Source:
Associated PressOLYMPIA, Wash. - Trespassing charges against 16 people who protested military shipments to Iraq were dismissed because prosecutors waited too long to provide key reports to the defense.
The protesters were arrested while demonstrating against Army shipments from Fort Lewis through the Port of Olympia in May 2006.
Thurston County District Judge Susan A. Dubuisson said Tuesday that prosecutors provided sheriff's reports too late for the defense to use in court under the latest trial schedule.
"I make that decision with great regret," she said. Cheering erupted when she issued the ruling.
The judge acknowledged she could have postponed the trials but said dismissal was appropriate because what prosecutors had done amounted to gross negligence.
Read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070613/ap_on_re_us/port_protest