A Lane County Circuit Court jury found a former University student, who was tasered by police during his arrest at a downtown anti-pesticides rally last year, guilty on both counts of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Spectators filled the courtroom of the “Taser trial,” as it’s been tagged, Thursday to hear the case of 19-year-old Ian Van Ornum, who attended the University last year when he was arrested.
Assistant District Attorney Bob Lane urged the jury not to consider whether the Taser use was justified, and to instead find Van Ornum guilty of the disorderly conduct that warranted his arrest and resisting arrest, which led to the tasing.
Van Ornum’s lawyer, Laura Fine, argued that the state’s case rested on assumptions about Van Ornum’s character, referencing Lane’s opening statement Tuesday when he warned jurors that they would likely hear from the defense about the Department of Homeland Security, the Taser and the Iraq war.
“He said you were going to hear about conspiracy theories … because that’s who he believes Mr. Van Ornum is. They thought this was the ‘pitch-fork rebellion,’ whoever they may be,” Fine said. “I told you that I thought the evidence would prove my client is not guilty, which I think it’s done.”
Van Ornum and rally organizers wore white hazardous material suits to the May 30 rally, where they took turns spraying water from a canister used for spraying pesticides and asking passersby, “Do you want to get sprayed with poison?”
Former University professor Lisa Arkin, who spoke at the rally, testified Wednesday that the students’ methods for getting attention with the pesticide sprayer were common and effective in anti-pesticide demonstrations.
Eugene police officer Bill Solesbee arrived at the demonstration, responding to a call from Department of Homeland Security Agent Tom Keedy, who was monitoring the rally.
Solesbee testified that his drive from City Hall to Kesey Square, where the rally occurred, took him seven to 15 minutes, which police and cell phone records prove impossible.
Fine argued that the state’s case crumbles on the point of time because police cell phone and Taser deployment records show that about four minutes passed between Solesbee’s response and the tasings.
Van Ornum said in court he was “doing squares” around the intersection of Broadway and Willamette, walking from one corner to the next while spraying water from the sprayer at flower pots, when Solesbee stopped his vehicle in the intersection, partially blocking traffic to talk to Van Ornum.
Collective testimonies said that shortly after their brief interaction, Solesbee arrived on foot with two bicycle cops. Officer Tim Haywood assisted Solesbee in escorting Van Ornum across the street, while Officer Judd Warden tried to keep the crowd at bay.
Warden tasered Van Ornum twice after the other officers pushed Van Ornum to the ground and attempted to handcuff him.
Warden testified that the tasings were necessary to incapacitate a non-compliant Van Ornum. Taser camera video played in court Wednesday showed that before the second Taser fire, Van Ornum was already handcuffed, which Warden previously denied.
Jurors found Van Ornum guilty despite the testimony of several defense witnesses, who testified that the arrest and tasing were unprovoked, unjust police brutality.
Van Ornum took the stand Thursday morning and testified that he was not guilty of blocking traffic during the rally, the offense for which police arrested him.
The Minneapolis teen moved to Eugene in September 2007 to start school at the University.
While on campus, he formed the group Crazy People for Wild Places with now-University junior Carly Barnicle. The group organized the rally, where Van Ornum was arrested.
Van Ornum told his account of the Taser shootings in court Thursday, which he summed up as “very painful.”
“It affected the entire body,” he said. “Every muscle was spazzing out of control; the heart was beating to the point (where) I thought it was going to explode or just stop.”
Fine argued that her client did not commit the charged crimes, but instead acted in the only way he could after police used excessive force to arrest him before finally tasing him.
“I did not resist; I reacted,” Van Ornum said on the stand.
During the arrest, with a grip on Van Ornum’s hair, Solesbee pulled his head toward the ground as Haywood pushed Van Ornum from behind.
Van Ornum said it was physically difficult for him to “get on the ground,” as one officer was instructing him.
“I was worried about not smacking my face on the ground. That was the issue at hand for me,” he said.
During the prosecution’s cross-examination of the defendant, Lane took issue with Van Ornum’s plea of non-resistance, and asked why it was so difficult for two strong police officers to handcuff a compliant teenager.
“Maybe it would be self-defense,” Van Ornum said, adding that he was reacting to “disproportionate violence.”
Jurors viewed the in-car police video Thursday, which showed Van Ornum’s conversation with Solesbee after his arrest.
“I totally agree with you; I was definitely holding up traffic to some extent,” Van Ornum told Solesbee, as captured by the in-car police camera.
In court Van Ornum clarified that he was holding up traffic to the extent that any pedestrian crossing the street would.
Van Ornum, exiting the courtroom after the verdict was read, said he would likely appeal the decision.
Judge Jack Billings will preside over Van Ornum’s sentencing hearing on Friday, April 24 at 11 a.m.
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