Court to rule on KKK protestor By Nika Schulte Daily Staff Reporter Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Donald Shelton is scheduled to announce whether he will drop a felony incitement to riot charge against anti-Ku Klux Klan protester Robin Alvarez for chanting "take down the fence" at the May 9, 1998 KKK rally at the Guy C. Larcom Municipal Building. The charge against Alvarez, a 46-year-old Ann Arbor resident and jewelry artist, carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Defense Attorney Miranda Massie made the motion for a directed verdict yesterday following a full morning of testimony from prosecution witnesses. "The prosecution has failed to make a case," Massie told Shelton after the jury had been excused for the day. "There is absolutely nothing showing (Alvarez) had any intent to riot." The testimony from prosecution witnesses included two Ann Arbor Police Department officers, three AAPD detectives and one Department of Public Safety sergeant. In his testimony AAPD Officer Michael Lencioni, who was assigned to the rally as an undercover officer, said the crowd had pushed and pulled on the fence which the city had erected to separate the Klan and the anti-Klan protesters prior to Alvarez shouting to the crowd, but the "main brunt" of the aggression occurred after her chants. During cross examination, Massie pointed out that Lencioni made no mention of the previous pushing and pulling on the fence in the report he wrote following the rally and cited Alvarez's chant as the impetus for the crowd's actions. Lencioni said it appeared as if there was more "teamwork" among the counterdemonstrators after Alvarez had chanted. Assistant Prosecutor Patricia Peters told Shelton the trial should proceed because a "reasonable jury" would find Alvarez guilty based on the testimony the officers had provided. Although more than 20 protesters were charged for their actions at the rally, Alvarez's case is only the third to go to trial. In September, one protester was convicted on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. Felony charges were dropped that month against eight counterdemonstrators. Last June, a jury acquitted a Huron High School student who had been charged with rioting at the counterdemonstration. In July, Washtenaw County 15th District Judge Ann Mattson dismissed misdemeanor criminal charges against nine counterdemonstrators who allegedly damaged the fence. Shelton said he would have to review Mattson's opinion on that case before deciding whether Alvarez's trial should continue but warned attorneys to be prepared to proceed. Massie said the charges against Alvarez should be dismissed because the word "'riot' doesn't have any relationship to what happened with Alvarez," and claims the police didn't think so either since they failed to intervene during the rally. Originally on page 7A in the 1-5-2000 issue of the Daily.