UC Student Faces Serious Charges Still
from ThoseWhoUseIt:
Peter Howell, the UC Merced undergrad facing a felony count for the Regents’ meeting, had his arraignment today around 10:45 am. Brought out in orange scrubs and cuffs, Howell’s lawyer asked that the felony charge be reduced to a misdemeanor given that the prosecution’s case is so weak and that there is video evidencedemonstrating that Howell never touched the weapon. The prosecutor attempted to defend the position that he grabbed Kemper’s baton, but the reasoning was incoherent. Here’s Howell on the scuffle:
“I put my hands on my chest and backpedaled,” Howell said in the interview. “I was trying to get away. (Officer Kemper) shoved through me, and he may have lost control of his baton. You can hear it rattle on the ground in a video. At no point did I strike him on the head, so I believe that statement was false.”
Regardless, the judge refused to engage the debate, pushing it back to the hearing date, now scheduled for