Local News in Brief : Judge Convicts 31 in Salvador Protest

Thirty-one activists opposed to U.S. policy in El Salvador were convicted Thursday of holding an unauthorized demonstration on Veterans Administration property in West Los Angeles, despite their contention that it was necessary to prevent the breaking of higher law.

U.S. Magistrate Joseph Reichmann, who heard the one-day trial without a jury, allowed the defendants to avail themselves of the so-called necessity defense--that breaking a law was necessary to stop a greater crime.

One after another, they freely admitted trespassing and defying orders to disperse, declaring their conviction that American policy in El Salvador and the rest of Central America is the greater sin.

But in the end, the magistrate said he had to find the defendants guilty, despite their sincere belief in their cause.

He sentenced each of them to pay a $50 fine or devote 25 hours to community service, observing that it might be appropriate to give that service to organizations aiding Latin American refugees.