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Port defendants prevail

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published June 13, 2007

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“Better to have information than to try to prepare in the dark,” Powers said during a later interview, and he added that the information in the reports would benefit the co-defendants’ cases.

Larry Hildes, an attorney representing five of the codefendants, charged that the real aim of the reports — drafted nearly a year after the protest — was to manufacture evidence and fill gaps to secure a conviction during the second trials, a claim Powers refuted.

“Once again, we’re in waters where we don’t know what else they got,” Hildes said, suggesting that more information pertinent to the case was being withheld.

The misdemeanor division received most of the 10 reports — including a year-old report that the sheriff’s office initially kept confidential — on May 22, Powers said.

The co-defendants received the reports within the past few days.

Explanation

Powers said the delivery had been delayed because of his efforts to get up to speed on the cases and discuss with the other two prosecutors how to proceed with the new trials.

“This is not a proportionate response to the problem,” he said of Dubuisson’s dismissal. “A more balanced solution would have been to continue the case and give them time to prepare.”

Co-defendant Phan Nguyen, who represented himself in court, said the case never should have come this far.

“It should have been over a long time ago,” he said outside the courthouse, where other co-defendants were celebrating with hugs and photos.

Their prosecution has been full of twists and turns that are unusual for a misdemeanor case.

The co-defendants were among 22 people arrested during the May 30 protest.

Demonstrators opposed using the local port to ship military equipment belonging to a Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade to Iraq. They didn’t want the region having involvement in what they deem an illegal and immoral war.

The co-defendants were accused of sitting or lying in the port’s secured operations yard and ignoring requests by authorities to move back. Each was arrested and later charged with second-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.