Closing Arguments in Coronado Free Speech Trial on 9/17/07

Case expected to go to jury by Monday afternoon

San Diego, CA- Attorney Tony Serra for the defense and the
government’s attorney will present closing arguments in activist Rod
Coronado’s First Amendment trial at 9 a.m. Monday morning in room
16, 5th floor of the Federal District Court, 940 Front St., San
Diego, California. Preceding closing statements, the judge will
issue jury instructions. The case will then be in the hands of the jury.

On Thursday Sept. 13, testimony of a San Diego police officer present
at the speech at issue, was impeached, as a key piece of new evidence
was introduced. After undercover San Diego counter-intelligence cop
Joseph Lehr insisted that Coronado responded to a question about
making a “bomb for an action,” a recently-surfaced audio recording
clearly established that the question from the audience on August 1,
2003 did not include the words “bomb” or “for an action.” The
exact wording of the question following the environmental speech is
central to the case, since government charges are based on
Coronado’s answer.

The government is prosecuting Coronado under an obscure statute (18
USC § 842 (p)(2)(A)), which makes it a crime to demonstrate how to
build a destructive device with the intent that it be used in
furtherance of a crime of violence. They say he intended to foment
criminal activity based on his answer, and that his speech is not
protected by the First Amendment. In order to deny that protection,
however, the government must prove his intent.

The Supreme Court has carved out three famous exceptions to free
speech: the "fighting words" exception (Chaplinsky v. New
Hampshire), the obscenity exception (Miller v. California), and the
"clear and present danger" exception (Brandenburg v. Ohio). However,
each exception is extremely limited. The Brandenburg decision states
the incitement to violence must be imminent—unlike, one assumes, the
public call for assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez by
Christian fundamentalist and broadcaster Pat Robertson in 2005.

After the audio recording played for the jury with a transcript on
screen on Thursday, the defense called as a witness Cari Shaw, the
young woman who actually posed the question. She corroborated the
words on the recording as a question about how an incendiary device
is made, and testified that her impression was that Rod’s
explanation of incendiary devices was a recital of his and others’
acts of the past, rather than a specific call to action. Two
subsequent witnesses, also present at the 2003 speech, both testified
to an absence of incitement to immediate action by Coronado’s words.

The jury seated in this case includes seven women and five men, with
two alternates, one Hispanic male and one Caucasian female. The jury
includes one African-American, one Hispanic, one Filipino; the
remaining jurors assumed to be Caucasian.

A press conference will be held in front of the courthouse after the
verdict is delivered. Press packets with background information are
available electronically and at the courthouse through Karen Pickett.

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