rock!

go girl! I dropped by for am session -- til jury went out. A bunch of media there.

Oddity - as DA (badly done) summation went on I saw a bunch a 'suits' troop in. Just like in the Lynne Stewart trial. They must've all gotten a call to stop work and come over.
Pathetic arguement by DA (or DA-ette) may have disolved next to great defence summation. I wish I took notes.

Keep up the great work Gideon

I'm just passing along what I heard!

Bravo! June you are a hero, next to the coward republicans that abused you while dragging you out. If there is a lawsuit in it for you, I hope you win.

Banner-Bearing Protester at Convention Is Acquitted

By ANDREW JACOBS

A Manhattan jury rejected all charges last night against a California woman who was arrested at the Republican National Convention, when she unfurled a banner criticizing President Bush during his acceptance speech.

Prosecutors had accused the woman, June Brashares, of several crimes, including the assault of two convention volunteers who had escorted her from Madison Square Garden moments after she stood on a chair and held up a hand-painted bed sheet that said "Bush Lies People Die."

One of the volunteers testified that he needed 10 stitches to close a gash on his shin caused by the heel of Ms. Brashares's shoe. Jurors, speaking after the verdict, said they rejected that allegation, however, and said they believed Ms. Brashares and other witnesses who said she was not even wearing shoes when she was dragged screaming from the hall.

"This is wonderful," said Ms. Brashares, 41, an events planner from San Francisco, after the verdict was read last night. "Free speech has been upheld."

In addition to misdemeanor assault, Ms. Brashares faced charges of disorderly conduct, harassment and attempted assault. Her case was one of the last stemming from the arrests of more than 1,800 people during last summer's convention. It was also one of the few to be argued in front of a jury.

Of the 1,670 cases handled by the Manhattan district attorney, 91 percent ended with the charges dismissed or with a verdict of not guilty after trial. In more than 160 others, defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted during trial. In at least 400 cases, charges were dropped or defendants were acquitted after videotapes undermined or contradicted the original accusations.

Although the three-day hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court largely focused on Ms. Brashares's shoes, and whether they were on her feet, her lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb, tried to turn the case into a discussion of free speech, partisan politics and whether the two California men who pressed charges, Shaun Flanigan and John Peschong, had suppressed her First Amendment rights.

"Under our system, sometimes people disagree with you and when they disagree, they are not to be condemned, and the person who disagrees is not to be arrested," Mr. Gottlieb said in closing arguments. "The fact is that they were willing to assault someone in the name of politics."

During the trial he sought to turn the prosecutor's argument on its head, portraying Ms. Brashares as the victim of brutality and repeatedly describing the two men as "goons," thugs" and "brazen liars."

On the stand, Ms. Brashares testified that Mr. Peschong grabbed her so violently he tore the ligament in her ring finger. Although prosecutors dismissed her claim, saying she had no proof of the injury, their case suffered a significant blow when Mr. Gottlieb presented the jury taped news footage that clearly showed Mr. Peschong grabbing her fingers and attempting to cover her mouth as she was dragged through the crowd.

In arguing the case, Jessica Troy, the assistant district attorney, said the trial was not about politics but about a cunning woman who snuck into a private affair with the intention of provoking a nationally televised disruption. She compared Ms. Brashares's actions to interrupting a church service, a private party or a show, using the audience participation play "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding" as an analogy.

"When you go to a play and stand up and start screaming 'I hate this play, you wasted my time and money,' what do you expect to happen?" she asked. "You're going to be pulled out by the ushers."

Ms. Brashares, a peace advocate and member of the protest group Code Pink, clearly planned her stunt well. She entered the arena with legitimate credentials obtained from a sympathetic conventioneer and smuggled the banner in her pantyhose. She settled into the section reserved for members of the California delegation and waited until Mr. Bush was well into his speech before unrolling the sheet.

The anti-Bush slogan immediately caught the attention of Mr. Flanigan, 27, and Mr. Peschong, 43, both of them so-called "floor whips" assigned to maintain order.

Although the jurors did not approve of her tactics and thought the convention organizers had a right to throw her out, they said they admired her temerity and conviction.

"We gave her a lot of credit for what she did," said one of them, Susan Flanders, a charity executive from the Upper East Side. "But it was wrong socially and against the mores of society to go in there and bust up their party."

The Republican thugs who roughed up this brave woman should be the core of the all Republican George W. Bush (under armored) Division and should be shipped stat to Iraq along with every Republican chickenhawk under 40 who can be identified and rounded up.

i second that, all protest warriors and young rethuglicans of fighting age ought to be in the triangle of death makeing their glorious leader proud.

Shaun Flanigan and John Peschong assaulted this woman and then perjured themselves. Why doesn't the D.A. bring a crimninal suit against them?