Up to two dozen September 1 cases dismissed as St. Paul fails to provide evidence

This Tuesday, several RNC-related misdemeanor cases were dismissed by the St. Paul City Attorney's office. The dismissed charges were pursuant to an earlier court order that gave the city a deadline of November 17 to share evidence, including video footage, with the defense for at least 22 cases, many stemming from the Shepherd Road and 7th/Jackson mass arrests on September 1. The city failed to meet the deadline. All the cases had trial dates of December 15.

From CRASS (Community RNC Arrestee Support Structure), whose next general assembly is this Sunday at 2pm at Hosmer Library in Minneapolis:

"This is great news for people who were wrongly arrested and slapped with bogus charges! It also shows that the state can't find the evidence against people that they claim to have, and thus are having to drop cases. And this is happening as they continue to lie to the main stream press about their efforts to bring "criminals" to justice. Yet another sign that they're all hot air.

"So what does this mean for the people who are still facing charges? It means the State is weak and our court solidarity strategy has even more power! Now is not the time to take a plea--now is the time to continue to fight back!

Even with this great news, though, some people have been offered and accepted plea deals that take misdemeanors down to petty misdemeanors. Their lawyers might have told them that a petty misdemeanor is not a crime, which is technically true. But one thing to remember is that pleading to a petty misdemeanor still shows up on criminal records and could block your ability to file a successful civil suit. So the best bet is to stick with the court solidarity strategy and refuse any and all deals!"