Mar 162016
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 16, 2016

Contact: Sandra Steingraber, 607-351-0719, ssteingraber@ithaca.edu

Reading Town Judge Drops 112 Trespass Charges for Seneca Lake Gas Protesters on Eve of Arraignments for 70 Other Protesters

 

Green Party leader Howie Hawkins, among those facing judge Weds. evening, will speak at rally and press conference

 

Watkins Glen, NY – In Schuyler County’s Town of Reading Court, Judge Raymond Berry has dismissed 112 violation trespass charges against 110 We Are Seneca Lake protesters, according to an email sent Tuesday afternoon by Reading Town Clerk Joyce Ameigh to We Are Seneca Lake Attorney Sujata Gibson.

This ruling makes official a request to Judge Berry on February 10 by Schuyler County District Attorney Joseph Fazzary. Last month, Fazzary asked the Judge to drop the charges for cases where his investigation determined that the defendants either were not trespassing or there was insufficient evidence to prosecute them for trespassing.

Yesterday’s ruling marks the second round of mass dismissals in the 17-month-old civil disobedience campaign at the gates of Crestwood Midstream. In April 2015, 64 cases were dismissed “in the interests of justice.”

The most recent dismissals come after months of discussions between the prosecution and defense attorneys, who have long argued that most of the protests have taken place on public property and could not involve trespass. In his motion, the District Attorney said that he had reviewed the evidence and agreed that the 112 charges he moved to dismiss should not be prosecuted for trespass.

Defense Attorney Sujuta Gibson said that, while she is pleased with the 112 dismissals, she believes that “all of the trespass charges should be dropped now that it has been established that the property line was unknown and inaccurately marked at the time of the arrests.” Discussions and motions continue for the remaining defendants.

The We Are Seneca Lake campaign opposes the expansion of gas storage in abandoned lakeside salt caverns owned by Crestwood. Since the campaign began in October 2014, there have been 537 arrests. Of these, 234 cases have been adjudicated (resulting in 176 total dismissals to date); 303 cases remain open.

We are Seneca Lake will hold a rally and press conference outside the courthouse in advance of Wednesday night’s arraignments to discuss the recent dismissals and recent ongoing arrests.

What: RALLY & PRESS CONFERENCE immediately prior to 5 p.m. arraignments for 70-plus Seneca Lake protesters

 

When: Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 4:30 p.m.

 

Where: Town of Reading Court, 3914 County Rte 28, Watkins Glen, NY

 

Who: We Are Seneca Lake Attorney Sujata Gibson; Green Party leader and former gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins; other defendants facing charges.

Individuals whose charges were dismissed on Tuesday are residents of 25 counties:

Albany County

Daniel Micah Morrissey, 28, Albany

 

Broome County

Bill Huston, 54, Binghamton

 

Cayuga County

Maryl Mendillo, Aurora

Maribeth Rubenstein, 49, Aurora

 

Chemung County

Bonnie Chollet, 70, Horseheads

Cynda Poley, 60, Elmira

 

Clinton County

Lauren Eastwood, 45, Plattsburgh

 

Columbia County

Kevin Kuenster, 60, Copake Falls

 

Cortland County

Colleen Kattau, 56, Cortland

 

Erie County

Charley Bowman, 68, Getzville

 

Fulton County

Bill Kitchen, 62, Johnstown

 

Kings County

Rufus Cappadocia, 47, Brooklyn

Josh Fox, 43, Brooklyn

Kim Fraczek, 40, Brooklyn

Lee, Ziesche, 25, Brooklyn

 

Livingston County

Lyndsay Clark, 54, Springwater

Coby Schultz, 55, Springwater

Bob Thompson, 61, Livonia

 

Monroe County

Colleen Coss, 60, Henrietta

Paul Flansburg, 47, Rochester

Neely Kelley, 37, Rochester

Arlene Leach-Bizari, 47, Rochester

Barbara Schlierf, 60, Henrietta

 

New York County

Michael Bucci, 67, Manhattan

Martha Hennessy, 60, Manhattan

 

