SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- A Santa Cruz judge drops charges for three of seven protesters accused of taking over an empty bank building in 2011. On Wednesday, law enforcement expressed its concern with the decision.
"It's an absolutely ridiculous, legal decision," said Steve Clark, deputy chief for the Santa Cruz Police Department.
Deputy Chief Clark said the court opened the door for other people who think they can get away with breaking the law.
"Essentially what the court has done is given approval for this kind of behavior and said it's ok to go in and violate somebody's property rights to this degree and we won't hold you accountable," he said.
Police said what the outcome means is they can't handle similar situations in a way that they said is most appropriate, so they might have to get more aggressive in the future.
On Tuesday, the judge decided prosecutors didn't have enough evidence on the three protesters.
"The trespass laws are really, oddly specific, and they require a sequence of events to occur and I couldn't show that they occurred for three out of the seven defendants. I can't say that he was acting arbitralily. I can't," said Rebekah Young, assistant district attorney for the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office.
Young said there were technical issues with formatting the video used as evidence in the case, in addition to audio issues. She said for that, the judge fined the D.A.'s Office $500.
Still, she said while she feels the judge did everything he could, the protesters shouldn't have been able to walk.
"He followed the letter of the law, but unfortunately those laws are overly convoluted and out of date," she said.
"How the court can look at property owners with a straight face and make them believe in any way that they're going to protect their interests astounds me," he said.
The D.A.'s Office said it plans to appeal the fine.
