from “Ground Zero” Jan 2007, Volume 12 Issue 1

Trial of “GZ 3” Starts January 22

By Brian Watson

The trial of three Ground Zero activists—Brian Watson of Bremerton, Carol Ann Barrows of Bainbridge Island, and Shirley Morrison of Seattle—will begin on Monday January 22, 2007 at 9am in District Court at the Kitsap County Courthouse, 614 Division Street, in Port Orchard, WA.

They are being represented Michael Stowell, a supportive attorney from Silverdale, WA, who formerly worked in the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s office many years ago.

This trial offers a unique opportunity for them to bear witness to the Trident nuclear weapons system and to speak to the public about their reasons for resisting it.

The trial of Watson, Barrows, and Morrison will begin on January 22 with expert witness testimony by John Burroughs, international law expert and Executive Director of the Lawyer’s Committee on Nuclear Policy in New York, NY; and Dr. David Hall, Pediatric Psychiatrist at the University of Washington Medical Center, and past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. They will present their testimony before a judge only, who will then rule on whether their testimony can be heard by a jury.

If the judge allows a jury to hear their testimony, Burroughs and Hall will testify again the following day, January 23, when a jury is selected and seated.

The testimony of expert witnesses has not been allowed in past trials of Ground Zero activists. Their testimony in this trial is important to the defendants because it helps establish the factual basis for the defendants’ “reasonable belief” in the lawfulness of taking direct action to symbolically close the Bangor base.

Background

The three activists are each being charged with two counts of Disorderly Conduct. Kitsap County Prosecutors are charging them with two counts each because Watson, Barrows, and Morrison were arrested in consecutive direct actions at Naval Base Kitsap—Bangor in May 2006 at the Mother’s Day action, and in August 2006, at the Hiroshima/Nagasaki action.

In both actions, the three had enacted a symbolic closure of the Bangor base by blocking traffic entering the base. Other activists had joined them on both occasions, but Watson, Barrows, and Morrison were the only three to have done consecutive direct actions.

If convicted on both counts, each of the three activists could face up to 180 days in jail and $2000 in fines.

When they were arrested in August, the three were taken into custody upon arrest by Kitsap County Sheriff’s officers. They were held on $5000 bail, which they each refused to post. Instead, they spent 37 hours in the Kitsap County Jail in order to appear before Judge Daniel Phillips and ask that they be released on Personal Recognizance.

Attorney Ken Kagan represented them at their bail hearing, and made a convincing case to the judge that none of the three activists warranted being held on bail. The judge agreed with Kagan, over the objections of the prosecuting attorney, Kevin Hull, and the three have been free since August 8.

Crack down on activists

The trial of Watson, Barrows, and Morrison on Disorderly Conduct charges is latest instance in a pattern of increasing aggressiveness by the Kitsap County Sheriff and Prosecutor toward Ground Zero activists who risk arrest at Bangor:

•  In April 2006, Kitsap prosecutors tried four Ground Zero activists—Bryce Brown, Alice Zillah, Patricia Imani, and Shannon Bushnell—with “Failure to Disperse,” which resulted in a hung jury when the jury could not come to consensus on conviction, or acquittal. Charges were not re- filed by the Prosecutor’s office against the four, or against any of the other 15 activists arrested at the same August 2005 action.

•  Since May 2006, Kitsap County Sheriff’s officers now immediately arrest anybody who sets foot over the white fog line at the edge of the road to Bangor. This has made actually blocking the road and stopping traffic very difficult.

•  The detention of Watson, Barrows, and Morrison in jail on $5000 bail in August 2006 was the first such instance in over 9 years of direct actions at Bangor. Although the purpose of bail is to secure a defendant’s presence at future court proceedings, not as punishment or deterrent, the imposition of bail represents an effort to deter activists from risking arrest.

Putting Trident on Trial

This trial is important for Ground Zero, no matter what the jury’s verdict is. The defendants hope to speak to the hearts of the jury, showing that the Trident nuclear weapons system is illegal and that international and constitutional law gives them “lawful authority” to take nonviolent direct action to resist Trident.

In order to win a conviction against the three activists on Disorderly Conduct charges, prosecutors must prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the three blocked vehicular traffic “without lawful authority.”

The last time activists were tired on Disorderly Conduct, in 1999, the jury acquitted the activists because prosecutors failed to prove that the activists had acted without lawful authority. The jury felt that the horrendous nature of nuclear weapons violated the most basic protections of the laws of armed conflict, that the continuance of the Trident system was a violation of legal obligations to disarm, and that citizens had the legal right--and duty--to take nonviolent direct action.

In this trial, defendants hope to not only be acquitted, but also open up new legal ground in Kitsap County that can further build the movement to resist Trident and abolish nuclear weapons.

Supporters are welcome and encouraged to come to the trial. It is a small courtroom, so supporters might have to rotate themselves. The defendants ask that supporters not bring any signs, leaflets, or anything else that could possibly “contaminate” the jury. This is very important so that this trial can proceed.

Brian Watson has served on the Ground Zero Stewardship Council in a variety of positions and is past editor of the newsletter.