More Misdemeanor Charges Dismissed from Pipeline Protest

Simple misdemeanor charges were dropped against five more defendants involved in protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline last fall. The five protestors were women from the Iowa City area that were arrested for minor trespassing on the September 17^th or October 1^st of 2016. County Attorney Clinton Boddicker offered each of the defendants a plea deal in March but the 5 refused the deal and attempted to have their cases tried together by jury in one trial. Boddicker decided that the lack of evidence present made the case hard to try before dismissing the charges. According to Sheriff Stacy Weber, Boddicker consulted with the Sheriff’s Department before dismissing the charges and Weber was comfortable with the decision. Weber stated his agreement on the matter stemmed from the fact that deputies were not equipped with body cameras in the force at that time. Both Boddicker and Weber stated that protocols are now in place to ensure that evidence will be present and dismissals will not happen in the future.