[Freethe SF8] SF8 Court Date Thursday 1/10 - Conspiracy Charges Dropped

[SF-8 case]

Thursday, January 10
Press Conference 8:30 - 850 Bryant St
Court @ 9:30 Department 23 - 3rd Floor

SAN FRANCISCO 8 TO ENTER NOT GUILTY PLEAS!
CONSPIRACY CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST 5!

On Friday, January 4th prosecutors in the case announced that they 
are filing an amended complaint against 7 of the 8 which in effect 
drops the conspiracy count against five of the men because the 
statute of limitations (of 3 years on conspiracy) has expired. This 
was a response to defense motions filed recently that challenged the 
complaint on the basis of the expired statute of limitations, 
something which the prosecution should have been aware of all 
along.  According to one of the attorney's, Stuart Hanlon, "This is 
the first step in the government's case falling apart."

Seven defendants (Richard O'Neal no longer faces charges) will enter 
NOT GUILTY pleas in Department 23 at 9:30 am.

A recently launched international campaign calls for the dropping of 
all current charges against the remaining defendants and ending all 
incidents of torture within the U.S. criminal justice system. The 
call has already been signed by many prominent supporters of the 
defendants including Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South 
Africa, Danny Glover, actor and human rights activist, Cynthia 
McKinney, former Congresswoman and current presidential candidate, 
and Cindy Sheehan, founder of Camp Casey Peace Institute, human 
rights activist, and candidate for US Congress.

Members of the San Francisco 8, their attorneys and their supporters 
will hold a press conference before their scheduled court appearance. 
Charges against them arise from a 37-year old cold case.  The 1971 
case was thrown out of the California courts in the 1970s because of 
the use of statements resulting from police torture.  These same 
unreliable tortured confessions are again being used by the state of 
California in an attempt to prosecute this case.


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