I just returned from the arraignment hearing for the 12 people ticketed for indecent exposure on Oct. 31 during Boulder’s 10th annual Naked Pumpkin Run.
To a layperson like me, this arraignment hearing was remarkably short and opaque. But I did get more info from a defense attorney and clerk from the District Attorney’s office. Here’s where things are at with this case, so far as I understand…
Yesterday, there was a minor afterparty to Denver’s Thin Air Summit. At Boulder’s lovely Dushanbe Teahouse, we had a tweetup of over 30 local coding and media geeks. TAS keynoter Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester Research shot this video so we could put faces to names — that is, the really important kind of name for this conference: Twitter handles.
If you didn’t catch all those Twitter handles (they’re not all easy to spell), then check out the comments to Jeremiah’s post.
One nice thing about our legal system is that, with a few exceptions, arraignment hearings are public. Anyone — even you! — can attend and observe. Simply having extra eyeballs present in the courtroom, just watching, can encourage judges, lawyers, and cops to apply extra care and common sense in the legal process.
This is why, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve been tracking the legal process related to the 12 indecent exposure citations which Boulder police issued to participants in the 10th annual Naked Pumpkin Run late on Halloween night — a jubilant, silly, nonsexual event enjoyed each year by crowds of locals on Boulder’s Pearl St. Mall. If convicted on this charge, all 12 defendants would be required to register as sex offenders. (Under Colorado law, judges appear to have no room to waive that requirement for adults.)
I saw today that the Daily Camera added court date information to its Nov. 4 story about the the upcoming hearings in these cases:
“Because indecent exposure is a state violation, the cases will be heard in Boulder County Court, not the city’s municipal court. Ten of those cited have a Dec. 17 court date. The other two have a Jan. 12 date.”
As I noted earlier, I’ve been calling the local courts to try to find out exactly when and where these hearings will be held. It was pretty confusing, because neither the county nor the municipal court so far (even as of today) has any record of these cases. Then a woman at the county court suggested that maybe the police hadn’t yet sent the tickets to the courts.
Indeed, that’s the case here. I just called the Boulder police, and confirmed that as of today the police have not sent the tickets to the court. However, I did verify that these cases will be heard in county court, on Dec. 17 and Jan. 12.
The hearings will happen at the Justice Center, 6th & Canyon, Boulder. (Map)
I’m encouraging people interested in justice for these defendants to please attend and observe these hearings.
Here’s what to do…
One of the things I’ve liked about Boulder’s Daily Camera is that on their site they run an unfiltered Letters to the Editor blog. Unlike the letters that get published in the print edition, every letter the Camera receives gets posted to this blog — where (unlike comments left on Camera articles) they can be found via the site’s search engine.
And look how easy they make contributing your letters! All you have to do is send an e-mail to openforum@dailycamera.com.
Well, almost… READ MORE »
UPDATE NOV. 5: The Boulder police had other options. They could have cited streakers for disorderly conduct instead of indecent exposure. Also, the Daily Camera interviewed me on this controversy…
Yesterday, after much prodding from local bloggers (including me) and commenters on its site, the Boulder Daily Camera finally reported that the streakers who got busted by Boulder police at the 10th annual Halloween Naked Pumpkin Run will, if convicted, have to register as sex offenders. Today, the paper also published the names and ages of the 12 streakers who were cited for indecent exposure. All of these people are over 18, and thus under current CO law must register as sex offenders if convicted.
No acknowledgement of the community/independent media role in pressing this issue was offered by the Camera.
I just called the Boulder Municipal Court (303-441-1842), which informed me that Boulder County Courts (303-441-3750) are handling these cases. The county court rep I spoke was surprised, since normally misdemeanor citations handed out within Boulder City Limits get processed through the municipal court system. However, he did say that if indeed the county will be handling those cases, they should have more information on Friday. So I’ll call back then and will post an update. I’ll also check back with the municipal court, just in case they gave me incorrect information.
I’m contacting the local courts because I want to learn the dates and locations of arraignment hearings for the busted streakers. As far as I know, the public (including media) can observe these hearings. It’d be here that we’d learn whether these cases are being plea bargained down, whether there are motions for dismissal, and in general the attitudes of the judges, cops, attorneys, and defendants.
Stay tuned…
map
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| Scene of Boulder’s 2008 Naked Pumpkin Run busts, plus two nearby real (violent) crimes earlier that same day. |
UPDATE NOV 4. The names of the 12 busted streakers have been published, so I’m following up on this case via local courts…
On Halloween, as I wrote earlier, I went down to Boulder, CO’s Pearl St. pedestrian mall to check out the costumes — which are always spectacular — and to see the annual Naked Pumpkin Run. (Note: that link above goes to my blog post which includes a video containing nudity.) This loosely organized event has a lot of local fans.
The Naked Pumpkin Run is nothing more than that — sometime around 9-10 pm on Halloween, a bunch of people get naked, put jack-o-lanterns on their heads, and run en masse down the Pearl St. Mall. It’s not sexual, violent, dangerous, or threatening. It’s just silly. It’s unique. It’s fun. It’s exuberant. It’s positive and life-affirming.
And: It’s illegal.
Unlike in previous years, the Boulder police were out in force for this event, where they ticketed several runners for indecent exposure. Consequently, several fun-loving local folks may end up suffering life-altering public stigma as registered sex offenders.
No kidding.
The Colorado Daily posted this video of the event, including some footage of the busts:
Need some irony? All this happened less than 24 hours after two remarkably violent assaults, which occurred just a half-mile from the scene of the Naked Pumpkin Run busts.
Here are the details, as best as I’ve been able to gather them so far… READ MORE »
IMPORTANT UPDATE NOV. 2: I researched applicable Colorado law. It does indeed appear that any Naked Pumpkin Runner whose indecent exposure citation gets upheld in court will have to register as a sex offender! Read the details…
I just got back from hanging out in downtown Boulder, enjoying the Halloween freakery. The peak of the evening was the 10th annual running of the Naked Pumpkin Run, where a bunch of people put jack-o-lanterns on their heads and streak down the Pearl St. Mall.
Yeah, the cops aren’t happy about this. This year, they ticketed lots of runners, and it look like some may have been arrested. Which seems odd considering the context of today’s local news:
Boulder Daily Camera Halloween News
Given that, I would’ve thought Boulder’s cops would have had more important law enforcement activities on hand tonight than busting harmless streakers…
Anyway, with that strange introduction, I give you some video of tonight’s Naked Pumpkin Run!…
Bjørn Melhus: “Deadly Storms” video art nails sensational, content-free news
2008 Leave a Comment Written by Amy Gahran
This weekend at the Denver Art Museum I had the opportunity to enjoy some whimsical video works by the German artist Bjørn Melhus. One installation, Deadly Storms, is a wry riff on the breathless, content-free style of breaking news so common on television.
Deadly Storms, video installation by Bjorn Melhus. CLICK ON IMAGE to view video clip via Rocky Mountain News
Given that Denver isn’t exactly known as a fine-art Mecca, it’s refreshing that the Denver Art Museum regularly provides an excellent selection of work — especially modern art. Plus, the new Frederic C. Hamilton building (designed by Daniel Libeskind) is trippy and fun.