Second Group Trial
by rebecca

On August 11th, at 1pm, four more activists arrested at the February 18th direct action against the West County Energy Center began trial in Palm Beach County. The afternoon began with a pretty interesting round of jury selection, continuing into the next morning, the outcome being a mostly symapthetic jury - people that had made some pretty strong comments during jury selection, as well as some that were a little more questionable. 

The state brought up their witnesses first - the manager from the Palm Beach Aggregates, followed by a string of police officers and the self-incrimnating police-made video from the protest.  The public defenders stepped up next, again using the necessity defense for the defendants, but this time focusing more on some really clear legal aspects of the case - trying to build the argument that we were not, in fact, actually trespassing or assembling unlawfully, and thereby knocking out the resisting arrest charge as well.  Our expert hydroecologist came back with another strong testimony, followed by someone form the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, speaking to the history and prior attempts that the community has made to try to stop this power plant. 

The trial wrapped up on August 14, ending with great testimony from the defendants, and a strong closing statement by the public defenders.  The public defenders have been working hard coming up with related case law and statutes to use in their arguement, some of which was read directly to the jury in their jury instructions.

The results of this work could be seen in the verdict - not guilty on the count of unlawful assembly, and guilty on the counts of trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.  Their arguments on the trespassing count were also very strong and they have a pretty good chance of beating the charge in the next round of trials. 

Sentencing for these four defendants will be handed down August 29; dates for the additional eight activists awaiting trial have not been set; and the question of restitution still hangs in the air, awaiting a decision from the judge.

July 15th Trials Postponed

The Next Round of FPL Protest Trials scheduled to begin on July 15th was pushed back to August 11th. Why? Because one of the arresting officers scheduled to testify was ON VACATION! The facts that one of the defendants and had flown down from New England and that our expert witness drove down from Georgia were completely disregarded. Dates for the additional eight activists awaiting trial have not been set.

First Round of FPL Protestors Go to Trial

Carry message of ongoing opposition to new fossil-fuel infrastructure in in the Everglades

West Palm Beach, FL - Jury trial began on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at the Palm Beach County Courthouse for 6 of the 25 environmental activists with the Everglades Earth First! movement who were arrested on February 18 while protesting at the entrance to the construction site of FPL's West County Energy Center (WCEC). The trial will take place in Judge Barry Cohen's courtroom 9F, around 9am and is expected to last 3 to 4 days.

The protest centered around growing resistance to 3800 megawatts of gas-and-diesel-fired power generation, located on site of the scandal-ridden Palm Beach Aggregates. The WCEC is 1000 feet north from the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge which serves as the functional headwater of the remaining southern Everglades ecosystem. The facility includes pipeline directly adjacent to the L-8 canal and neighbors the massive reservoir which is intended to improve water flow in the Loxahatchee Basin, as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

"When someone stands up to defend the environment, they are treated as criminals; a corporation threatens to pollute and destroy the environment, they are awarded with permits. It makes no sense." says one Earth First! arrestee. "They have the wrong people on trial here."

The protest was also supported by the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition (PBCEC), who have filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop construction until a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is completed for WCEC'ss fuel source, the Gulfstream Pipeline. An EIS requires that all cumulative and secondary impacts must be assessed. The PBCEC challenge claims that the plant, presently under construction, is in violation of Federal and State laws, including: NEPA, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, RICO, and others. The PBCEC also has three open cases at the administrative level alleging faulty permits issued under the Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

According to the PBCEC: the completed project will consume over 6.5 billion gallons of water and emit 12.3 million tons of climate-changing CO2 annually; 18.9 million gallons of diesel fuel will be stored on-site; Up to 21 million gallons of industrial waste water could be deep well injected on site per day; It would provide the power to invite over a million new homes worth of sprawl into the region.

The activists contend that power use could be met through conservation, efficiency, and renewable options immediately, if only greed and corruption wasn't standing in the way. "We believe the jury will find our actions justifiable, and that they will condemn the actions of FPL and this system of runaway development that promises to destroy Florida," states another Earth First! arrestee.

Following the February protest, the Everglades Earth First! group began an ongoing effort to monitor construction and document immediate impacts to wildlife and public health.

Although originally scheduled to be a mass trial for the 19 remaining FPL defendants, the judge denied the motion to consolidate the cases. Only the six that had traveled the farthest were selected to begin trial. The remaining defendants were tentatively reset for trial in mid-July.

A full 10 hours was spent selecting a jury, after which, on Wednesday the state attorney began their case. Continuing through Thursday, several officers testified, as well as an employee of Palm Beach Aggregates, the site where the protest was located. The police video of the protests and arrests, showing a chaotic scene with intimidating police dogs and peaceful protestors screaming in pain from officers' actions, was shown to the jury.

After the state rested their case, their were arguments made on both sides on whether to allow the defendants to use a "necessity defense" in the trial. A necessity defense allows that a person may have committed a crime, but did so out of necessity to prevent a greater harm to themselves or another person. Despite the state attorney's best efforts to squash it, the judge upheld the defendant's right to use this defense and present their side of the story. This could be a precedent setting case in the use of environmental necessity to legally defend direct actions.

Two expert witnesses presented thorough and objective testimony on the disastrous effects of FPL's West County Energy Center before the day ended. One witness, a hydroecologist, stated that the number one environmental stressors was disruption of hydrology, and showed that WCEC's plant is sure to do just that based on its enormous water usage in an area prone to drought, saltwater intrusion, and water mismanagement. The other expert spoke to the effects of the plant on water quality and rain pH.

After a final day of testimony from two of the defendants and one of the protest organizer's, on Friday a jury spent two hours deliberating before finding the defendants guilty on three counts: unlawful assembly, trespassing, and resisting an officer without violence. The judge was sympathetic to the defendants and respected their motives, and he withheld adjudication on the charges. Waiving the state attorney's request for a community service requirement as part of the sentence, he stated that the protesters had "performed community service in their own way." A year of probation was ordered (with possible early termination) as well as $333 in court costs, which can be paid in community service. A hearing will be set up within two months to determine if restitution towards the sheriff's office will be ordered in this case. The public defenders believe that their case against restitution is legally very strong.

We want to thank all the attorneys who worked on this case and all the people who showed up in court to support our efforts. It was very heartening to those in front of the Judge to see green shirts in the audience, representing the cross-generational solidarity in our fight to stop the FPL's new fossil fuel plans.

The trial was a success in capturing people's attention and informing the public on the pending threats of the WCEC through the media, the jury selection and the our week long presence in the courthouse. And there is certainly more to come...

There are 13 remaining defendants who have been given a court date of July 15. They are likely to also take their cases to a public trial and will be looking for a showing of community support in the courtroom. Although we were fortunate to have representation from the Public Defenders office, we have incurred legal costs in this case, and of course are also amassing legal costs for our civil challenges to the WCEC construction. Donations would be greatly appreciated.