On Dec. 3, an Arbor Michigan jury found Dr. Catherine Wilkerson not guilty on both criminal counts she was facing. Dr. Wilkerson was charged with two counts of attempted obstruction/interference/assault of a police officer and a paramedic for assisting a victim of police brutality at a demonstration. It is a victory for protesters and their right to necessary medical assistance in the face of police violence.
The phony charges stemmed from an incident on Nov. 30, 2006 at the Michigan League in Ann Arbor where several
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Tanter was there to discuss “regime change” in Iran. He not only advocates taking military action, but also using tactical nuclear weapons and depleted uranium against Iran.
Several protesters were dragged from the event and arrested for heckling Tanter. One protester, Blane Coleman, was taken down forcefully by University of Michigan Department of Public Safety officers Mark West and Janet Conners. They pinned Mr. Coleman face down and held him to the floor, while handcuffing him behind his back. Coleman complained that he could not breathe and then he collapsed unconscious.
Dr. Wilkerson identified herself as a physician and asked permission to examine Coleman. She was allowed to examine him as the group waited for Huron Valley Ambulance medics to arrive. Dr. Wilkerson was concerned that Coleman was at risk for a condition called positional asphyxia. Positional asphyxia occurs when people are handcuffed with their hands behind their back as weight is pressed on them, causing them to be unable to draw a full breath. Positional asphyxia has caused several recorded deaths.
Upon HVA arrival, Dr. Wilkerson relinquished Coleman’s care to HVA medics, but was forced to intervene a second time when one of the medics, Dean Lloyd, began using a series of ammonia inhalants on Coleman. Lloyd cupped his hands over Coleman’s mouth and asked “You don’t like that do you?” as Coleman retched and spit from the noxious fumes.
At Dr. Wilkerson’s trial, both officer Conners and Lloyd testified that they believed that Coleman was faking his medical emergency.
Dr. Wilkerson denounced the behavior of the medics when the incident occurred: “Ammonia inhalants have no medical efficacy,” she said. An Ann Arbor Police officer on the scene, Kevin Warner, removed Dr. Wilkerson forcefully, using a painful restraint technique on her arm and throwing her face-first into a wall. She was held for some time and then released.
Dr. Wilkerson was never arrested at the scene. She was not charged with a crime until nearly two months later, one week after she filed a citizen complaint against Warner with the Ann Arbor Police.
The trial was an obvious attempt to silence public criticism of police and paramedic behavior at the protest. Another woman, Dr. Kathryn Babayan, a University of Michigan history professor, testified that she was also charged with similar crimes after she filed a complaint against police due to the incident.
The prosecutor in the case, Margaret Connors—who is making a bid to become a judge—attempted to prejudice the jury against Dr. Wilkerson throughout the proceedings by referencing her political views as evidence of her guilt. During her cross-examination of Dr. Wilkerson, Connors asked questions like, “Is it true that you list Ho Chi Min as one of your ‘heroes’ on your myspace page?” and “Did you say that you needed ‘international solidarity’ during your interview on KUCI radio?”
These attempts appeared petty and irrelevant to court room observers. They did not have the intended affect on the jury.
Despite a parade of police and paramedic witnesses called by the prosecution, Connors was unable to demonstrate any evidence that Dr. Wilkerson ever did anything during the incident other than verbally criticize police and paramedics for their treatment of Coleman.
When asked pointedly during cross-examination, officer West testified that “verbally interfering with an arrest and criticizing police is not a crime.” Another prosecution witness, Jeff Green, a University of Michigan student and building manager of the Michigan League who witnessed the event, testified that Coleman’s treatment by DPS officers seemed “overly harsh.”
Several HVA medics testified that ammonia inhalants are no longer carried on HVA ambulances or used by HVA medics as a result of the incident.
The defense presented several eye witnesses who testified on Dr. Wilkerson’s behalf. Despite Connors attempts to discredit them as political fanatics, their testimony lent further credence to Dr. Wilkerson’s account of the incident.
The defense also called Dr. Bledsoe to the stand, one of the nation’s leading experts on emergency medicine and paramedic training. Dr. Bledsoe testified that ammonia inhalants are potentially dangerous and have no real medical application.
Additionally, Dr. William Wilkerson, the defendant’s husband and a court recognized emergency medicine and paramedic expert, testified that ammonia inhalants are just plain bad medicine. He said that HVA did not follow their on-scene patient-doctor protocols with Dr. Wilkerson.
There also was considerable political support for Dr. Wilkerson’s case. More than 4,000 people signed an ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) national petition demanding that all charges be dropped.
The trial was more than a victory for Dr. Wilkerson; it was a victory for free-speech and the rights of protesters. If Dr. Wilkerson had been convicted, it would have established a precedent criminalizing protesters who complain or criticize police behavior during unlawful arrests.
