Jurors near revolt in Peace Camp Six Trial

A lone protester sleeps in the forbidden zone at Santa Cruz City Hall last August as City-sponsored klieg lights glare down at him. Photo by Becky Johnson Aug 20 2011

by Becky Johnson

Santa Cruz, Ca. They swarmed the hallways, cluttered the benches, many clutching books in preparation for a long day. At least eighty public citizens who still believe in the purpose of jury trials ( or were afraid of facing criminal charges if they failed to respond to that letter in the mail) arrived at Judge John Gallagher's court to volunteer to serve to adjudicate whether the six defendants were guilty of "lodging" on the Courthouse steps last July and August as part of a peaceful protest against the Sleeping Ban in Santa Cruz.

Gallagher told juries "I expect this trial will last two weeks," which caused a concerned murmur through the crowd. He then told the court that they were in the middle of a "heavy-duty financial crisis" and that the court had had to "lay off 30 to 40 employees, has closed the misdemeanor court in Watsonville, closed the domestic violence court, and drastically reduced the drug court." Gallagher told jurors that he had to adjudicate "136 cases in one day."

Gallagher had the opportunity to throw the charges aside when Attorney and defendant, Ed Frey filed a motion to dismiss last January. Gallagher ruled that PC 647 (e) is NOT vague and overbroad and that the prosecutions could proceed. Judge Rebecca Connolly ruled essentially the same on March 4th in the case of Linda Lemaster, also charged with 647 (e). Lemaster will be tried later in May on the same charge, and, presumably, a different jury will be seated.

Assistant District Attorney Sarah Dabkowski for her part, picked up the gauntlet and filed subpoenas for the following witnesses* from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office: Lt. Fred Plageman, Mattson, Matrargan, Reed, Santos, Butin, Buchanan, Burreul, Gidding, Habermeil, Hanks, Huntsman, Hurley, Kennedy, Mullet, Murphy, Nathan, Murrey, Peterson. From the Santa Cruz Police Department, she subpoenaed the following: Birnham, Conner, DeCampo, Guegelo, Forbus, Medina, Pendleton, Vasquez, Venetion, Vigil. She subpoenaed a witness from the Parks and Recreation Department to be named later, and a witness from the Homeless Services Center, to be named later. From the County administration she subpoenaed Dina Phillips for a total of 31 prosecution witnesses, all of whom will be paid for testifying.

* (Spelling may be approximate for some of these witnesses. My apologies to the reader)

Frey has subpoenaed Paul Brindel of the Shelter Project, Paul Lee, namesake for the Paul Lee Loft and founder of the Homeless Garden Project, and Monica Martinez, Executive Director of the Homeless Services Center.

She and her staff will also be paid, but Ed Frey will not be paid, despite serving the duty of a public defender for the other five homeless defendants.

Actually, defendant Arthur Bishoff has since obtained both housing and employment. Defendant Eliot Anderson also achieved housing and employment but has since been laid off from his job and lost his housing. Defendant Collette Connolly was sheltered for about a month at the Paul Lee Loft after Peace Camp 2010 was disbanded in October. She will not be eligible for those shelter services for at least six months now. She, and co-defendant, Gary Johnson, remain homeless. Defendant Christopher Doyon has not appeared in court and will be tried at a later date.

Police officers are paid for a four-hour shift if called to testify on their day off. If on duty, they testify in uniform, and do not serve on their beat during those hours, depriving the public of their actual services. Lt. Fred Plageman and Dina Phillips presumably will testify as part of their administrative salary.

The defense, other than the actual defendants themselves have only subpoenaed three witnesses: Paul Brindel of the Shelter Project, Paul Lee, namesake for the Paul Lee Loft at the Homeless Services Center, and Executive Director, Monica Martinez (or her substitute) of the Homeless Services Center.

When jurors learned they would not be serving on a jury to try a child molester, a rapist, a murderer, or an extortionist, but instead would be asked to determine whether a couple of homeless people "lodged" on the courthouse steps as part of a protest last summer, they rebelled.

A kindergarten teacher from Brooknoll Elementary School started the rebellion. "When I first came to Santa Cruz, I lived in my van for three years. During that time, I was hassled, arrested, and jailed. There is no way I could be impartial in this case considering the pain these people are suffering."

The next juror to object said "I grew up homeless and my dad was a veteran. I've been hassled and harassed, and I'm hostile. They make victims of people. They don't help them out. You can't take a homeless kid and give them a $225 ticket."

When DA Dabkowski asked " Do any of you believe this is a case that should not be brought to court," another juror raised his hand. "I have a strong respect for people's property rights, but I speculate that the people charged here had no other option. This is simply a case of right and wrong laws."

The next juror who objected said "I not only object, but I'm shocked really. I arrived not knowing anything about this case and now find you want to conduct a two week trial? And it's simply about a group of homeless people being where they're not supposed to be? What a waste of people's time. It's a travesty really, spending this much time and money on this here."

When Judge John Gallagher asked him if he could put his bias aside and render an unbiased decision he said "I'd just be sitting here, stewing, that I can't believe we are spending all these resources on this."

