More victories for Occupy Wall Street as their cases go to trial:
Yesterday Sarah Maceda-Maciel, charged with blocking traffic and failing to follow police orders on November 17th, also had her case dismissed, after the police witness again failed to show. In this instance, apparently, the officer is on maternity leave.
A second case scheduled for trial yesterday was continued. Emmet Kavanaugh and his legal team were ready, and were under the impression that the prosecutor was too. But the police witness didn't come to court, so Kavanaugh, who lives in Philadelphia, will have to come back to court in late October.
While many Occupy protesters feel vindicated by the string of victories, others see the rulings as evidence that the NYPD never made the arrests with any intention of securing convictions.
Wednesday is the largest group of Occupy Wall Street cases to come to trial, twenty-two cases, consolidated into four trials. All the charges in today's cases stem from the first mass arrests used against the movement on September 24, 2011.
