Seven of eight arrested during Punk Week gathering sentenced to time served in jail
Seven of the eight people arrested by Ann Arbor police during a Punk Week gathering at Bandemer Park on Aug. 15 were sentenced today to time served in jail after pleading no contest to disturbing the peace.
Under sentencing agreements reached with 15th District Judge Elizabeth Hines, charges of resisting and obstructing police officers were dismissed.
Attorney Michele Kelly, who represented 22-year-old Page Callison of Oakland, Calif., said she would have liked the cases to have been dismissed.
"But I think the results are good for these particular kids," she said. "They live out of town, and they need to get on with their lives."
On Aug. 15, Ann Arbor police arrested eight people after officers say they refused to leave the Lake Shore Drive park. Officers responded to a report that people were smoking marijuana, lounging naked and having sex at the park, police said.
Witnesses alleged officers used racial and homophobic slurs and were overly rough with people taken into custody. Ann Arbor police are conducting an internal investigation into how officers handled the incident.
While seven of the cases are over, 20-year-old Melissa Lyon of St. Louis, Mo., didn't show up to 14A District Court today because she was sick, said her attorney, Robin Stevens.
Hines adjourned Lyon's case until Sept. 1 and said a warrant will be issued for her arrest if she doesn't appear.
In addition to Callison, the following people were sentenced today to time served:
- Kolby McMinn, 24, of Tularosa, NM
- Katherine Andaas, 21, of Lansing, MI
- Spencer Dilday, 21, of Haslett, MI
- Elijah David King, 19, of Oakland, Calif.
- John Matthew Hoopes, 31, of Buffalo, NY
- Ryan Nicholas Walker, 25, of West Columbia, SC
A number of attorneys took on the case pro bono.
Sarah Coffey, who is a legal worker and member of the National Lawyers Guild, a progressive bar association, said guild members have taken an interest in the case and will "follow the internal investigation."
“My opinion is that it’s a class issue," she said. "That the kids were singled out for harsher treatment based on their appearance and based on the fact that some are homeless.”
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and e-mail at leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
djm12652
Mon, Aug 30, 2010 : 9:43 a.m.
I don't quite get it...why is it called "Punk Week"? Punk is so not a viable genre anymore...and as far as individualism...how come they all dress alike? I, for one, am glad they're pretty much gone now. The streets can stay clean for another week before all the "students" who all dress alike can come in and maintain the same obnoxious behavior...and the streets of A2, once agaion, will be laden with the never ending puke piles...
g0ttin
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 2:16 p.m.
Punk week involved more than 8 people. The police were at the park due to calls about illegal activity. These individuals were arrested, plead guilty and justice was served. Also the more 'official' punk week events that lead to police presence ended with no incidents. We shouldn't place all the 'punk' in one basket whether you want them run out of town or a bigger party next year. I hope that if Punk Week continues that the next year will be a success without the drama and a little more respect for the law.
ShadowManager
Fri, Aug 27, 2010 : 12:28 p.m.
Entering a no contest plea and than kvetching about in the press is "living up to the ethics of the profession"? Wow, some profession.
snapshot
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 11:21 p.m.
John Adams, our second president, and a founding father, successfuly defended the five British soldiers involved in the Boston Masacre. I want to thank the attorneys who lived up to the ethics of their profession for giving a legal voice to these kids.
ShadowManager
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 3:48 p.m.
...joke. The NLG can bark and strain at their leash tied to the Anarchist Bookstore Legal Section, but they obviously don't have a case either against the AAPD if they are waiting to see how the internal investigation turns out. Move along. Nothing to see here.
ShadowManager
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 3:43 p.m.
FREE THE PUNK WEEK 8!!! Er, I mean FREE THE PUNK WEEK 7!! Er, nevermind. It sounds like didn't have much fight in them after all...No contest..No Contest...No Contest...with some student intern legal representation that more or less probably just stood around and looked concerned but was ultimately powerless because, well, the kids were guilty. Can't wait for the 100% exoneration of the lawful and appropriate actions of the AAPD too. What a
jcj
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 3:23 p.m.
@speechless Who are you trying to kid? These individuals were happy to cut their loses and run. You can try to spin this into a victory for the punkers. But the fact is this was a reasonable penalty for some stupid acts.
Lokalisierung
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 2:59 p.m.
"The citizens in a town that is supposedly "100% Liberal" This is of course a made up label people give this town, mostly becasue of the circles they hang out in. I gre up liberal, becasue my parents weere liberals, so I hung out with liberals. I went to the hash bash with liberals and went to a liberal high school, there for we must be a very liberal town. Of courset he entire time i was going to high school and all that we had a republican mayor. On the liberal side sure, but i don't think anyone has ever claimed 100% liberal. Tom Monahan would make it 99.9& himself.
