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.