A circuit court judge yesterday dismissed the trial of six people over their alleged misconduct in an October 2006 “World Can’t Wait” protest, saying the District Attorney has taken too long to bring the case to justice.

A two to three week trial was expected in the trial of the defendants for various offenses, including interference with a police officer, disorderly conduct in the second degree, and attempted assault of a peace officer.

After 17 months, the state planned to call up to 30 witnesses in the case, which you can read more about here. Defense attorney Spencer Hahn of Multnomah Defenders made an oral motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial, first thing yesterday.

“I swung for the fences a little,” he admits.

Surprisingly, Judge Julia Philbrook granted the motion to dismiss the case.

“I’m thrilled because I don’t have to spend two weeks in a stupid trial where the state is just wasting everybody’s time,” Hahn continues.

The cleared defendants are now free to pursue excessive force claims against the police, should they so desire. You can see video footage of the protest in clips 7-12 on this video compiled last year by the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center:
WORLD CAN’T WAIT: Turned ugly, cops accused of excessive force…

“I’d agree that [17 months] is too long,” says District Attorney Mike Schrunk. “The system should get to these things right away. But I have been a defender and I know that frequently the best defense is just delay delay delay.”