Jury Finds 2 Guilty in Abortion Protest; Jail Term an Option

Two anti-abortion activists described by prosecutors as leaders in two April clinic blockades in San Diego were found guilty Wednesday of conspiring to organize the protests and seven other misdemeanor criminal charges.

A San Diego Municipal Court jury convicted Constance V. Youngkin, 41, of San Diego, and Frank B. Smith, 56, of Oceanside, in connection with the April 8 and April 29 demonstrations. They were the first among seven activists, all facing conspiracy charges, whom prosecutors had alleged in court papers “assumed active leadership roles” in the protests.

Youngkin and Smith remained free on their own recognizance, pending sentencing, which San Diego Municipal Court Judge John M. Thompson set for Friday.

Sentencing Options

Thompson said Youngkin and Smith should be ready Friday to indicate which of three sentencing options each preferred--a 45-day jail term, 60 days of public-service work such as highway trash detail or probation, likely for three years, a condition of which would be to avoid other anti-abortion protests.

Smith, a pastor, said he wanted to write about anti-abortion activities, “so I’m going to sharpen my pencils and go to jail.”

His attorney, Greg Anthony of Los Angeles, said, “It’s his decision. I can’t make it for him.”

Youngkin did not discuss her sentencing options. “I have one comment,” she said. “If it’s criminal to protect women from being exploited and to rescue babies from death, then I am a criminal.”

Youngkin also faces a contempt hearing Friday stemming from a speech when the trial opened about topics Thompson had barred, including allegations of excessive police force during arrests at the demonstrations and the necessity of the protests to save babies, said Peter Hughes, the deputy city attorney who prosecuted both cases.

The jury convicted Youngkin and Smith of conspiring to organize, and aiding and abetting, the April 8 San Diego protest. It also found them guilty, in connection with both the April 8 and 29 demonstrations, of trespassing, failing to disperse and disobeying a court order.

That order was a statewide injunction issued in March by U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima in Los Angeles. It barred the activists, many affiliated with the group Operation Rescue, from blockading clinics.

Jury selection in the case began Aug. 24. The lawyers presented their closing arguments Monday, and the jury got the case Tuesday.

Sending a Message

Hughes said he would ask Thompson to impose “substantial” jail time for both Youngkin and Smith.

“They knew about the federal injunction. That didn’t stop them,” he said. “They were arrested on the 8th. That didn’t slow them down. They were arrested on the 29th. That didn’t stop them.

“We think the only way to send a message is some custody.”

Hughes’ supervisor, James M. Bishop, head deputy city attorney, said the verdict was not surprising. “We expected this all along,” he said.

The verdict was expected to boost the morale of prosecutors, who, beginning Sept. 25, will try four more of the seven alleged leaders, Hughes said.

Those four are Dean Mesa, 30, of Vista; Joseph L. Foreman, 34, of Long Beach; Terry Macrae, 32, of Santee and Chet E. Gallagher, 39, of Las Vegas, Hughes said.

In all, 134 anti-abortion activists arrested at the protests April 8 and 29 and at another demonstration June 10 face misdemeanor charges, prosecutors have said. The Youngkin and Smith case was the first in what Thompson said at hearings in August will be a series of trials that will run one after another and probably will last a year.

Originally, eight protesters faced conspiracy charges. William R. Lehman, 29, of Vista, who disavowed any affiliation with Operation Rescue, pleaded no contest Aug. 24 in San Diego Municipal Court to violating the Tashima order. In exchange, the city attorney’s office dropped the conspiracy charge.

Suspended Sentence

Municipal Judge Gale E. Kaneshiro imposed a suspended 90-day jail sentence, put Lehman on three years’ probation and ordered him not to take part in other blockades. Lehman also was ordered to complete 180 hours of community service.

Lehman, Youngkin and Foreman were among 12 activists Tashima held in contempt Aug. 29 for violating the statewide injunction, in part from the April 8 demonstration.

Tashima levied $10,000 fines against each of the activists but suspended them, saying they will be reimposed if the activists again violate court orders preventing clinic blockades.

The judge also ordered the activists to pay various amounts in attorneys’ fees to the American Civil Liberties Union and other lawyers for costs incurred in bringing the contempt action on behalf of groups such as Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside counties.

The judge ordered Youngkin to pay $12,000 in attorneys’ fees to the San Diego chapter of the ACLU.

Smith was not involved in Tashima’s Aug. 29 ruling.