‘Occupy Coachella Valley’ Protester Pleads Not Guilty

One of the five people charged in connection with camping in a Palm Desert park without a permit as part of an Occupy demonstration pleaded not guilty today to a misdemeanor count.

Jack Lee Noftsger III, 27, of Palm Desert, pleaded not guilty to unlawful assembly, Deputy Public Defender Roger Tansey said. The hearing was held at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Four other defendants — Mary Elizabeth Walker, 22, Dustin David Powell, 29, and Stephen Mark Finger, 58, all of Palm Desert, and Palm Springs resident Ryan Donald Cartwright, 21 — pleaded not guilty Jan. 5 to unlawful assembly. Cartwright also pleaded not guilty to two counts of resisting arrest.

All five are due back in court Feb. 22 for a pretrial hearing, Tansey said. He said Noftsger was arraigned later because he was released from jail on a different day than the other defendants.

Charges were filed Jan. 4. All of the defendants are free on their own recognizance.

The five were arrested with several others on Nov. 1 for allegedly camping illegally at Palm Desert’s Civic Center Park. Members of the group had been in the park since Oct. 24, participating in the nationwide Occupy movement, intended to draw attention to what demonstrators argue is the growing gap between rich and poor.

No one else arrested during the Nov. 1 demonstration had been charged, according to jail and court records.

Walker, Powell, Finger, Cartwright and Noftsger are charged with “willfully and unlawfully” assembling “together with one or more persons to do an unlawful act .. in a violent, boisterous and tumultuous manner,” according to the criminal complaint.

“The charges of unlawful assembly would appear to be completely unfounded,” Tansey, who is representing three of the defendants, told City News Service on Jan. 5.

“After all, this country was founded upon dissent,” he said. “Whatever one thinks of their political views, I’m sure all right-thinking people can agree that the Palm Desert 5 are certainly proud followers of that good old American tradition of peacefully making your voice heard. Whether you agree with them or not, these kids represent some of the best of American values — and these criminal charges, the worst.”

The defendants were arrested by deputies sent to the park to enforce the 11 p.m. curfew on Nov. 1, sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Shouse said. The group was granted temporary use permits by the city over four days in the last week of October, which allowed them to stay overnight in the park.

The city declined to issue another permit at the end of the week, and sheriff’s deputies asked the protesters to leave.

“Most of the subjects relocated to the sidewalk upon our arrival,” Shouse said then. “Seven subjects remained on the park property and were arrested.”

Two more people were arrested an hour later after they entered the park “in defiance of officers who were securing the scene,” Shouse said. Another woman was arrested later that night, he said.

Assistant City Attorney Robert Hargreaves has said the city supports the group’s First Amendment rights, but could not allow the park to be used as a campground for an extended period of time.

“By providing Occupy Coachella Valley with a highly visible, dry, shaded space with 24-hour access to restrooms, the city accommodated the group’s First Amendment rights while protecting public health and safety and the rights of our residents and visitors to continue using Civic Center Park,” according to a city statement.