March 20, 2010
Yesterday, Kevin Olliff signed a deal, pleading "no contest" to six
felony charges (three stalking and three conspiracy to stalk
-including conspiracy to stalk a school official).
He was escorted to the courtroom late, and in an unusual grey uniform,
because he is temporarily in the jail hospital fighting an infection
in his lymph nodes. IV in arm, he signed a the plea document for three
years and parole.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 14th, so Kevin may have time to
recuperate from his current condition. It will then be determined when
and where he will be transferred to a state prison to carry out the
rest of his time. Anyone in the Los Angeles, Orange County, or
southern California vicinity is strongly encouraged to attend the
sentencing to support Kevin in this decision. It will be at LA
Superior Court (210 W. Temple St.) on the ninth floor in Department
102.
He has been in jail for a year, and has been receiving double-time
retroactively after January 25th of this year. If he continues to be
serving "good time", we can expect to have him out by mid-October.
Write Kevin to help him pass the time before sentencing! (Please note
he switched from D-Pod to C-Pod when addressing letters).
Kevin Olliff #1300931
TTCF 161 C-Pod
450 Bauchet St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Kevin Olliff Support
***************************************
http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/state-california-v.-kevin-olliff
Kevin Olliff is an animal rights activist who was
arrested April 18, 2009 on three year-old protest
charges and now faces 10 felony counts. These
felonies are multiple counts of: stalking,
conspiracy, conspiracy to stalk, and threatening
of a public servant. He is currently being held
in Los Angeles County Jail awaiting trial. His
indictment accuses him of associating with the
Animal Liberation Front (ALF) which the State
labeled a "gang" in the indictment. In December
2009, CCR cooperating attorney Matthew Strugar
joined with defense counsel to file a 995 Motion
to Set Aside the Indictment, based in part on the
theory that Olliff’s conduct was all protected by
the First Amendment.. The judge has since ruled
that case will go forward; however, he also ruled
that the ALF does not meet the definition of a "gang."
Status
On January 26, 2010, at the pre-trial hearing,
the judge ruled that ALF is not a "gang."
The trial is scheduled to begin on March 3, 2010.
Description
Kevin Olliff’s prosecution is in the line of
other recent “Green Scare” cases where law
enforcement target above-ground activists in an
attempt to link them to illegal, underground
activity. Much like the SHAC-7 and AETA-4, Olliff
is indicted for incendiary speech
activitynamely, chants at home demonstrations.
Like the AETA-4, Olliff’s case arises from the
long-running campaign against primate research in
the University of California system. The campaign
has included a significant level of illegal
activity aimed at UC researchers. Unknown
individuals set a researcher’s porch on fire,
‘flooded’ another researcher’s house by putting a
garden hose through a window, firebombed multiple
cars, sent threatening anonymous emails, and left
an unlit Molotov cocktail on a researcher’s
porch. The Animal Liberation Front and other
underground animal rights organizations claimed
responsibility for most of these actions.
The indictment makes reference to many of these
illegal actions, alleging they were undertaken by
unnamed coconspirators, and alleges Olliff’s
speech activity constitutes overt acts in
furtherance of the activity. However, there is no
evidence that Olliff participated in any of the illegal activity.
The indictment also sought a gang enhancement
penalty, alleging the ALF is a criminal street
gang and Olliff is a member. However, the judge
ruled that ALF does not meet the definition of a
"gang." Oliff would have faced approximately
twenty years imprisonment if convicted on all
charges with the gang enhancements. Since the
judge denied the applicability of the gang
enhancements, Olliff now faces only four and 1.2 years.
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