Judge Orders Three July 8th Mehserle Protesters to Face Felony Trials for Burglary & Arson

Mehserle verdict protesters to face trial
Associated Press July 27, 2010 12:38 PM
(07-27) 12:38 PDT Oakland, Calif. (AP) --

Three people charged with felonies in connection with violent protests in Oakland following a verdict in the Johannes Mehserle case are heading to trial.

An Alameda County judge on Monday ruled there was sufficient evidence to try 46-year-old Arthur Jackson, 28-year-old Sarah Thibault and 21-year-old Laramie Elliott on charges including burglary.

Authorities say they spotted Jackson with stolen merchandise from a Foot Locker store after the July 8 verdict. Thibault and Elliott are accused of setting a trash can on fire. Authorities say Elliott also entered a Sears store through a broken display case window while Thibault photographed her.

An attorney for Jackson says police never saw him enter the store and steal. Attorneys for Thibault and Elliott say the evidence only shows their clients trespassed.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/27/state/n123830D09.DTL


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Judge hears cases of three arrested in wake of Mehserle verdict
By Paul T. Rosynsky
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 07/26/2010 05:46:48 PM PDT
Updated: 07/26/2010 08:25:19 PM PDT

OAKLAND — Felony criminal cases against three protesters charged with crimes during the violent demonstrations which followed the verdict in former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle's trial will continue, a judge declared Monday.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Tigar said a prosecutor presented enough evidence during two preliminary hearings to move the cases toward a jury trial but cautioned that some of that evidence might not be strong enough to convince a jury of guilt.

The Alameda County district attorney charged 14 protesters with felonies stemming from a violent protest that broke out hours after a Los Angeles jury found Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Oscar Grant III early Jan 1, 2009.

The charges levied against the protesters ranged from arson to being in possession of stolen property.

On Monday, the cases against three protesters, Arthur Jackson, 46, Sarah Thibault, 28 and Laramie Elliott, 21, went before a judge in two separate preliminary hearings which were held to determine if there is enough evidence to put the suspects before a jury.

Preliminary hearings for the other 11 protesters charged with felonies are scheduled for later this year.

Attorneys representing the three suspects Monday attempted to question the credibility of two undercover Oakland police officers who say they saw the three suspects commit crimes and then called other, uniformed officers, to assist in the arrest.

While the three suspects were arrested July 8, they were seen committing crimes at two separate occasions, according two different undercover officers.

In the case of Jackson, an undercover officer said he saw the Oakland man about 10 feet away from the downtown Foot Locker with a pair of shoes and later with an arm full of merchandise from the store.

That merchandise included T-shirts, polo shirts, two pairs of shoes and one pair of sweatpants, said officer Richard Holton.

The officer, however, did not see Jackson enter the Foot Locker nor did he know what the value of the stolen merchandise was.

Tigar ruled that Jackson could be held before a jury on two felony counts: second-degree commercial burglary and petty theft by a person with prior convictions. But, Tigar ruled, a third felony charge of receiving stolen property over $400 must be reduced to a misdemeanor because the value of the items stolen were not determined.

Although Jackson's attorney Dan Siegel successfully pointed out that Holton never saw Jackson walk into the Foot Locker and steal the items, Tigar said Jackson's presence near the store with the items was enough to put the case before a jury.

Yet, Tigar warned that the evidence was not strong and reduced Jackson's bail to $35,000 from $55,000.

In the case of Thibault and Elliott, undercover officer Eric Barangan said he witnessed the pair approach a broken display case window at the downtown Sears store and videotaped Elliott jump inside the window and destroy property.

Later, he said, he saw the pair set a trash can on fire.

Barangan said Elliott entered the broken window display at Sears, threw a mannequin out the window and then jumped on a bed in the display.

Meanwhile, he said, Thibault, of Oakland, took photos of the event and then helped Elliott light a trash can on fire.

Barangan said Thibault was later caught trying to erase the photos she took from her digital camera after she was arrested.

Tigar said enough evidence was presented to bring the pair before a jury on two felony counts each. Those counts include arson and second-degree commercial burglary.

Tigar said the burglary charge against Thibault was only kept because, according to Barangan, she erased photos of Elliott, of Daly City, inside the store.

Attorneys representing the pair said that the evidence only proves that the two should be charged with trespassing since they did not steal anything from Sears.

But deputy district attorney Dan Roisman argued that the simple act of throwing the mannequin out the window is enough to prove burglary.

Despite his rulings, Tigar did agree to reduce bail for the two females. Both had their bail reduced to $35,000 from $55,000 because Tigar said they did not have any prior serious felonies.

All three are due back in court Aug. 9.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-news/ci_15607918


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


More details on 9 charged in Oakland protests
July 14th, 2010


A UC Berkeley graduate student in social welfare, a salesman and a Twitter user who had hoped the jury in the trial of the former BART police officer would do the “right thing” were among the nine people charged with crimes related to Thursday’s protests in downtown Oakland.

They were among 78 people arrested during a protest in which downtown businesses were looted, had their windows broken or were damaged by anti-police graffiti, authorities said. Demonstrators also set trash bins on fire and clashed with police.

Adrion Huebl, 23, and John Osburn were charged with failure to disperse and engaging in a riot, both misdemeanors.

Police reports say Huebl threw a glass bottle at officers on a skirmish line. Nobody was hurt by the bottle. He pleaded not guilty Monday. His attorney, Dan Siegel, said Huebl was at the scene to take pictures and denied throwing anything at officers.

Seven other protesters were charged with felonies.

Tyrone Moore, 35, was charged with drug possession and possession of a destructive device. He was being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in lieu of $525,000 bail.

Laramie Elliott, 21, and Sarah Thibault, 28, a UC Berkeley graduate student in social welfare, were arrested on the 2200 block of Telegraph Avenue. Both were charged with arson and burglary and were being held in lieu of $70,000 bail.

Todd Lyster, 28 – who a day before the Johannes Mehserle verdict had posted on his Twitter account, “hoping the jury does the ‘right’ thing in the Oscar Grant trial” – was charged with attempted arson. He was not in custody Tuesday. Adrian Wilson, also charged with attempted arson, was in custody in lieu of $35,000 bail.

Terry James Williams Jr., 33, was charged with burglary and possession of stolen property for allegedly stealing “grills,” or jewelry worn over the teeth, from a store near 17th Street and Broadway. Because Williams is a parolee, he is being held without bail for an alleged parole violation, records show. Williams pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Arthur Jackson, who at 46 is the oldest defendant in the case, was charged with burglary and possession of stolen property after being arrested on suspicion of stealing shoes from the Foot Locker near 14th Street and Broadway. His bail was set at $55,000. His listed occupation was sales, according to jail records.

“He did not enter the Foot Locker,” said Siegel, also the attorney for Jackson, who pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

http://signalfire.org/?p=2770