A pro-Palestine protester whose case has been working its way through the courts for around five months had his charges dropped late last month.
Mark Roman, who was arrested for criminal mischief during last summer’s protest at Bath Iron Works, had the charges against him dismissed. The charges against nine other protesters were previously reduced from criminal trespassing to failure to use a crosswalk.
According to defense attorney Leonard Sharon of Lewiston, Roman reached an agreement with Sagadahoc County Assistant District Attorney Kathryn King in which Roman made a charitable donation in exchange for the dropped charges. Once Roman donated to charity and sent the proof of payment, the case was dismissed.
The Sagadahoc District Attorney’s Office and Roman did not respond to requests for comment.
“In each case, there were efforts made by the different prosecutors to keep from getting convictions on [the Palestinian protesters’] record,” Sharon said. “So there were different ways used to defer.”
On July 27 last year, 10 protesters were arrested for criminal trespassing while blocking traffic during a Bath Iron Works ship christening ceremony of the USS Patrick Gallagher.
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