the protest, only heresay from the 911 caller, whose story is shakey at best. This prosecution STINKS! Here is a recent editorial that suggests the case should be dismissed. I agree. NOTE: the last sentence is sarcasm. I can assure you, the charges have not be dropped:
The Press
Thursday, April 17,2008
Opinion
Our View
Case against protesters has too many questions
How questionable does evidence have to be before a criminal case is
dismissed in DuPage County?
Circuit Court Judge-Ronald Sutter last week declined to toss a case
against Sarah Hartfield, 45, Of Naperville and Jeff Zurawski, 39, Of
Downers Grove. They were arrested a year ago after displaying a banner
reading "Impeach Bush and Cheney - Liars" as well as an upside-down U.
S. flag on the Great Western Trail bridge above Interstate 355.
During the April 10 proceeding, the prosecution played a record ing of
the 911 call that truck driver Charles Hardin made as he witnessed the
incident. He referred to Hartfield and Zurawski as "two youths" who were
"acting like they were throwing stuff at the windshields" of passing
cars below.
Hardin said in the 911 call that nothing struck his windshield, and he
admitted, in court that he did not see either defendant make any kind of
throwing motion. But, he said, traffic on the three -lane highway had
"slowed to a crawl" as cars tried to move out of the center lane.
Hardin seems to offer differing versions of what happened. Either he
observed the defendants act "like they were throwing stuff at the
windshields" (from his 911 call), or he didn't (as he admitted in court
last week). And was he focused on what cars on the highway were doing or
whether those on the bridge were tossing rocks?
State's Attorney Joseph Birkett previously has pointed out that his
office needs additional prosecutors because his staffers are overworked,
and he's right. So he dismissed the charges against Hartfield and
Zurawski, thus freeing his prosecutors to concentrate on a case where
it's clear a crime actually has been committed.
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