Local News

BERKELEY (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― Four tree-sitters who ended their occupation of a University of California, Berkeley, oak grove this week pleaded not guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges.

The four face charges of trespassing and illegal lodging for taking part in the 21-month protest. Tree-sitters had aimed to stop the campus from cutting down trees to make way for a new athletic training facility near football stadium.

But after the campus got a court order allowing the construction, workers cut down most of the trees scheduled for removal.

The protesters climbed down Tuesday after authorities surrounded the remaining tall redwood tree with scaffolding.

Bail amounts set for the tree-sitters, who were dressed in blue jail jumpsuits as they appeared in court, ranged from $1,500 to $15,000.

One of the tree-sitters was set to be released after posting bail. The other three remained in custody on Thursday evening.

The highest bail amount was $15,000 for 26-year-old Michael Schuck, also known as "Shem," the only one of the four tree-sitters who has attended UC-Berkeley and has strong Bay Area connections.

Schuck faces more charges than the other tree-sitters because he has an additional misdemeanor criminal contempt charge for allegedly violating an order to stay away from the tree grove after he was arrested in April 2007 for occupying a redwood tree in Sproul Plaza on campus.

He also is accused of violating his probation in that case.

Schuck's bail had been $47,000, but the judge agreed to reduce it to $15,000 after his attorney, Hunter Pyle, said Schuck has been in the Bay Area for seven years, had a job as a care provider and planned to return to UC-Berkeley. Prosecutor Josefa James agreed to the bail reduction.

Bail for Raul Colocho, 27, also known as "Huckleberry," was set at $5,500 and bail was set at $1,500 each for Armando Resendez, 20, known as "Mando," and Ernesto Trevino Pena, 18, known as "Ernesto."
 
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers refused requests to release Colocho, Pena and Resendez on their own recognizance because they did not have strong ties to the Bay Area.

Lawyers for those three tree-sitters said that before they began living in the trees this summer, they lived at a "community house" at 731 Evelyn Avenue in Albany.

Colocho listed that address as his local residence, but when the judge asked him what city it's in he said he didn't know.

"I'm not familiar with the area yet," Colocho said.
 
He said he wants to look for a job and a permanent residence in the Bay Area.

Colocho's defense attorney Carol Strickman said he's a former New York University student, who used to do layout work for the New York Times newspaper and has worked in the computer field.

The four tree-sitters were all scheduled return to Alameda County Superior Court for a pretrial hearing on Monday.

The tree-sitters' chief ground supporter, Eric Eisenberg, also known as Ayr, said after Thursday's brief hearing that, "These people should be released as heroes for standing up for the earth." 

Also appearing in court Thursday was 19-year-old Eric Elliott, who's charged with resisting arrest in connection with a clash with UC-Berkeley police on Tuesday. 

The judge reduced Elliott's bail form $6,500 to $3,000. He was scheduled to return to court on Friday.

Outside court, Strickman said one possible defense for the tree-sitters is the so-called "necessity defense."

She said that in such a defense, defendants argue they took a potentially illegal action in order to prevent a greater harm.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)