Final charges resolved against Nov. 9 Occupy Cal protester

http://www.dailycal.org/2012/07/17/final-case-associated-with-nov-9-protest/

Three of six charges against former UC Berkeley graduate student Jasper Bernes — the final protester with charges stemming from the Occupy Cal protests last November — were dismissed last Wednesday, bringing his case to a close.

Bernes plead no contest to three other charges from a May 1 Day of Action protest in Oakland, and was sentenced to 30 days of community service, according to Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office had added charges from the May 1 protest to the November 9 charges — one of which included battery of a police officer — via a joinder, which allowed the court to consolidate the cases into one.

Bernes’ sentence also includes a three-year stay-away order from the campus and Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland, and it also includes a restitution reserve, through which the court reserves the right to order that Bernes pay restitution to the victim of his crimes. The stay-away order will also ban Bernes from these locations unless he is there “for lawful purposes.”

“The stay-away orders are a negative tactic used by the district attorney that should be strongly opposed,” said Bernes’ lawyer, Vylma Ortiz.

Bernes said the term “lawful purposes” is very ambiguous, making it hard to understand under what conditions he is allowed to go to the campus and Frank H. Ogawa Plaza.

“The terms are designed to prevent me from any protest either at UC Berkeley or Downtown Oakland,” Bernes said.

Ortiz said Bernes had a good case for getting the May 1 charges dismissed, but Bernes wanted to be free to leave in time for the beginning of his fellowship in August.

“I’m disappointed with the resolution that I got, but I need to move on with my life, and that forced me into accepting these terms,” Bernes said.

Members of Occupy Cal have been protesting Bernes’ prosecution throughout the judicial process. Navid Shaghaghi, a UC Berkeley alumnus and Occupy Cal member, said all of the charges should have been dropped, and according to Ortiz, Bernes was acting lawfully on both occasions.

“They’re trying to scare protesters,” Shaghaghi said. “It’s not really about Jasper — it’s about trying to scare everyone else if they protest or oppose the administration.”