48104
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 1:41 p.m.
It's not a class issue. Chances are they were all raised middle class, like most of us. It's a nuisance issue. If they had even halfway acted as if they cared that they were violating the law, this would have gone past without incident like most of the other events related to punk week. Kind of stupid that this was the hill they chose to make a stand on, since there are actual laws against public nudity, camping overnight in parks, etc. Hopefully they will live and learn.
Woman in Ypsilanti
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 10:52 a.m.
I, for one, now feel much safer knowing that weird looking people will be discouraged from the terrible crime of cooking chicken in a public park. SHAME ON THEM for looking like some other people who were swimming naked and *gasp* smoking marijuana. The horrors! Seriously folks. This business makes me laugh and makes me realize how insulated Ann Arbor is from the rest of the world. Everyone else has real problems.
rusty shackelford
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 10:09 a.m.
Contrary to what certain non-lawyers and bad lawyers say, one does not have to personally like a client or believe they are innocent in order to represent them. Everyone deserves protection under the law, regardless--perhaps especially--if they are indigent and despised by various anonymous commenters online.
Davidian
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 8:36 a.m.
@mferg56 That's the great irony in all of this. The citizens in a town that is supposedly "100% Liberal" have just lost it over these scraggly jerks smoking dope and having sex in a park. Funny thing is, punk week was 1/1000th the scale of SDS "protests" back in the day, and those "protesters" would make the punks look like Happy Days squares in comparison. John Sinclair advocated "free everything, dope smoking, and sex in the streets." And they practiced it. He's a hero in these parts. But it's all pretty cool and hip until your idealisim is shattered by the reality of it all. Things look a little different through mature eyes. It's kind of funny to see that some of these children of the 60's are finally getting a dose of their own medicine, albeit in a tiny quantity.
Rob T
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 8:28 a.m.
I live near the punks, and to use D&D terms, they're chaotic good. I know not everyone shares my view, but I think they add to our neighborhood.
mferg56
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 8:15 a.m.
Wow, this sounds just like 1967 all over again. A group of unconventionally dressed young people get together to have fun, and people freak out and call the cops, who then order them all to disperse, even though it's only a few who were breaking the law. No matter. They're just a bunch of damn, dirty hippies, er, punkers! Frankly, I'm surprised that the outrage, especially in a town that prides itself on tolerance of people who are "different." I'm old enough to remember the same thing happening to my "unconventional" friends and I back in the day, and yet somehow, most of us still managed to end up as decent members of society, once we "grew up," that is. On the other hand, the cops in this situation were just doing their jobs, and the ones who were jailed learned that behaving stupidly (like swearing, screaming, trying to run away) when confronted by the cops is NOT the way to handle things. Lesson learned, time to move on.
Speechless
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 8:08 a.m.
"... all seven of those kids were treated fairly and in a respectful manner by the judge, police officers, court officers, and the prosecuting attorney...." The pro bono lawyering these individuals received, along with the media coverage and observation by the National Lawyers Guild, went a long way toward insuring that prosecutors played their hand in a more careful and measured manner. The city was no longer dealing with isolated, low-income or no-income visitors from out of town with few, if any, local connections. The group now had important allies capable of helping them fight back any possible courtroom abuse in a serious way. If prosecutors had arbitrarily tried to "show the punks" by throwing the book at them, there would have been consequences, including a long legal process that would make local law enforcement look bad.
MiSola
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 8:05 a.m.
The facts as opposed to "Opinion" And I remeber the origional story being heavily weighted with unfounded and uncollberated "comments" and "allagations of Police Abuse. Fact: "Officers responded to a report that people were smoking marijuana, lounging naked and having sex at the park." Opinion: "Sarah Coffey, who is a "legal worker" My opinion is that its a class issue," she said. "That the kids were singled out for harsher treatment based on their appearance and based on the fact that some are homeless.. Hope good ole Sarah and the author of the origional story don't have children some day that have to witness things like this when they go for a walk in this wonderful park.
a2roots
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 8 a.m.
Why are people referring to the punks as kids? I thought at 18 you are legally an adult and can even be tried as an adult at a younger age. They are not kids and should be held accountable for their actions.
Tom Wieder
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 7:59 a.m.
re: Suzanne "Interesting that "some are homeless" yet they have the means to travel to Michigan to get high, lounge naked and have sex in a public park." Last time I checked, it costs nothing to take off your clothes, lounge naked and have sex (unless you have to pay for a partner). And you have heard of hitch-hiking?
