Out of the nearly 300 arrested at Occupy Boston last night for trespassing, unlawful assembly and being in a park after 11 p.m., almost 57 appeared in court today according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.
Most of the arrestees accepted the prosecutors’ offer to resolve the cases civilly, but a few refused and opted for criminal prosecution. Others were arraigned as usual due to prior criminal records, said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
For the 49 that accepted Assistant District Attorney Susan Terrey’s motion that the charges be demoted to civil infractions, no criminal record will remain. Terrey made this decision after determining that these protesters had either no or minor criminal records and acted in a non-violent manner.
The eight that chose to see their cases go to criminal court were Robert Birmingham, 22, or Dorchester; Philip Darnawsky, 34, of Cambridge; Julian Taylor Evans, 28, of Brookline; Kamal Ghammace-Nansour, 21, of Oakland, Calif.; Christopher Hickman, 23, of Haverhill; Anthony Morris, 24, of Dorchester; Theodore Rhodes Murphy, 18, of Back Bay; and Khury Peterson-Smith, 29, of Dorchester.
All of the defendants were given a court-appointed lawyer and offered civil adjudications.
Based on prior criminal records, four of the arrestees are not eligible for civil adjudication. These four are Stephen Campbell, 24; Rafael Antonio Feliciano, 23, of Mission Hill; Christopher Foye, 27, of Quincy; and John Perna, 36, of Worcester.
Judge Edward Redd dismissed 14 more cases because of prosecutors’ objections, but made each of those dismissed pay a $50 fine.
More arrestees will be seen in court tomorrow.
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