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Bully Puppet
The puppetmakers hoped their civil suits would yield big settlements and police reform. Thanks to a massive attack by the city’s high-powered lawyers, they’re getting neither.
-Gwen Shaffer

August 15-21, 2002

cover story

Run-On Sentence

by Gwen Shaffer

Two years after 420 protesters were arrested at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, 10 criminal cases remain in the courts, tied up in the appeal process:

Kate Sorensen. A Common Pleas Court jury convicted Sorensen of criminal mischief, a misdemeanor. Judge Pamela Dembe sentenced her to one year probation. Sorensen is appealing the conviction in Superior Court.

Timoney Three. This case involves three men accused of assaulting former Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney. Timoney testified that he and two other officers on bikes were patrolling near the Convention Center when they spotted protesters attempting to overturn a car. During a hearing in October 2000, Timoney testified that he and his colleagues stopped to make arrests when a scuffle broke out between the cops and protesters. Darby Landy, 22, of North Carolina, Camilo Viveiros, 31, of Massachusetts and University of the Arts student Eric Steinberg, 24, were charged with assaulting the officers. Timoney suffered minor injuries when he was hit in the back by one of the bicycles. According to police, another officer was hit in the head and suffered a concussion. Judge Dembe tossed out charges of reckless endangerment and possessing an instrument of crime. But the District Attorney's office appealed the case to Superior Court, where a tribunal of judges restored the charges. Defense attorneys appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, which opted not to hear it. A new trial is scheduled for Oct. 9 in Common Pleas Court.

Van Case. Seventeen defendants were arrested in a van traveling from the West Philly puppet warehouse to the Philadelphia Convention Center on Aug. 1, 2000. Municipal Court Judge Seamus McCaffery convicted them of multiple misdemeanors. Six defendants are appealing for a jury trial, and two others are appealing on a "Writ of Cert," claiming an unfair trial due to bias on the part of the judge.