Potential juror #4 said "I'm honored to be here and to serve. However, I am not impartial. I feel this is a waste of time for the taxpayers. I tried to use my calculator to add up the expenses. And I'm upset we've opened up this much time on this particular case. You say it's criminal? Then why do the sheriff's spend so much time being giving tickets, just harassing people, especially my own kids, aged 17 and 18? And then not showing up when I need them. My storage locker was broken into and thousands of dollars worth of my things were stolen, and I never got anything back. You say this is criminal so perhaps there's more to it."

Another potential juror described her previous jury experience. " There was a break-in and we did reach a verdict, and I sat on the jury for a four-week trial on a rape case. But I'll say I'm already feeling some pre-conceived notions as I keep hearing this case is about illegal lodging, not what I keep hearing. It feels like we're getting away from that. Honestly, I don't think I can be unbiased."

Juror #36 was disillusioned with the whole process. "I testified in court once as a witness for the prosecution in an attempted murder case. And even though I was testifying against the defendant, the prosecutor was so aggressive in his tactics, I came to resent the whole court process. This case here shouldn't be taking place at all.

Potential juror #2 had experienced both sides of law enforcement. "I was saved by police at age 9. But then I've had relatives of mine pulled over by police and hassled for no reason at all."

Jury selection continues today. The trial is expected to last two weeks. Defendants face up to 6 months in jail and/or $1000 fine on each charge. Defendant Gary Johnson, who has the most charges, faces up to two years in jail for sleeping at the courthouse and at City Hall as part of a protest against Sleeping Bans.

Ed Frey can be contacted at 831 479-8911
Becky Johnson can be contacted by e-mail at becky_johnson222 (at) hotmail.com.

The Silver Lining

Photos of Miguel DeLeon's children, Bobbie,Bailey,Adamis, and Taylor who have just re-connected with their father after 17 years





by Becky Johnson
June 1, 2009

Santa Cruz, Ca. --- Judge Paul Burdick has ruled that a homeless couple, Anna Richardson and Miguel DeLeon, who have already been ticketed 60 times, mostly for camping or sleeping, deserve to be enjoined from sleeping at night in the downtown area. He dismissed the affirmative declarations of Paul Lee Ph.D. and Paul Brindel, director of the Shelter Project which documented that Santa Cruz has shelter space for 8% of its homeless population over the course of a year as irrelevant. When asked where the homeless couple should sleep, Burdick said "well in other parts of the City." When Jonathan Gettlemen, Richardson's attorney said "But it's illegal to sleep there as well." "I'm only going to enjoin them from sleeping downtown." He dismissed the frivolous charges which City Attorney Susan Barisone wanted to keep in such as when Anna washed her hands in the town fountain or when she and Miguel tried to take turns going into the public restrooms on Locust St. only to be told they couldn't "trespass" while they watched their mutual possessions.

But something positive has come out of this whole experience. Taylor DeLeon-Foote, an 18 yr old junior at Cal State University in Berkeley was conducing a google search looking for her biological father, who she knew little about. As a child, Taylor and her three siblings were separated from their father in a court decision which granted custody to the grandparents. DeLeon and Taylor's mother were both very young when they had us. "My mom was only 15 and Lito, my father, was 17." Lito's parental rights were severed. He left the area shortly after that and what became of him was always a mystery to Taylor. "My mom just didn't want to talk about it, " she said. But Taylor, who graduated from high school at age 16, and has just been accepted by the University of California in Berkeley as an incoming junior this coming fall, always wondered about her father.

Last February, some of the press reports about the case appeared in her google search. She read articles written by Robert Norse, and was able to hear her father's voice for the first time in her life when Anna Richardson and Lito (Miguel's nickname) appeared on Robert Norse's radio show, Bathrobespierre's Broadsides. Robert faciliated contact with Lito's attorney. On Saturday, May 30, 2009, Gettlemen, his wife and dog found Anna and Lito camping along the river levee. He dialed a number and handed the phone to Lito. "Someone wants to talk to you," he said. It was Taylor!

They spoke for several minutes and Taylor says that she was thrilled to finally find and make contact with her father. She says that she and her siblings are all doing well. Her brother is graduating from high school this June. Everyone is healthy.

"I'd always been told that my father abandoned us and that he wanted nothing to do with us. It was never true. He gave up his parental rights because he thought it was the best situation he could leave my brother and sisters in. The last thing he said during the phone call was "I love you." That meant the world to me," she said, choked with emotion.

Many many people in life run into trouble. Health problems. The loss of a job. A messy divorce. Some become homeless and some do not. What we, at HUFF have found as the common thread throughout people's stories is that the people who maintain their family relationships are able to weather the hard times without falling into homelessness. Those who, for whatever reason, have lost that family support network, are the ones who become homeless. Whether they are prone to using drugs or alcohol. Whether they have mental problems. Whether they are a veteran suffering from PTSD. The common element is that people with family support are the ones who end up homeless. Lito is a good example of how this can happen.

It's a terrible loss to lose your children. It happens to homeless people all the time. Child Protective Services workers become scary people to homeless families with small children. The depression that follows for the parent is unbearable. Most never fully recover. I don't know that this is the case with Miguel DeLeon and his children, but I see all the signs. Perhaps now, something can be salvaged from what had, up until now, been an irreparably broken family.

"I've also reconnected with my Dad's family who I grew up not knowing," Taylor bubbles. "They are wonderful and so supportive of me. I'm getting married in August and they are paying for my wedding." A silver lining indeed.