Countywide : Tollway Protesters Enter Not-Guilty Pleas
Twenty of the protesters who tried to block bulldozers in December during the construction of the San Joaquin Hills Tollway pleaded not guilty Thursday at Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel and were released without bail.
Most were charged with trespassing, and some with multiple counts of resisting arrest.
The demonstrations began Dec. 20 and involved about 50 people who were protesting the decision by U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a court injunction that had halted construction on the toll road.
Opponents of the 17-mile road, which would cut through Laguna Canyon Road as it links Newport Beach and San Juan Capistrano, staged four days of protests when grading resumed.
Most lined Laguna Canyon Road, while others locked themselves to bulldozers. One man was accused of throwing a potato-size rock at a passing pickup truck, cracking the windshield.
Jury trials for the protesters are scheduled to take place Feb. 28.
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