5/10/07: The trial of Father Luis Barrios ended May 9 after closing
arguments in the morning when the jury retained a verdict shortly after lunch:
“NOT GUILTY” to the misdemeanors Assault 3
(intentional), Assault 3 (reckless), Resisting Arrest “GUILTY” to the
violation Disorderly Conduct Sentence: “Time served; $95 court costs”
The packed courtroom quickly emptied out into the hall for
supporters to greet Father Barrios with applause, cheers, and hugs when he emerged
with his defense team.
Father Barrios was the last of the UN 16 arrested in
September 2006 while attempting to serve
President Bush at the UN with the findings and verdict (“Guilty of
War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity”) from the Bush War Crimes
Commission [Check out what the jury
didn’t get to see: Bush Crimes Commission
Verdict and Findings of Fact.].
Represented by Marty Stolar and Phil Segal, the three-day
trial included efforts by the defense to have admitted into evidence the Bush
Crimes Commission findings and verdict.
During the voir dire, jurors expressed their strong opposition to the
war in Iraq,
their doubts about the credibility of police officers, and an unstated sympathy
for Father Barrios. The prosecution had
two police witnesses, one of whom claimed Father Barrios had intentionally
kicked her, injuring her wrist and causing her to have a miscarriage six weeks later.
In fact, as clearly shown in a video admitted into evidence,
when Father Barrios went out into street to protest, he was tackled from behind
by several officers and knocked to the ground.
Everyday the court room was packed with Father Barrios
supporters.
The highlight of the trial was when Father Barrios took the
witness stand. He testified that he is
an associate professor in sociology at
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York and chair of
the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Department and also an associate priest at St. Mary’s
Episcopal Church in Manhattan.
Since 1997, he has been a weekly columnist for El Diario La Prensa , one of the
oldest Spanish-language newspapers in the U.S., writing about the juvenile
criminal justice system and immigrant rights. He has spoken on his research at
universities around the world and received numerous awards. He described
himself as an academic activist, an activist priest, and a community
activist.
Father Barrios is also a member of the National Steering
Committee of World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Father Barrios testified proudly about how he and the others
had gone to the UN to engage in civil disobedience as part of delivering the
message that President Bush had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. When asked about the charge of Resisting Arrest,
he answered, “Why would I resist arrest?
I went there to get arrested”.
While we do not have a trial transcript, the following
excerpt from an interview of Father Barrios last October that captures his strength,
determination and just stand:
“So yes, that’s the place [talking about being at the UN
when Bush was speaking]. At that
particular moment that was the place where we needed to be! And that’s why we
organized this civil disobedience. We wanted to go a little more than just
having a demonstration and passing out our messages. We wanted to show a little
more sacrifice. Because, what people living in Iraq
at this moment, in Afghanistan,
are experiencing cannot be compared to what we went through here, at that particular
moment.“We went there to do a civil disobedience – to get
arrested in a peaceful demonstration. To make a point. We wanted to ‘go through theSystem’ – to have our stand documented over something that
we understand is correct.Then things got out of control at that moment, with the
NYPD, like always. The way they responded: A whole physical confrontation broke
out – NYPD, they don’t know how to talk. This was a peaceful demonstration. We
weren’t resisting arrest. But they were pushing, hitting, punching, kicking,
you name it, because that is the way they deal with us, the people.”(Revolution newspaper Issue #63, October 1, 2006).