RNC 8 defendant Erik Oseland has decided to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to riot without a dangerous weapon -- a gross misdemeanor. This is a non-cooperating plea, which means that he will not be required to testify against the other defendants.
The other defendants say that Erik has been in favor of taking a plea all along, but he has stood with them this far as a matter of solidarity and they continue to stand with him. You can read their statement at the website: http://rnc8.org/2010/08/important-update-on-the-rnc-8-case/
In order to change his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" of a lesser charge, Erik has to go before Judge Warner and explain why he is changing his plea. The judge can accept, or refuse to accept, the new plea. Erik's plea hearing will be this Friday, August 27th at 3:30 in the afternoon at the Ramsey County Courthouse, 15 W. Kellogg Boulevard in St. Paul. (That's the corner of Kellogg and Wabasha.)
This is not a great moment as far as PR goes, but the other defendants want you to know that they still support Erik, and they want you to support him, too. And, of course, Courtwatch supports all the RNC arrestees, no matter what their legal strategy is.
We would be happy to see people there to support Erik. And I'm sure that if you are a friend of Erik's he will be particularly happy to see you.
Court is hard; be supportive.
Margaret
Courtwatch Working Group
RNC Arrestees Support Structure
More from Community RNC Arrestee Support Structure (CRASS) | Top of Page
Useful article? Use these tools to let someone know:
Send & Share | Print | Access RSS Feed for Syndication
