Cleveland Free Times, 5/3/06
Carol Fisher, a longtime peace activist and a volunteer at the local
communist bookstore Revolution Books, has been found guilty. The
53-year-old, 5-foot-4, 130-pounder will be sentenced June 2 for the
felonious assault of two Cleveland Heights police officers. But
Fisher’s attorney, Terry Gilbert, says a number of issues in the trial
will come up when the decision is appealed.
Fisher was hanging “World Can’t Wait, Bush Step Down” posters on Lee Road telephone poles January 28 when the officers pointed out to her that the city has a law against that. But when they asked for the ID she didn’t have, then grabbed her by the sleeve when she turned to pull down the illegal posters, the situation deteriorated to the point that two peace officers were holding the frightened woman on the sidewalk.
The activist’s supporters found the trial as outrageous as the arrest. “The judge [Timothy McGinty] would not allow any testimony except what the police were saying,” says Lee Thompson, who watched the arguments.
Gilbert says that during the trial, McGinty refused to instruct the jury about protocols for arrest in minor misdemeanor cases, like illegally hanging posters. “We repeatedly asked the judge to explain to the jury under what circumstances people can be arrested for minor misdemeanor. He wouldn’t instruct them. He kept saying it’s irrelevant. The prosecutor kept saying he had the right to arrest, and we said he didn’t, and the judge could have cleared that up by reading the statute ( which says that police can’t arrest on minor misdemeanor without giving a citation, unless the person doesn’t provide ID. They didn’t give her a chance to provide ID.” The defense argument included a 40-minute, video-taped deposition of a paramedic who responded to the scene, but Gilbert was not allowed to play the whole tape. “Ten minutes into the tape the paramedic was saying that [Fisher] needed help, but no one was taking care of her. Then he’s explaining that one of the officers was pointing his finger at her face, saying, ‘I don’t care if you’re injured, you’re going to jail.’ Right after the paramedic said that, the judge cut off the tape.”
When the verdict was handed down last week, McGinty told Fisher he wanted her to see a psychiatrist.
Gilbert observes that the verdict was handed down the same day that Tower City management cut the sound for the Tri-C JazzFest performance of the band Mifune because they were wearing politically charged T-shirts.
“People in this country should be alarmed at what is going on,” the attorney said. “It smacks of the kind of mentality we see in totalitarian regimes, when dissidents are sent to insane asylums.”
Now, instead of a $100 fine, Fisher faces a total of 36 months in jail.
The Northeast Ohio chapter of World Can’t Wait, which calls for the resignation of the president, meets at 7 p.m. today (Wednesday), May 3 at Mac’s Backs Paperbacks (1820 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights.) For info, call 216.633.6200. ( Michael Gill