<nettime> DAMN: 11-JAN-1999: San Francisco Pie Throwers Go To Trial

[DAMN <damn@tao.ca> (by way of jan99@irational.org (roaming irationalist))]

Title: San Francisco Pie Throwers Go To Trial
Date:  11 January, 1999
Author:  Whispered Media <whisper@jps.net>
Source:  Whispered media <whisper@jps.net> (by way of Jay <jay@tao.ca>)
Style:  Update
Reference: Story, photos, links to video and other news coverage of the
Willie Brown pieing event: DAMN: November 7: BBB pies San Francisco
Mayor at 'Great Sweep' (and other pie-related information)
http://archive.damn.tao.ca/9811/msg00005.html


(San Francisco, January 11, 1999)


PIE TRIAL BEGINS:  DEFENSE MOVES TO DISQUALIFY HALLINAN

The trial of the "Cherry Pie Three" will begin on Monday, January 11,
1999, 9:00 a.m., for the pieing of Mayor Willie Brown.  Outside the
courthouse (at 400 McAllister, where the trial is scheduled to take
place in Department 206) at 11a.m. the Biotic Baking Brigade will hold a
press conference and support rally, and will where the trial is
scheduled to take place serve pie and coffee to homeless San
Franciscans.  "Let pie and justice be served" announced Special Agent
Cobbler of the BBB.

The Biotic Baking Brigade pied Willie Brown on November 7 at the kickoff
of his "Great Sweep III" event to expose the event for what it really
was, the start of the "Great Homeless Sweep." Since that day, Brown's
"San Francisco Cares" program has swept homeless San Franciscans from
key tourist and
commercial districts. An escalating homeless and housing crisis left a
record 157 homeless people dead on the streets of San Francisco in the
last year. Mayor Brown's response to this rising death toll has been to
continue former Mayor Jordan's "Matrix" program -- harassing and
criminalizing the homeless people of San Francisco.

The three defendants, Rahula Janowski, Justin Gross, and Gerard
Livernois, each face one year in jail if convicted. "The aggressive way
that Hallinan is prosecuting this case is unprecedented and clearly
politically motivated," said  defense attorney Katya Komisaruk. "The
District Attorney's normal response to protesters is to require them to
do community service in exchange for dropping the charges, but in this
case, Hallinan is seeking serious convictions and jail time." However
the BBB is confident that a jury of San Franciscans would never consign
them to jail for a year, just for pieing Brown.

Defense attorneys have filed a motion a motion to disqualify San
Francisco District Attorney Terrence Hallinan and his office from
prosecuting this case. " Terrence Hallinan's close involvement with
Willie Brown makes it impossible for him to be impartial in this case,"
said defense attorney Kim Malcheski. Hallinan's involvement with Brown
began thirty five years ago when he spent two years as Volunteer
Coordinator of Youth for Brown, campaigning for Brown's first bid for
State Assembly.

The BBB uses its particular brand of delicious mischief to identify and
hold accountable some of the world's most powerful people. Previous
recipients of these taste wake up calls include Maxxam CEO and
Headwaters liqidator Charles Hurwitz, Neo-liberal economist and former
advisor to Chilean Dictator Pinochet, Milton Friedman, Robert Shapiro,
CEO Monsanto, the folks that brought us Agent Orange, PCBs, and toxic
herbicide RoundUp, and Renato Ruggiero, Director General of the World
Trade Organization.

###

For Immediate Release
January 8,1999
Contact: Kim Malcheski (415) 267-5976


PIE THROWERS MOVE TO DISQUALIFY DISTRICT ATTORNEY

San Francisco -- Attorneys for the Cherry Pie Three, charged with the
November 7, 1998 pieing of San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, have filed
a motion to disqualify District Attorney Terence Hallinan - and his
entire office - from prosecuting their case.  This is based on
Hallinan's political ties to Brown.

Terence Hallinan has had a close personal and political relationship
with Willie Brown for 35 years. This relationship began when Hallinan
was the volunteer coordinator for "Youth For Assemblyman Brown" during
Brown's first run for State Assembly of California in 1964.  Brown, who
is the alleged victim in this case, has endorsed Hallinan For District
Attorney and was recently  the star speaker at a fund-raiser for
Hallinan.

Hallinan has succumbed to political pressure in calling for jail time
for the pie throwers who engaged in an act of political theater.
Hallinan has forced the Cherry Pie Three to go to trial, at great cost
to the tax payers of San Francisco, when they are more than willing to
do community service.  They have offered several times to serve hundreds
of free pies to San Francisco's homeless and hungry people.

Just as in the recent Tran case, which Hallinan and his office were
disqualified from prosecuting, Hallinan has allowed his personal
relationship with Willie Brown to cloud his judgment, leading to
over-aggressive prosecution. The Biotic Baking Brigade and their
attorneys call upon Hallinan to allow the pie throwers to perform
community service, like thousands of other arrested political activists
have in San Francisco in the past.

Copies of the motion, filed on Wednesday, January 6, will be available
at the BBB press conference at the new civil courthouse, 400 MacAllister
Street, on Monday, January 11, at 11:00 am. Attorneys will also be
available for questions.


For more information on the Biotic Baking Brigade, including previous
BBB press releases and communiques, e-mail bbb_apple@hotmail.com

For information on political pie-throwing, consult the following:
http://www.cinenet.net/users/jaybab/noel.html
                Website of Belgian pieman Noel Godin, Links to Bill
Gates Pie Incident
http://www.pieman.org
                Comprehensive History of American Pie-slinging
http://www.bud.com/98/07/tkles/24.aldeck.pie/
                Describes the Hurwitz Pie Incident
http://www.sfweekly.com/archives/1998/102198/bayview2.html
                Describes the Friedman Pie Incident
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/oct98/1998-10-28-05.html
                Describes the Shapiro Pie Incident
http://www.undercurrents.org
                Photos of the Ruggiero Pie Incident

Contact:
Whispered Media
PO Box 40130
San Francisco, CA  94140
whisper@jps.net

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