Pepper Spray Q-tip Trial April 12

MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate
release
April 11, 2005

PEPPER SPRAY Q-TIP SWABBING CASE BACK IN COURT

Jury Selection Starts Tuesday, April 12

Contacts: Karen Pickett, Josh Brown 510-548-3113

Beta cam video news releases, press packets and courtroom drawings
are available through the contact phone number. Video images, legal
documents, other background and links available at
http://www.nopepperspray.org

WHO:
Pepper Spray 8 vs. County of Humboldt et al.

The plaintiffs are eight forest activists who were engaged in
demonstrations to save Headwaters Forest. They are represented by
the civil rights legal team who won the 2002 Earth First! (Judi Bari
and Darryl Cherney) vs. FBI and Oakland Police case, including Dennis
Cunningham and J. Tony Serra.

WHAT:
Pepper Spray By Q-Tip Civil Rights Trial III
This civil rights trial will be heard again in federal court after
two hold out jurors prevented a verdict in the September 2004 trial.
At issue is whether police used excessive force when they forced
pepper spray into the eyes of protesters staging a sit-in. The
defendants are Humboldt County Sheriffs' Dept., Eureka Police Dept.,
the former Sheriff and current Sheriff of that county.

WHERE:
San Francisco, Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate Ave., S.F., Calif.
Judge Susan Illston's court, 19th floor, room 10.

WHEN:
Tuesday, April 12, 8:30 a.m. Jury selection is expected to take one
day, with opening arguments on Wednesday April 13 at 8:30 a.m.

Background:
When police footage aired on national tv after the incidents in 1997,
the horrified public saw officers force activists' heads back, pry
open their eyes and precisely smear the burning chemical into their
eyes. Most of the activists were young-some were first time
protesters. Although the incidents drew international outrage and
condemnation, state officials have codified the police tactic by
incorporating these practices into guidelines for dealing with civil
disobedience in California. Generally, pepper spray is recognized as
a tool of last resort when suspects in custody are violent or out of
control.

After the first trial in 1998 ended without a verdict, challenges at
the state, appeals court and US Supreme Court level brought the case
back to San Francisco before a new judge and jury on Sept. 7, 2004.
That jury deadlocked 6-2 in favor of the activist plaintiffs, causing
the judge to schedule a new trial.
###
--

Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH)

2530 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
phone: 510 548 3113
email: bach [at] headwaterspreserve.org

http://www.HeadwatersPreserve.org