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Vol.
I No. 8 Charges Reduced Against Bike Protestor Court Land
While Zimmerman has, on the advice of her court-appointed attorney Kevin Robinson, declined to make further public comment on this case, her supporters were jubilant at the move, which came on the heels of an impromptu confrontation between Critical Mass supporters and District Attorney Paul Gallegos last month.
The reason for the original move to upgrade the misdemeanors to felonies was, according to Gallegos, the California Highway Patrol officer who allegedly knocked Zimmerman off of her bike on Highway 101 had claimed to have sustained a torn rotator cup in his shoulder. “Then we got the medical records that indicated there was no such injury,” he said. “Now we’ve heard a response [from officer Randy Price] and we’d like to see the evidence…We’re prepared to reduce the charges based on [the medical report] and if new evidence says there is injury and the medical report is wrong, we’ll look at that.” To Allen the move was indicative of a lack of sincerity on the officer’s part, suggesting the nature of his injuries matched the stories of other Critical Mass riders who say Price shouldered her off of a moving bicycle. “We have two police reports here, so a fair question to ask is if the officer was telling the truth the first time he filed a report or a second time?” Allen asked. “In these Critical Mass cases I expect all of these defendants to be exonerated. It is entirely unclear if any crimes were committed at all.”
“If the facts aren’t what they are reported to be, we have to act on them,” he said. “I think people want me to make decisions based on facts and the law. I’m supposed to be more interested in doing the job than in keeping the job. I think I owe that to you.” Even assome activists present at their meeting with Gallegos had threatened to withhold support from the DA during his re-election bid this year, the officeholder was committed to keeping political considerations out of his office. “I think it would be wrong to shy away from controversial cases because I’m afraid of the political backlash,” he said. “One of the things I strive to do in all cases is keep an open mind. It’s not just this case, it’s all cases. We look if evidence is substantiated.” As it regards complaints against police conduct in general, Gallegos said his office operated on the assumption that police reports were true, although he knows this isn’t always the case. “Certainly there may be some times that we go to that agency and discover sometimes there may be differences of opinion in what is done but unless there is violation of the law, those are differences we try to work out,” Gallegos said. “We really haven’t received [police-related] complaints, I don’t know if any of those people who were here [in December] have come forward.” The DA emphasized that a protocol for handling police-initiated shooting is in place and working smoothly, although Gallegos admitted to not being in the loop on receiving police complaint statistics from the Human Rights Commission. “We’d be happy to get them, if there were patterns, we’d look into it,” he said. “I certainly would expect if there were human rights agencies out there that thought there was a problem, I would hope they would let us know…we no more search for information to prosecute law enforcement officers then we search for information to prosecute ordinary citizens.” Gallegos described the December meeting with activists as positive, while assuring those of a different political view that he maintains that his office has an open door policy to all perspectives while staying above the fray. “If I allowed things like that to make these decisions, there never
would have been a recall,” Gallegos said. “I have to be so
invested in my job that I have to risk losing it. I was elected because
people want courage. I owe people that.” |
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Copyright © 2005-06, Humboldt Sentinel. All rights reserved. |
EUREKA
– The case of four bike-wielding protestors arrested in the midst
of the Nov. 2 Critical Mass ride from Arcata to Eureka took another twist
Wednesday as the District Attorney’s office filed a request to reduce
charges against the lead defendant, Kat Zimmerman, from felonies to misdemeanors
on two charges. She still faces charges of misdemeanor batter on an office,
disobeying an officer, resisting arrest, blocking a public thoroughfare
and impeding the free flow of traffic with an upcoming court hearing on
Jan. 18, 2:00 p.m. at the county courthouse.
“I
read the police reports in Kat’s case and I didn’t believe
them at all, I believe she was telling the truth,” Green Party Chair
Greg Allen said. “I’m very relieved. It says something local
attorneys can tell you about the District Attorney: He’s a man of
integrity. I’m pleased to see it but I’m not surprised because
he’s such a decent guy, I’m not surprised he did something
like that.”
Although
the CHP might not be happy with his latest move, Gallegos said making
unpopular decisions was part-and parcel of why he was in office.