Post by DA Malatesta on Jun 21, 2005 22:59:04 GMT -5
This is great news because it gives defense the additional time that they asked for but were not granted. It's also a break for the defendants and their friends, families, and partners. Funds are still needed for legal defense.. the address is below to send them to. Smash HLS!
SHAC 7 c/o
NJARA
PO Box 174
Englishtown, NJ 07726
Ill lawyer prompts mistrial in animal extremist case
WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the conspiracy
case
of six animal rights activists charged under domestic terrorism laws
after
the lawyer for one was too ill to continue with the trial.
U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper, sitting in Trenton, halted the
proceedings because Isabel McGinty, the attorney for defendant Kevin
Kjonaas, was too ill to proceed with the trial, which began nearly
three
weeks ago.
Kjonaas and five others associated with the animal rights group Stop
Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, which operates out of the San Francisco Bay
area, will be retried at an unspecified future date, said Michael
Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case is not likely to come to trial before September, Drewniak
said.
"We have faith in the evidence and look forward to retrying it when the
judge approves," he said.
Kjonaas and the others are charged with conspiring to threaten and
terrorize employees and customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a
Britain-based drug testing company that uses animals in its tests in
laboratories in East Millstone, N.J.
The defendants - Kjonaas, 27; Lauren Gazzola, 26; Jacob Conroy, 29;
Joshua
Harper, 30; Darius Fullmer, 28; John McGee, 26, and Andrew Stepanian,
26 -
have denied any wrongdoing and say the trial violates their right to
free
speech.
On June 14, McGinty halted her opening statement and complained that
she
felt faint. She was admitted to a hospital that night and was
discharged
two days later. The nature of her illness has not been disclosed.
The defendants were arrested in May 2004. All but Harper, of Seattle,
and
Stepanian, of Huntington, N.Y., are current or former New Jersey
residents. The group lists a post office box in Philadelphia on its Web
site but currently operates out of the San Francisco area, according to
a
spokeswoman.
The six could be sentenced to three and five years in prison, and fines
of
up to $250,000 if convicted. They are the first people to be charged in
New Jersey under the federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act, a 1992
law
that was expanded in 2002 and equates their alleged activities with
domestic terrorism.
The indictment alleges the group incited others to commit crimes of
vandalism and harassment against employees of Huntingdon and companies
that did business with Huntingdon by putting employees' names,
addresses
and other personal information on a Web site. Later, the group would
post
reports of the incidents on the site.
The group says it does not support activities that harm people.
Ill lawyer prompts mistrial in animal extremist case
WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the conspiracy
case
of six animal rights activists charged under domestic terrorism laws
after
the lawyer for one was too ill to continue with the trial.
U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper, sitting in Trenton, halted the
proceedings because Isabel McGinty, the attorney for defendant Kevin
Kjonaas, was too ill to proceed with the trial, which began nearly
three
weeks ago.
Kjonaas and five others associated with the animal rights group Stop
Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, which operates out of the San Francisco Bay
area, will be retried at an unspecified future date, said Michael
Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case is not likely to come to trial before September, Drewniak
said.
"We have faith in the evidence and look forward to retrying it when the
judge approves," he said.
Kjonaas and the others are charged with conspiring to threaten and
terrorize employees and customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a
Britain-based drug testing company that uses animals in its tests in
laboratories in East Millstone, N.J.
The defendants - Kjonaas, 27; Lauren Gazzola, 26; Jacob Conroy, 29;
Joshua
Harper, 30; Darius Fullmer, 28; John McGee, 26, and Andrew Stepanian,
26 -
have denied any wrongdoing and say the trial violates their right to
free
speech.
On June 14, McGinty halted her opening statement and complained that
she
felt faint. She was admitted to a hospital that night and was
discharged
two days later. The nature of her illness has not been disclosed.
The defendants were arrested in May 2004. All but Harper, of Seattle,
and
Stepanian, of Huntington, N.Y., are current or former New Jersey
residents. The group lists a post office box in Philadelphia on its Web
site but currently operates out of the San Francisco area, according to
a
spokeswoman.
The six could be sentenced to three and five years in prison, and fines
of
up to $250,000 if convicted. They are the first people to be charged in
New Jersey under the federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act, a 1992
law
that was expanded in 2002 and equates their alleged activities with
domestic terrorism.
The indictment alleges the group incited others to commit crimes of
vandalism and harassment against employees of Huntingdon and companies
that did business with Huntingdon by putting employees' names,
addresses
and other personal information on a Web site. Later, the group would
post
reports of the incidents on the site.
