Opinion ID: 789879
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Arrests of the Plaintiffs

Text: 10 In the course of the Shepard demonstration, 115 people, including the seven named plaintiffs, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. ( See Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 9; Plaintiffs' Opp. 56.1 Statement ¶ 187.) The six plaintiffs other than Leonard Gay were arrested as they stood or walked in the street. Although those six contended that they either were approaching a sidewalk when arrested, or that there was no room on the sidewalk, or that there were impediments to their reaching the sidewalk, there is no dispute that, when arrested, they were in a roadway. ( See, e.g., Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 65-67 (Bryant), ¶ 117 (Jessica Dyson), ¶ 82 (Maurice Cassidy), ¶¶ 103-104 (Joseph DeFilippis), ¶¶ 161-162 (Robert Takacs), ¶¶ 182-184 (Ulrik Trojaborg); corresponding paragraphs of Plaintiffs' Opp. 56.1 Stmt.) 11 Plaintiffs were kept in custody between 5 and 23 hours before being released. Bryant and Dyson were arrested at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at approximately 6:30 p.m. They were taken to central booking and held in cells overnight. On the following day, October 20, 1998, Bryant was arraigned and was released at about noon. ( See Declaration of Timothy Bryant dated October 22, 2002, ¶ 24.) He was tried on November 17, 1998, and was acquitted. ( See Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 7.) Dyson was arraigned on October 20, 1998, and released between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. ( See Declaration of Jessica Dyson dated October 23, 2002, ¶ 33.) On November 25, 1998, the charge against her was dismissed on motion of the prosecution. ( See People v. Dyson, No. 98N095968, Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County, Hearing Transcript, November 25, 1998, at 2.) 12 Cassidy and DeFilippis were arrested at 56th Street and Avenue of the Americas at approximately 7:00 p.m. They were placed on city buses that had been commandeered, and they were held on the buses until approximately 1:00 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., respectively, at which times the police released them and voided their arrests. ( See Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 84, 107; Plaintiffs' Opp. 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 83, 107.) 13 Takacs was arrested at approximately 7:00 p.m. in the middle of 54th Street. Trojaborg was arrested at approximately 7:15 p.m. at 54th Street and Avenue of the Americas. Each was taken to a police station and held in a cell. Takacs was released after midnight ( see Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 171; Plaintiffs' Opp. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 171); Trojaborg was released at approximately 4:00 a.m. ( see Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 185; Plaintiffs' Opp. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 185); and their arrests were voided ( see Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 38, 43). 14 Gay joined the march late, attended part of the rally at Madison Square Park, and then began to leave the area. He stopped near Fifth Avenue and 25th Street to observe what appeared to be the recording of a television interview. Police officers repeatedly asked Gay to step away from the press area. When he refused after the final request, he was arrested. ( See Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 136-138.) Gay contended that no one told him he was in a restricted area. ( E.g., Plaintiffs' Opp. 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 126-129, 136-137.) Gay was arrested at approximately 9:45 p.m., charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, and held in a cell until he was taken to criminal court the next morning. ( See Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 148, 144, 146.) He was arraigned and then released at approximately 12:15 p.m. ( See Defendants' 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 147; Plaintiffs' Opp. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 147.) Gay received an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal in April 1999; the charges against him were dismissed on October 6, 1999. ( See Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 33.)