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Lafayette Eight, 29 months later—case dismissed!
Wednesday, September 6— A judge has dismissed all charges against the six remaining defendants in the Lafayette Eight case. The charges were dismissed "with prejudice," which means the Court does not expect the case to be reopened or appealed.
The Lafayette 8 were community activists with Homes Not Jails. They were arrested April 14th, 2004 while planting flowers and a small tree on Lafayette Square, the intersection of Mass Ave and Main Street in Cambridge. The activists were held up at gun point by undercover cops who refused to identify themselves.
They were each charged with Breaking and Entering and related felonies at the abandoned Shell station on the lot. However, two of them, who are under age 18, were separated from the other six and placed on probation as juveniles.
The six remaining defendants of the Lafayette 8 appeared in Middlesex District Court a dozen times over the next two years. The prosecution stymied due process by repeatedly refusing to turn over evidence to the defense as required by law.
Defense attorney Daniel Beck had requested that information from any law enforcement agencies that had been surveilling the Homes Not Jails members before and at the time of the arrest. He maintained that documented information about their plans for a free concert in Lafayette Square on the night of the arrests would confirm that they were not there to commit felonies, but to clean up the site and host a concert for the community.
At the time of their arrest, news stories and comments by City Manager Healey implied that Homes Not Jails was plotting to use the abandoned gas station as a storage depot for unnamed "materials" to be used in protest activities at the upcoming Democrat National Convention.
MRGRA meeting