More than six months following the conclusion of Princeton’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” the 13 people arrested for occupying Clio Hall will have to wait at least another month for a trial date.
During a brief zoom hearing Tuesday morning, defense attorney Aymen Aboushi requested a re-evaluation of a plea deal that would have allowed six of the protesters to plead guilty to a municipal noise ordinance. Once again, Judge John McCarthy III ’69 rejected the proposal, but this time, he definitively closed the matter.
“I have given the matter a lot of thought, and I will not be changing my position,” McCarthy said at the opening of the hearing. He had previously declined to approve the plea deal at the earlier hearing for the protesters on Oct. 1, citing allegations that one of them had given staff in Clio Hall a countdown to leave the building.
“I don’t want to continue to go months and months and be asked to reconsider and reconsider and work on plea agreements and work on plea agreements,” he said. “Cases ought to be tried or otherwise resolved. Is that clear?”
The 12 students and one postdoctoral researcher are currently facing charges of defiant trespass, a low-level disorderly offense. All five undergraduates arrested graduated from the University in May.
McCarthy did agree to hold another pre-trial conference on Dec. 10 to set a trial date and consider any potential pre-trial motions.
Once the date is finalized, McCarthy will preside over the trial as there are no juries in municipal courts in New Jersey. Municipal Prosecutor Christopher Koutsouris said he had witnesses lined up and ready to testify, including “alleged victims.”
At just 27 minutes, today’s proceedings were about three hours shorter than the last hearing in October.
McCarthy proposed setting a trial date today, but Aboushi noted he may need time to prepare any potential motions for the next hearing. “I do think there are some issues that need to be resolved in advance of the trial,” he said.
Nationwide, many of the charges for students arrested during pro-Palestine campus protests last spring were dropped over the summer, according to an analysis by the New York Times.
While some cases — as in Princeton — are still pending, others have been more recently resolved. The two graduate students arrested at the beginning of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” paid $33 each in fines at a hearing in October.
Last week, 27 Yale students who had been arrested for pro-Palestine protests in the spring agreed to a plea deal in New Haven, while 13 additional students are set to reappear in court on Dec. 4.
Miriam Waldvogel is an associate News editor and the investigations editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Stockton, Calif. and often covers campus activism and University accountability.
Annie Rupertus is a head News editor for the ‘Prince’ from Philadelphia, Pa. who often covers activism and campus governance.
Eojin Park is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ from Seoul, South Korea.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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