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The first protester to appear for
trial on charges related to protests at the FTAA conference last
November walked out of court a free man Tuesday. But prosecutors may
refile the charges against him at a later date.
More than 260 protesters were
arrested during the weeklong trade conference. Many of them have already
pleaded out or had charges dropped, but more than 120 remain to be
tried.
Defendant Ernesto Longa faced two
misdemeanor countsfor “failure to obey a police order” and “resisting
arrest without violence” — both of which were withdrawn after a police
witness slated to testify against him failed to appear.
Prosecutors asked Miami-Dade County
Court Judge Rosa Figarola for a continuance of the proceedings, which
Figarola denied. The prosecutors then withdrew the charges.
Longa, 33, a Hollywood resident and
St. Thomas University law student, served as a National Lawyers Guild
legal observer during the trade meeting protests. He was caught up in a
police sweep on Friday, Nov. 21, along with about 60 others at a vigil
outside the Miami-Dade pretrial detention center on 14th Street, where
over 100 previously arrested protesters were being held.
“I’m pleased to see the courts
officially acknowledge that my charges were baseless,” Longa said in a
news release. “I hope that they also realize how frivolous the charges
are against others arrested during the FTAA protests so that we can end
this legal charade.”
Miami-Dade police blamed the state
attorney’s office for the no-show. “It appears the officers were on
standby subpoena and were not notified they were needed today,” said
police spokesman Detective Robert Williams.
But according to Miami-Dade state
attorney’s office spokesman Ed Griffith, “Both officers were served
mandatory subpoenas. We nolle prossed the case to preserve our options.”
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