Pomona Jury Absolves Activist Accused of Disrupting Meeting

A Pomona Municipal Court jury has found a community activist not guilty of a charge that he disrupted a City Council meeting in September.

The jury last week acquitted Al Ramirez of disrupting a public meeting after deliberating less than a day. Ramirez, 62, was arrested Sept. 19 when he attempted to reenter City Council Chambers after being escorted outside by a police officer.

The fracas that led to the charge began when another activist, John Marshall Lawrence, 67, defied Mayor Donna Smith’s order to leave the speaker’s podium after he exceeded the council’s 5-minute limit for public comment. A police officer forcibly removed Lawrence from the chambers and placed him under arrest.

Ramirez, who had been seated in the audience, then rose to Lawrence’s defense, shouting: “Let the man speak!” Pomona Officer Charles Watts ordered Ramirez to sit down and be quiet, and escorted him out of the council chambers when he refused to comply.

Believed in Good Faith

Defense attorney Antonio J. Bestard had argued to the jury that Ramirez was not guilty of disrupting a public meeting because he believed in good faith that he had the right to protest Lawrence’s treatment. Bestard noted that boisterous public debate has been a part of the American democratic tradition since the days of New England town hall meetings.

The activists’ outrage over the 5-minute limit on public comment was justified because the mayor enforced the rule in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner, Bestard said.

“Her friends and those who supported her would be allowed to speak more than the five minutes” while Smith stringently enforced the rule with opponents, Bestard said in an interview this week.

In support of its contention that Smith used the 5-minute rule to silence critics, the defense called six witnesses, including Councilman C.L. (Clay) Bryant.

Smith denied any capriciousness in her application of the 5-minute rule.

“When I ask someone to wrap up their comments, I’ll give them a few seconds to do that,” Smith said. “But you know Lawrence. His introduction is five minutes. I won’t let them just go on and on.”

The mayor, who besides the arresting officer was the only prosecution witness, said Ramirez’s attorney distorted the focus of the case by centering on her handling of council meetings.

“The whole case was twisted,” Smith said. “There were a couple of times when I really felt like I was the one on trial.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Diane Gesner said the 5-minute rule should not have been an issue in the case because it was not the basis for Ramirez’s prosecution. Gesner argued that Ramirez had violated the City Council’s rules of procedure which require speakers to come to the podium and be recognized before they speak.

“Mr. Ramirez was out in the audience, he did not come to the podium and he was behaving in a rude manner,” Gesner said. “We weren’t charging him for what he said, it was for his acting in a loud and hostile manner.”

Buoyed by his acquittal, Ramirez said Wednesday that his next step will be to demand the resignations of Smith, City Administrator A.J. Wilson and City Atty. Patrick Sampson.

Smith complained that Ramirez had avoided conviction with the city-paid services of a private attorney provided by the court after Ramirez refused to be represented by a public defender.

“He was allowed at taxpayers’ expense to hire a private criminal lawyer because he refused to have a public defender,” Smith said. “He got a very good lawyer and we’re all paying for him . . . Although (Ramirez) did disrupt the meeting and he did become a little violent, his attorney made it into a civil rights case.”

Bestard said neither public defender who serves Pomona Municipal Court could represent Ramirez because both had represented potential witnesses in the case.

Ramirez had been charged originally with a second count of disrupting a public meeting stemming from his combative exchange with the mayor on Oct. 3, but Gesner dropped the charge.

Last Thursday, one day after his acquittal, Ramirez filed papers stating his intent to run against Smith and five other challengers in the March 7 mayoral primary.