http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_7057258 Judge drops charges against SoCal immigration rights
activist
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 10/01/2007 09:34:23 PM PDT
COSTA MESA, Calif.-The city's charges against an
immigration rights activist alleging he disrupted a
city council meeting were dismissed Monday after a
judge found that an attorney representing Costa Mesa
was not a public prosecutor.
Lawyers representing Benito Acosta said a Superior
Court judge dismissed two misdemeanor counts against
the activist after learning that attorney Danny
Peelman didn't meet the requirements to be a city
prosecutor.
The requirements include a written appointment to the
position by the city attorney, and taking an oath to
be a city prosecutor, said Hector Villagra, director
of the American Civil Liberties Union's Orange County
office.
"We never felt that he should have been prosecuted in
the first place," Villagra said. He called the city's
decision to prosecute Acosta "politically motivated."
After business hours calls to Peelman and Costa Mesa
City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow were not
immediately returned.
The case stems from a Jan. 3, 2006 city council
meeting which drew protesters of the council's
decision to train police officers to enforce
immigration laws. The decision made Costa Mesa the
first city in the nation to trains its officers to
work with federal officials to determine the
immigration status of those arrested for serious
crimes.
Acosta, a college student who also goes by the name
Coyotl Tezcalipoca, was arrested after he urged the
audience to stand if they opposed the council's
decision.
He also called for the recall of Mayor Allan Mansoor
and the other two council members who supported the
plan.
Acosta was booked for investigation of disturbing an
assembly, interfering with a council meeting and
resisting an officer, but the Orange County District
Attorney's office declined to file charges against
him, the ACLU said.
The ACLU later filed a federal lawsuit on Acosta's
behalf, alleging the city council violated his free
speech rights by denying him the three minutes
allotted to speakers who wish to address the panel.
The city filed the misdemeanor charges against Acosta
after the ACLU filed the federal lawsuit, Villagra said.