West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline in Boston Criminal Trial Downgraded

WEST ROXBURY, MA — The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office dropped plans to prosecute the remaining Resist the Pipeline defendants, downgrading all criminal charges to civil infractions and moving the cases out of its jurisdiction a week before the trial was scheduled to take place.

In 2015 a fracked gas pipeline was being built beneath Centre, Grove and Washington Streets in West Roxbury and those who were against it came from all over the Boston area with signs and with loud speakers protesting the move, siting sit-ins and petitioning against the pipeline construction. More than 200 people were arrested and 13 were set to go to trial Tuesday.

The defendants, who had blocked construction of Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline in Boston, will still appear in court Tuesday, but only for a brief proceeding similar to a traffic ticket hearing, the Climate Defense Project said in a press release.

The defendants told the prosecutors they had a strong roster of expert witnesses, including climate scientist and former NASA head James Hansen and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, and shortly after came the news not to prosecute, according to the release.

The witness list had hinted at the defendants’ plans to present a "necessity defense" at trial.

The District Attorney’s decision also follows Judge Mary Ann Driscoll’s request, in a prior stage of the case, for a safety plan that Spectra was unable to produce. The company had initially claimed to have such a plan but later admitted that there was none.

"While validating the strength of the defendants’ legal arguments, the District Attorney’s abandonment of the cases denies the defendants their day in court," the Climate Defense Project, which was part of the legal team for the cases, said.

More than 150 people were reportedly arrested during the Resist the Pipeline campaign in West Roxbury, but none of them went to trial.

The Climate Disobedience Center's Marla Marcum said the group had hoped the 13 protesters would go to trial so they could present their climate case in court.

Still, the group is inviting activists to join them at their civil trial Tuesday at the West Roxbury District Courthouse.

The pipeline runs through Dedham and Westwood, is part of a larger project that extends all the way to New Jersey. The 5-mile-long section built by Texas-based Spectra Energy Corp., went into operation on Dec. 1, 2016, despite more than 200 protester arrests, two federal lawsuits filed by the cities of Boston and Dedham, and vocal opposition from city officials including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

Previously on Patch:

UPDATE: 15 Protestors Arrested at West Roxbury Pipeline Site

3 Protestors Arrested at West Roxbury Pipeline Site

West Roxbury Pipeline Protestors Arrested

West Roxbury Pipeline Protester Injured at Standing Rock

Photos via Youtube Screen grabs.