Ontario County

Peggy Abbott, 64, Geneva

Cynthia Carestio, 54, Canandaigua

Lynn Cronise, 57, Bloomfield

Hannah Dickinson, 33, Geneva

James-Henry Holland, 58, Geneva

Laura Salamendra, 31, Geneva

 

Otsego County

Robert Eklund, 63, New Lisbon

 

Schenectady County

Pete Looker, 64, Glenville

 

Schoharie County

Elliott Adams, 68, Sharon Springs

Bethany Yarrow, 44, West Fulton

 

Schuyler County

Shirley Barton, 67, Mecklenburg

Gordon Bonnet, 54, Hector

Melissa Chipman, 57, Hector

Alexandra Doniger, 26, Hector

Lisa Fernandez, 47, Hector

Paula Fitzsimmons, 57, Hector

Lyn Gerry, 59, Watkins Glen

Janet McCue, 64, Hector

Daphne Nolder, 29, Hector

Johnno Potts, 34, Hector

Victoria Rasmussen, 42, Hector

 

Seneca County

Peter Arena, 50, Covert

Tony Del Plato, 67, Covert

Ben Guthrie, 63, Covert

Kim Knight, 31, Covert

Mariah Plumlee, 36, Covert

Amanda Postma, 30, Lodi

Barbara Smith, 61, Lodi

 

Steuben County

Nancy Cook, 62, Painted Post

Meg Krywe, 56, Arkport

Stephen Marcus, 60, Arkport

Dianne Roe, 72, Corning

 

Tioga County

Richard Battaglia, 53, Richford

Jon McNamara, 34, Owego

 

Tompkins County

Lesley Adams, 57, Trumansburg

Sylvia Bailey, 65, Ithaca

Robyn Bem, 64, Dryden

Dan Burgevin, 68, Trumansburg

Krys Cail, 62, Ulysses

Greg Copeland, 54, Ithaca

Lisa DeBoer, 46, Ithaca

John Dennis, 65, Lansing

Josh Dolan, 38, Ithaca

Karen, Edelstein, 54, Lansing

Rebecca Elgie, 74, Ithaca

Tobi Feldman, 47, Ithaca

Linda Finlay, 76, Ithaca

Martha Fischer, 58, Enfield

Tessa Sage Flores, 66, Ithaca

Zan Gerrity, 64, Ithaca

Arthur Godin, 66, Enfield

Ariel Gold, 40, Ithaca

Neil Golder, 68, Ithaca

Ira Goldstein, 65, Ithaca

Loretta Heimbuch, 65, Trumansburg

Larry Hirschberger, 60, Ithaca

John Hoffmann, 62, Ithaca

Gabrielle Illava, 26, Ithaca

Joan Jedele, 67, Dryden

Rachel Kennedy, 39, Trumansburg

Nancy Koschmann, 72, Dryden

Kate Lamarre, 39, Trumansburg

Keith Liblick, 41, Ithaca

Margaret McCasland, 69, Lansing

Barbara Pease, 69, Ithaca

Mariah Prentiss, 43, Ithaca

Stephanie Redmond, 39, Enfield

James Ricks, 66, Ithaca

Lisa Ripperton, 64, Ithaca

Todd Saddler, 50, Ithaca

Mark Scibilia-Carver, 62, Ulysses

Jim Shaw, 64, Ithaca

Joe Sliker, 33, Ithaca

Ba Stopha, 70, Ithaca

Ann Sullivan, 68, Ithaca

Regina Teasley, 63, Ithaca

Phil Terrie, 66, Ithaca

Camille Tischler, 66, Ithaca

Irene Weiser, 56, Caroline

Ken Zeserson, 67, Ulysses

 

Ulster County

Andrew Feron, 51, Cottekill

Ryan Solomons, 23, New Paltz

 

Wayne County

Patty Campbell, 72, Rose

 

Yates County

Larry Martin, 65, Torrey

Michelle Van Coppenolle, 62, Penn Yan

 

Read more about the arrested protesters at http://www.wearesenecalake.com/seneca-lake-defendes/.

Read more about widespread objections to Crestwood’s gas storage plans: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/nyregion/new-york-winemakers-fight-gas-storage-plan-near-seneca-lake.html?_r=0

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 Posted by at 1:10 am