Earlier this month, Joseph Slavin pled guilty to one charge of Obstructing the Legal Process, a misdemeanor. In exchange, the other two charges against him -- another misdemeanor and a gross misdemeanor -- were dropped.
In 2008, the City dismissed an Unlawful Assembly charge against Mr. Slavin. It is probable that the new charges, brought against him in August 2009, stem from his notice of intent to sue the City. The current status of that suit is not known.
Mr. Slavin's lawyer asked the judge to vacate the charges after one year but Judge Marinan was so angry when she read the complaint that she said that the only way she would vacate the charges would be if Slavin wrote a letter of apology to the City and had it published in the newspaper. I've been assured that this is unlikely to happen.
With this case, the majority of CRASS cases have been wrapped up. Remaining are 2 appeals for felony trials held last summer and the trial of the RNC 8.
There will be a pre-trial hearing for the RNC 8 on May 3, 4, 5, 6 and May 13 and 14. in Courtroom 131B of the Ramsey County Courthouse. This is on the ground floor off Room 130 where people pay their fines and where the blue video screens are located. Go to the back of Room 130 and look for the door marked 131B.
The hearings will run from 9 am to 4 pm every day with a break for lunch. It will deal with things like what evidence can be admitted at the trial, whether some of the searches and seizures were illegal, questions about informants and demands for disclosure about who was paid how much for what information. All the stuff the FBI doesn't want you to know.
The courtroom holds about 50 people, so we'd like to see a good showing. If a lot of people show up, we might need to get a bigger courtroom for the trial. Most people can't come every day, but try to come some days. If you can't stay all day, come just for the morning or just for the afternoon. Keep in mind that Judge Warner is very sensitive to noise or any type of disturbance. And she is death on cellphones. Turn off your cellphone before entering the courtroom.
A simple lunch will be available to the defendants and their supporters on at least some days. It will shared in the park across Kellogg Boulevard from the courthouse if the weather is decent. If it rains, lunch will be in the basement of the courthouse.
For those of you who don't remember, the Ramsey County Courthouse is located at 15 W. Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul. That's the corner of Kellogg & Wabasha.
Trial for the RNC 8 begins October 25th. The prosecution plans to start presenting witnesses on November 1st. So most of the first week will be jury selection and perhaps Opening Statements. Please mark your calendars now.
Hope to see you there,
Margaret
Courtwatch Working Group
Community RNC Arrestees Support Structure (CRASS)
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