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Jury acquits woman of obstruction in summer E Madison ‘dance party’ protest melee

Sarah Svobodny has gone in front of Seattle juries to face charges related to two separate activist incidents on Capitol Hill this year. And two times the jury has said she’s not guilty of a crime.

The 32-year-old was again acquitted Thursday morning, according to attorney Braden Pence of the Snohomish County Public Defender Association.

Pence was part of the successful defense of the “Chase 5” earlier this year in which protesters — including Svobodny — admitted to chaining themselves together inside the Broadway Chase bank branch.

In the Seattle Municipal Court case decided by a jury last week, Svobodny was accused of obstructing a police officer in this June street protest that garnered citywide attention when one of the protesters was doused with pepper spray.

SPD said it was launching an internal investigation of Lt. Gregg Calder’s actions on the night of the protest. We’ve asked for an update on that five-month-old investigation but have not yet heard back from SPD.

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Bananafruit
11 years ago

Not guilty!

Juror
11 years ago

I was on that jury. The prosecution and defense were both surprised at how quickly we came to our decision. We were surprised that they were surprised. I think we spent more time trying to think of what theoretically WOULD have been enough for a conviction in this case, to see if there was something any of us might have missed. I had no idea this would actually make it to the media. It was mostly a case of insufficient evidence and too much doubt. One person says A, the other says B, and it just as likely could have been A, B, or even C.

LawSchoolNerd
11 years ago

Out of curiosity, do you remember who the prosecutor and defense attorney were?

lifeguard
11 years ago

peace & love

Phil Mocek
11 years ago

I’m glad Sarah was able and willing to stand up to Seattle Police Department’s lies — TWICE. How many acquittals will we see before it becomes apparent that SPD have been engaging in the chilling of political speech?

When I hear “obstruction” I think “annoyed a police officer with likely-lawful behavior, then failed to sufficiently engage in boot-licking.”

Eric Rachner
11 years ago

SMC court records show the prosecutor was Michelle Rutherford and the defense attorney was David Hancock.

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
11 years ago

Congrats, Sarah and Mr. Hancock! Again!

It’s wonderful that the jury recognized the SPD non-case for what it was. And although the acquittal is great news, Sarah’s defense cost time, effort, and money. It’s not acceptable for the SPD to bleed the resources of the activist community by repeatedly engaging in frivolous arrests. I would hope that the Justice Department examines Sarah’s arrests for possible police misconduct.