publicized incident in which the three men were charged occurred in the 200 block of South 17th Street, when a small police bicycle brigade, with Timoney at the helm, broke up a rowdy gathering that included bicycle tossing. Viveiros, an advocate for the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants, from Somerset, Mass., was originally charged with seven felonies and 11 misdemeanors. He will be tried on charges of aggravated assault and riot, both felonies, and misdemeanor charges of simple assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. A pretrial conference was set for Nov. 2. Eric Steinberg, a student at the University of the Arts from Memphis, Tenn., will face trial on one count of second-degree aggravated assault, a felony, and two misdemeanor counts each of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Steinberg's assault charge involves Fraser, who testified during the preliminary hearing that he punched Steinberg when he charged at police with his bicycle raised over his head. Sixteen other charges against Steinberg were dropped. A pretrial conference was scheduled for Oct. 26. Landy, of Raleigh, N.C., will face trial on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and attempted theft of a bicycle, all misdemeanors. The 20 other charges against him, including seven felony charges, were thrown out. His trial is set for Nov. 2 in Municipal Court. Also yesterday, Dembe ordered that the District Attorney's Office turn over hundreds of hours of videotape made by police on Aug 1. She gave them 72 hours to comply. Shawn Nolan of the public defender's office made the request yesterday in the case of protester Matthew Berg, 19, a student at the University of Indiana who faces a felony charge of aggravated assault in a separate incident at 16th and Locust Streets that day. |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair Use Notice of copyrighted material contained in this website.