Court cases against Occupy Tucson protesters move forward
Reporter: Kevin Keen
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Occupy Tucson demonstrators waited outside the city courthouse Thursday morning. Some held signs and chanted, but they weren't there to protest. They were scheduled to make their second appearance in front of a judge.
Back in October, many of the same dozens of protesters had their first court appearance. They were the first to be cited for staying overnight in Armory Park with fellow Occupy demonstrators. They pleaded not guilty.
KGUN9 News spoke with protester Guy Josserand back then. "One of my friends called me and said, 'How come you've got to break the law? Why can't you do it in normal channels?' He's a Tea Party person," Josserand said. "I said, 'Well the Boston Tea Party did not have a permit either and it was against the law...' Sometimes you just have to make waves to get noticed."
Thursday morning, Josserand still stood with the movement and believes the citations should stop. "There's an overwhelming amount of reasons why the city should cooperate and help promote the causes that Occupy occupation has brought forth," he said.
Their court appearance Thursday ultimately led to the scheduling of another appearance in late December.
"What do you expect is the next step?" reporter Kevin Keen asked Paul Gattone, an attorney helping represent many protesters. "We'll have to complete the discovery process--get police reports and the videotapes," Gattone said. "We'll be interviewing witnesses and preparing for trial or whatever the next step is. We also assume that we will file some motions in the case, whether that be to dismiss the case outright or some other related motion."
"It's too early to say even if there will be a trial?" Keen asked. "Very early to say if there will even be a trial," Gattone replied. "Obviously, as defense attorneys, our primary goal is to get the case dismissed."
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