106 Denver arrests, 9 trials, 1 conviction

The first wave of trials for protesters arrested during the Democratic National Convention has resulted in a stream of acquittals in what the defendants are calling an embarrassment to Denver and proof that prosecutors ought to drop the rest of the cases.

In trials for the first nine of 106 people arrested during the convention, all but two defendants have won acquittals on charges that they participated in anarchist demonstrations on the opening night of the convention. One was convicted, and another will be retried because the jury deadlocked.

About half of the arrested protesters have pleaded guilty, Denver’s city attorney noted.

Defense attorneys, citing an “abysmal” conviction rate, challenged city officials Friday to dismiss remaining cases.

“In the midst of an economic crisis, spending taxpayers’ dollars to prosecute innocent individuals is itself a crime,” said Brian Vicente, director of the People’s Law Project, which is defending the accused.

The group also filed an open-records request asking city officials to detail the cost of the prosecutions.

Denver officials said Friday that they were preparing their response. “I don’t believe it’s a waste of money,” said Denver City Atty. David Fine. “If people are violating the law, we don’t ignore it.”

The majority of the arrests during the Denver convention occurred Aug. 25, when police encircled a group of demonstrators whom they believed were heading to cause problems at delegates’ hotels and downtown businesses.

Fine’s office has dismissed charges against five defendants, he said.

(Defendants’ lawyers put that number at 10.)

In two cases that resulted in acquittals, Fine said, jurors made a point of praising how police handled the situation.

Once, jurors even admonished the defendants, telling them that their actions weren’t appropriate, he said.

Fine said he believed the city had succeeded in allowing free expression while protecting the convention.

“There was robust speech all over the city for most of the convention,” he said.

“It came off incredibly well, in my view.”

But defendants and their lawyers criticized the city, claiming Denver based its prosecutions on a theory of guilt by association.

“They tried to paint me as an anarchist,” said Stephanie Catlin, an 18-year-old student at the Art Institute of Colorado who last week was acquitted of blocking the street during the Aug. 25 demonstration.

Catlin was taking photographs when she found herself surrounded by police and unable to leave, she said.

As she continued to shoot photos, some of which were later published in her student newspaper, she was arrested.

“I’ve never been arrested before,” she said.

“I lost a lot of respect for the police.

“The way I’ve been treated was shameful and wrong. It was guilt by association.”

Fine refuted the claim that protesters had been arrested simply because they were part of the crowd.

Most cases are built on a combination of circumstantial and direct evidence, and these cases were no different, he said.

In the case of Eric Nunez, the only protester who has been convicted, his lawyer, Robert J. Corry Jr., said he would seek a new trial based on information that has since emerged.

The American Civil Liberties Union, citing a police document it obtained, claims that undercover police posing as protesters staged a violent confrontation with another officer during the protest, heightening tensions.

In Nunez’s case, jurors cited that episode as evidence that the protest was a serious situation, Corry said.

In St. Paul, Minn., prosecutors continue to sift through cases stemming from about 800 arrests during the Republican National Convention.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office has charged 18 people with felony crimes, including conspiracy to commit riot, criminal damage to property, obstruction of the legal process and crimes in furtherance of terrorism.

One defendant has pleaded guilty; the rest of the cases are pending.

An additional 600 misdemeanor cases being handled by the St. Paul city attorney’s office are pending, and many of those defendants have yet to appear in court mainly because of the volume of cases, City Atty. John Choi said.

Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, said he suspected the delay was deliberate.

“We believe they’ll be waiting for court dates until the statute of limitations has run and the city can’t charge them,” he said.

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deedee.correll@latimes.com