78 arrested in Occupy march due in NY court Thurs. .

[brooklynite]

Source: Wall Street Journal

NEW YORK — Nearly 80 people arrested in an Occupy Wall Street march early in the protest's tenure were due in court Thursday, and a defense lawyer said some are eager to take their cases to trial.

Thursday marked the first court date for 78 demonstrators arrested while marching from their lower Manhattan base to Manhattan's Union Square on Sept. 24. Police said the protesters were blocking traffic.

...snip...

Attorney Martin R. Stolar, who represents some of the protesters due in court Thursday, expects prosecutors will offer to let the cases be dismissed if the demonstrators stay out of trouble for a certain period, possibly six months.

...snip...

But Stolar said he expects many of the demonstrators won't take it. Some insist they did nothing wrong and want to go to trial, he said. Others are concerned that agreeing to steer clear of legal trouble for a given time would hamper them from participating in other protests for fear of being arrested again, he said.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/APec65f0a2b8b8471483efc5c372bcb854.html?mod=WSJ_NY_LEFTAPHeadlines

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I suspect its goiong to be a long day in the Court Room.

[fasttense]

1. The Department Of (In) Justice is busy with protesters while the thieves,

con artists and criminals who destroyed our economy, shipped our jobs to foreign countries, closed our factories, stole our natural resources, polluted whenever they got a whim, made billions in profit off of the sick, and tortured and raped POWs are allowed to to live in the lap of luxury without even a minor concern that they may face prosecution for their immoral crimes.

There is no Justice anymore in America.

[brooklynite]

3. No, they're not...

The Department of Justice doesn't prosecute local misdemeanors in NYC, just as the City of New York doesn't prosecute white collar bank fraud.

[bemildred]

2. Indeed, occupy the courts as well. nt

[izquierdista]

6. Indeed

What if their numbers were 800? Or 8000?

[tcaudilllg]

4. That's the enemy strategy, isn't it?

Convince the protestors that they did wrong, and let them go on condition they won't exercise their rights to protest anymore?

[1776Forever]

5. Does anyone know what happen to those people who tried to close their bank accounts? Never heard

about them. I belive it was on Oct. 15th:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6svA6Qvq1U&feature=player_embedded

[Playinghardball]

7. Ipdate to this story - ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protesters Request Trial at Court Hearing in New York

More than 50 ‘Occupy Wall Street’ people arrested on disorderly conduct charges tied to marches through New York City rejected a plea offer from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance to drop their cases in six months.

About 78 people arrested during a Sept. 24 march to Union Square in Manhattan were scheduled to appear today before New York County Criminal Court Judge Neil Ross. More than 50 of those who appeared in court rejected an offer from prosecutors to dismiss the charges after six months if they’re not arrested again over that period.

The defendants will return to court in January, when lawyers representing them say they’ll move to dismiss the charges, according to Martin Stolar, one of about a dozen attorneys associated with the National Lawyers Guild who are representing some defendants.

“It has to do with the ambiguity of police instructions where people are told to go somewhere and they won’t be arrested,” Stolar said outside of court. “And then when people go there, they’re arrested. That strikes me as not justice.”

More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-03/-occupy-wall-street-protesters-request-trial-at-court-hearing-in-new-york.html