Suzanne
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 6 a.m.
Interesting that "some are homeless" yet they have the means to travel to Michigan to get high, lounge naked and have sex in a public park.
Davidian
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 5:54 a.m.
I'm also looking forward to next year's punk week. I have a feeling that other citizens and the police will be too.
Daniel Soebbing
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 5:40 a.m.
I'm looking forward to next year's punk week. It's going to happen, with or without the city council.
Nephilim
Thu, Aug 26, 2010 : 4:57 a.m.
Has anyone by chance seen the aftermath at the house on Summit and Main St? WOW is all I can say. It looks seriously like a bomb went off in the back yard. Yes very respectful group of people. I'm sure they contributed none to the appearance of that place. What happened to leave it better than what you found it?
stevek
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 10:17 p.m.
Gee, where are all the posts from the people that defended these "punks"? Guilty, guilty, guilty! Sorry---no contest, no contest, no contest!
ShadowManager
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 9:52 p.m.
Sarah Coffey sounds like some student intern...as for the rest, it was, and remains, a tempest in a tea-cup. These kids got what they deserved...a little warning and a hiatus in the drunk tank, no harm done, and the AAPD did what needed to be done to send a message: come to our town and disrespect our community, and you too can spend a week in the clink. The End. Move along. Nothing to see here.
RU4A2
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 9:39 p.m.
I think we should start naturalist gathering every year in Ann Arbor. We should invite anyone over 60 from all over the U.S. to attend a huge nude swim at Gallup park. We could consume wine and expose ourselves to families, children and to Punks. We could call ourselves "The Gastric Skinny-Dippers" When police come to ask us to leave, we will refuse because we all have heart conditions and its our right to do what ever we want.
pbehjatnia
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 9:32 p.m.
i am glad that the cases were not dismissed. this is not about appearance or class or homelessness. this is about 7 of 8 who are apparently not too poor, nor too homeless nor too occupied to plan to come to ann arbor to see just how much crap they can get away with heaping on the average resident or visitor to ann arbor. i, too, am an attorney and i would never donate my skills to people able and willing to afford cross country travel solely for the purpose of raising heck. they can obviously afford to pay.
Gorc
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 8:44 p.m.
I was in the courtroom today as a witness in an unrelated case...all seven of those kids were treated fairly and in a respectful manner by the judge, police officers, court officers, and the prosecuting attorney. After viewing the You Tube video link on the AnnArbor.com's initial article of Page Callison opening the police car door to help her friend escape and others in their group cursing at officers...these punk kids and the organizers of punk week owe an apology to the Ann Arbor community and police department.
David Briegel
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 8:40 p.m.
jcj, SillyTree and Eric, I agree. Roadman, More than appropriate. Ann Arborites should only hope these same standards aren't applied to all parties and picnics!
jcj
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 8:13 p.m.
I am glad the cases were not dismissed. But I don't think harsher sentences would have accomplished anything. This sounds fair to me.
SillyTree
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 8:09 p.m.
Ann Arbor, the home of intolerance. If people break the law, they should face the consequences. The punishment should fit the crime. Big harm done! Wow! Lock 'em away for life. Isn't this how the first Rambo movie started off?
Eric
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 7:53 p.m.
For the record, the people who organize the activities for Ann Arbor's Punk Week are productive, respectable members of the community. We serve your food and drinks, make your T-shirts, fix your computers and so on. Many of us are students. Some of the folks who come into town for these events can be a little rowdy and unpredictable, this much is true. However, I am personally offended by a lot of the comments I've seen regarding Punk Week and the people involved. You folks hardly deserve the respect that you think you do after seeing the way you talk about other human beings. Shame on you.
Roadman
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 7:34 p.m.
Fine future members of the National Lawyers Guild, those defendants. I'm sure the NLG members share a common bond with them. Time served? That's punishment?
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 7:31 p.m.
Well, that's two legal firms to avoid in the future: Kelly & Kelly, and Robin D. Stephens (cq). Ethically, it seems very wrong to try a case like that in the press, as Kelly did initially. And do we really believe that Lyon is "sick?" Stephens could be committing a crime herself if she knows otherwise.
Sarcastic1
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 7:27 p.m.
Good thing Sarah Coffey's opinion doesn't mean anything.
Kayjay
Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 7:25 p.m.
I commend the courts for this so-called "harsher" treatment. These "punks" need to know that Ann Arbor will not allow this city to become the national meeting venue for such despicable behavior. You are not welcome here!