At the Ellen Murphy hearing yesterday virtually nothing happened and it lasted about a minute. Ellen's attorney, Joe Pemberton, told judge Lev that in light of the changes in the charges by the city that he may want to interview the arresting officers again and she had no problem with that.
I've been informed that Ellen was issued a 'citation' not an 'arrest warrant' as posted below. While I've no doubt that this is correct, to me a citation does not lead to jail time and a criminal record. Ellen could serve time if convicted. I'm also told by a former prosecutor that 80% of citations are filled out incorrectly by the police and need to be corrected later in court. To me, this seems absurd. Why our courts would tolerate - why defense attorneys would tolerate - such a sloppy enforcement of justice is beyond me. Our police need and deserve continuous training so they can cite accurate charges and times.
Part of the problem the city has in trying to convict Ellen Murphy of 1st Degree Criminal Trespassing is Larsen's own confusion of what are his own office hours. His office is open till 5 pm, but the front doors to the Federal Building are locked at 4:30 pm to incoming traffic. This prevents last-minute visitors to the various government offices in the building - and allows the finishing of business with those at the offices for a 5 pm closing.
Since Rick's staff called the police on Ellen before 5 pm, Rick Larsen and his staff decided their office actually closed at 4:30 and thus she was trespassing. Then they came up with a rule - applied retro - that citizens who were just sitting protesting were only allowed 15 minutes and then they were trespassing. Of course Luke - Larsen's office manager - had not informed Ellen and the several other protesters of this rule - because the rule had not yet been thought of.
Rick's staff has admitted under oath that Ellen and the several others sitting quietly in the office were not causing any interruption to business. He did not mention that the only person to come into the office during the sit-in was surprised at what he came onto and decided to join the women in sitting for a while in support. Rick's office is not exactly a beehive of visitors. His three local staff have a lot of office time with no visitors.
Rick himself stated at the City Club that "anyone who stays after 5 pm will be arrested" - thus giving weight to the original 5 pm closing. His words are now causing problems for the city attorney as he tries to convict Ellen of trespassing during normal office hours.
I've been informed that Ellen was issued a 'citation' not an 'arrest warrant' as posted below. While I've no doubt that this is correct, to me a citation does not lead to jail time and a criminal record. Ellen could serve time if convicted. I'm also told by a former prosecutor that 80% of citations are filled out incorrectly by the police and need to be corrected later in court. To me, this seems absurd. Why our courts would tolerate - why defense attorneys would tolerate - such a sloppy enforcement of justice is beyond me. Our police need and deserve continuous training so they can cite accurate charges and times.
Part of the problem the city has in trying to convict Ellen Murphy of 1st Degree Criminal Trespassing is Larsen's own confusion of what are his own office hours. His office is open till 5 pm, but the front doors to the Federal Building are locked at 4:30 pm to incoming traffic. This prevents last-minute visitors to the various government offices in the building - and allows the finishing of business with those at the offices for a 5 pm closing.
Since Rick's staff called the police on Ellen before 5 pm, Rick Larsen and his staff decided their office actually closed at 4:30 and thus she was trespassing. Then they came up with a rule - applied retro - that citizens who were just sitting protesting were only allowed 15 minutes and then they were trespassing. Of course Luke - Larsen's office manager - had not informed Ellen and the several other protesters of this rule - because the rule had not yet been thought of.
Rick's staff has admitted under oath that Ellen and the several others sitting quietly in the office were not causing any interruption to business. He did not mention that the only person to come into the office during the sit-in was surprised at what he came onto and decided to join the women in sitting for a while in support. Rick's office is not exactly a beehive of visitors. His three local staff have a lot of office time with no visitors.
Rick himself stated at the City Club that "anyone who stays after 5 pm will be arrested" - thus giving weight to the original 5 pm closing. His words are now causing problems for the city attorney as he tries to convict Ellen of trespassing during normal office hours.
