BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL | Monday afternoon saw the conclusion of the Occupy Wall Street trial of eight people accused of entering Duarte Square on Dec. 17 of last year. The “Duarte Eight” had been charged with trespassing when they entered the fenced-in, privately owned lot in an attempt to occupy a new space following their eviction from Zuccotti Park a month earlier.
After closing arguments by all four defense lawyers, the prosecution concluded its case by arguing there is no requirement to warn people in the process of trespassing.
“If you go to Macy’s on a Saturday and the sign on the door says, ‘Open from 9 to 5’ and it’s 9:30 and the door is closed, you don’t have a right to go inside.”
All eight defendants were then found guilty by Judge Matthew Sciarrino and sentenced to four days of community service. One of the eight, Mark Adams, who wielded bolt cutters to enable occupiers to enter the square, was sentenced to 45 days in jail. Adams was immediately taken into custody, despite the pleas of his lawyer for a delay in carrying out the sentence. Adams had earlier turned down a plea bargain of 30 days.
Retired Episcopal Bishop George Packard, who was the first to scale a ladder and enter the lot, at Grand St. and Sixth Ave. read a statement before sentence was passed.
After praising the judge for his handling of the trial, and after the judge praised Packard for his service to the country and church, Packard brought the tense courtroom to a hush.
“Is it [Trinity Church, the owner of the lot] a corporation worried about fiduciary interest or a portion of the Body of Christ?” he inquired while wearing the same purple vestments he wore when scaling the fence.
“In a time when we hope our moral institutions will speak with clarity, this one did not.”
“I’m disappointed but not surprised,” defense lawyer Martin Stolar said of the guilty verdicts.
“The trial revealed the hypocrisy of Trinity Church, claiming to totally support Occupy Wall Street and their underlying principals, on the one hand, and then turning around and effectively prosecuting and trying to put in jail Occupy Wall Street people that they claim to support.”
Stolar plans to file a notice of appeal on behalf of his two clients.