The group says it does not support activities that harm people.
SHAC 7 c/o
NJARA
PO Box 174
Englishtown, NJ 07726
Ill lawyer prompts mistrial in animal extremist case
WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the conspiracy
case
of six animal rights activists charged under domestic terrorism laws
after
the lawyer for one was too ill to continue with the trial.
U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper, sitting in Trenton, halted the
proceedings because Isabel McGinty, the attorney for defendant Kevin
Kjonaas, was too ill to proceed with the trial, which began nearly
three
weeks ago.
Kjonaas and five others associated with the animal rights group Stop
Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, which operates out of the San Francisco Bay
area, will be retried at an unspecified future date, said Michael
Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case is not likely to come to trial before September, Drewniak
said.
"We have faith in the evidence and look forward to retrying it when the
judge approves," he said.
Kjonaas and the others are charged with conspiring to threaten and
terrorize employees and customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a
Britain-based drug testing company that uses animals in its tests in
laboratories in East Millstone, N.J.
The defendants - Kjonaas, 27; Lauren Gazzola, 26; Jacob Conroy, 29;
Joshua
Harper, 30; Darius Fullmer, 28; John McGee, 26, and Andrew Stepanian,
26 -
have denied any wrongdoing and say the trial violates their right to
free
speech.
On June 14, McGinty halted her opening statement and complained that
she
felt faint. She was admitted to a hospital that night and was
discharged
two days later. The nature of her illness has not been disclosed.
The defendants were arrested in May 2004. All but Harper, of Seattle,
and
Stepanian, of Huntington, N.Y., are current or former New Jersey
residents. The group lists a post office box in Philadelphia on its Web
site but currently operates out of the San Francisco area, according to
a
spokeswoman.
The six could be sentenced to three and five years in prison, and fines
of
up to $250,000 if convicted. They are the first people to be charged in
New Jersey under the federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act, a 1992
law
that was expanded in 2002 and equates their alleged activities with
domestic terrorism.
The indictment alleges the group incited others to commit crimes of
vandalism and harassment against employees of Huntingdon and companies
that did business with Huntingdon by putting employees' names,
addresses
and other personal information on a Web site. Later, the group would
post
reports of the incidents on the site.
The group says it does not support activities that harm people.
Ill lawyer prompts mistrial in animal extremist case
WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the conspiracy
case
of six animal rights activists charged under domestic terrorism laws
after
the lawyer for one was too ill to continue with the trial.
U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper, sitting in Trenton, halted the
proceedings because Isabel McGinty, the attorney for defendant Kevin
Kjonaas, was too ill to proceed with the trial, which began nearly
three
weeks ago.
Kjonaas and five others associated with the animal rights group Stop
Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, which operates out of the San Francisco Bay
area, will be retried at an unspecified future date, said Michael
Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The case is not likely to come to trial before September, Drewniak
said.
"We have faith in the evidence and look forward to retrying it when the
judge approves," he said.
Kjonaas and the others are charged with conspiring to threaten and
terrorize employees and customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a
Britain-based drug testing company that uses animals in its tests in
laboratories in East Millstone, N.J.
The defendants - Kjonaas, 27; Lauren Gazzola, 26; Jacob Conroy, 29;
Joshua
Harper, 30; Darius Fullmer, 28; John McGee, 26, and Andrew Stepanian,
26 -
have denied any wrongdoing and say the trial violates their right to
free
speech.
On June 14, McGinty halted her opening statement and complained that
she
felt faint. She was admitted to a hospital that night and was
discharged
two days later. The nature of her illness has not been disclosed.
The defendants were arrested in May 2004. All but Harper, of Seattle,
and
Stepanian, of Huntington, N.Y., are current or former New Jersey
residents. The group lists a post office box in Philadelphia on its Web
site but currently operates out of the San Francisco area, according to
a
spokeswoman.
The six could be sentenced to three and five years in prison, and fines
of
up to $250,000 if convicted. They are the first people to be charged in
New Jersey under the federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act, a 1992
law
that was expanded in 2002 and equates their alleged activities with
domestic terrorism.
The indictment alleges the group incited others to commit crimes of
vandalism and harassment against employees of Huntingdon and companies
that did business with Huntingdon by putting employees' names,
addresses
and other personal information on a Web site. Later, the group would
post
reports of the incidents on the site.
The group says it does not support activities that harm people.