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As I write this, I am sitting in a government building not wearing a mask. The vast majority of the public and the public employees and jurors are not wearing masks. Courtney Evans, sitting in another government building directly across the street, was not so fortunate last December.
It had all the makings of a small-town sitcom with charm, and often is the reality of the San Benito County that I love. On day 2 of this trial, the judge announced that someone was filming on day 1, and therefore all electronic devices were to be confiscated. The bailiffs perform that task announcing all devices are to be shut off first. Task completed, someone’s phone, in the bailiffs’ possession rang. Then someone walked into the courtroom, filming along the way (she was booted). On day 3, the bailiffs confiscate our electronic devices before entering the courtroom. The judge announces all devices are to be turned in, witnesses that no one does, and asks in exasperated disbelief “No one here has a cell phone?” I explained the situation to him. Whew!
The judge looked at a juror and asks if she socializes much with the district attorney. The answer being in the affirmative, the friend of a local VIP is removed as a juror. The claim is made that one of the arresting deputies, a Giants fan, threatened retaliation when his advances on the defendant, a Dodger fan, were rebuffed sometime in the past at a bar. Some time was spent on the Deputy now on the stand not being a Baler, because he went to Palma, with the judge entering the fray by stating he went to Bellarmine himself.
Getting to the very serious business at hand, in December Courtney Evans was sitting quietly by herself in a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors. As many of us do, she was there to make comments to the Supervisors at the appropriate time. However, she was not wearing a mask. The Supervisors could have let that pass; let her say her words, and then she would have most likely left. Instead, the Supervisors chose to obstruct their own meeting, and have Courtney arrested. For our quaint town, it was a dramatic event. During the trial, several people testified that the board chairwoman proclaimed into the microphone “Thank you for dealing with Courtney Evans!” Clapping is heard on the audio with the alleged rabblerouser finally subdued and in custody. As a longtime resident and community participant, it was embarrassing to watch.
While some readers are going to focus on the mask, everyone should focus on the charges, especially the key word: “Obstruction.” Everyday folks know what obstruction is: blocking someone from moving from one place to another, stopping someone from being able to do what they want to do, or said differently, getting in the way. Courtney Evans was in no way stopping the Supervisors from conducting their meeting. They seemingly just don’t like her and chose to use the heavy hand that they technically have, to squash her. This has got to stop.
What could the Supervisors have done differently? I think that they could have let her be, and in future meetings, stop people at the door who were not wearing a mask. If someone does not think mask rules are legal, then they could challenge the entry-denial in their own court action.
But instead, we got the People v. Courtney Evans this week. Courtney’s attorney had an easier task at the end of the day I believe; her closing argument to the jury was everything: use your common sense. The prosecutor had the more complex job of deciphering the wonky legal jargon that surround public agencies and their meetings and how Courtney was obstructing a public agency from doing its business by sitting there quietly. He lost.
The * on the headline has to do with the other charge of resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer. Anyone who has seen a trailer or actual Cops show or watches the news knows what resisting arrest is. It is actually resisting arrest. As I sit here in the courthouse writing this, I can imagine sheriff deputies coming up to me and saying “Come here!” and “Your going to jail.” My first reaction is going to say “What?” I probably would also gather up my belongings. While I believe what happened to Courtney or what could happen to me is not supposed to happen in America or San Benito County; the jury saw it differently.
To the naysayers who would point that Courtney could have participated by Zoom as the magic elixir to participation in public meetings, I am one individual that cannot fully understand what some people are saying on a zoom meeting, especially when the speaker has a mask on. I also have been denied the ability to speak while participating in county meetings by Zoom, for unexplainable reasons. There is a balance somewhere in all of this, but having individuals dramatically arrested in a public meeting, stinks.
I don’t want to be enemies with any honorably serving elected official or bureaucrat and I realize this article may offend some. But I want to restore the decorum and cordiality that San Benito County had and can still have. Elected officials going to war against its citizenry is just not right.
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October 03, 2021 at 12:40AM
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COMMUNITY OPINION: Courtney Evans is innocent* - Benitolink: San Benito County News
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