RNC 8 attorneys want 8 trials consolidated

Because the charges against protesters are nearly identical, they should be tried together, the lawyers said.

By PAT PHEIFER, Star Tribune

Last update: October 8, 2009 - 9:56 PM

Attorneys for the defendants who have become known as the RNC 8 were in Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner's courtroom Thursday to argue several motions, including one that the eight trials be consolidated.

Each of the defendants -- Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, Nathanael Secor, Max Specktor, Erin Trimer and Luce Guillen-Givens -- were there, too, along with dozens of supporters.

The eight are charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree damage to property and conspiracy to commit second-degree felony riot in connection with their actions leading up to and on the first day of last year's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Another charge of committing crimes "in furtherance of terrorism" was dismissed earlier this year.

The trials -- or trial -- are still months away. First, Warner must rule on the motions argued Thursday, then more motions will follow.

Larry Leventhal, attorney for Specktor, argued for the motion to consolidate the trials, saying the amended complaints are "nearly identical," except for the order in which the defendants are identified. The defendants and their attorneys are all working together and should be tried together, he said.

But prosecutor Heidi Westby said the question is not whether the defendants agree to one conjoined trial, but rather that evidence against one or more of the defendants is not the same as evidence against others. Likewise, one defendant may have standing to suppress a search warrant, while others don't.

Practical considerations alone, such as how many strikes each defendant's attorney would get during jury selection and the potential for extremely complicated jury instructions, make one trial impractical, Westby said. Prosecutors would not be opposed to consolidating the eight trials into three, she said.

Attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents Bicking, argued another motion to compel the prosecution to release more information on authorities' $300,000 multiyear investigation into the RNC 8.

Jordan Kushner, who represents Guillen-Givens, argued a third motion to compel the state to disclose the contents of the defendants' seized computers. The state did put 1.4 terabytes (one terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes) of information on a hard drive provided by the defense, but the information requires an expensive software program to access it.

Prosecutor Derek Fitch also argued a motion to amend the criminal complaints to expand the dates of criminal activity from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, the first day of the convention.

Warner must rule on conjoining the trials before another court date is set, she said. Although the judge didn't give a timetable on her ruling, she said attorneys should expect it "to take less than 90 days."

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992

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