Miami judge dismisses charges in first FTAA-related jury trial

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 29, 2004

Miami judge dismisses charges in first FTAA-related jury trial
Associated Press

MIAMI - A judge dropped charges after the first jury trial related to a demonstrator arrested during November's Free Trade Area of the Americas meetings.

County Court Judge Beth Bloom granted a defense motion to dismiss charges Wednesday against Gan Golan, 30, after hearing testimony and reviewing evidence from both sides.

Bloom ruled that no reasonable juror could convict Golan based on the what was presented.

Golan, a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was arrested Nov. 21 and charged with failure to obey a police order and resisting arrest without violence.

He was one of more than 50 people arrested outside the Miami-Dade County Jail during a demonstration over the treatment of 146 protesters police arrested during the week of the Free Trade gathering. Officers sprayed gas at some of the demonstrators, accusing them of refusing orders to disperse.
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7829738.htm