On Jan. 30, a federal court jury ruled that the city of Seattle had violated the Fourth Amendment rights of nearly 200 protestors during the WTO riots in 1999, but that the city had not violated protestors’ right to free speech.

The mixed verdict came after three days of deliberation over a class action case that has been eight years in the making.

The contention of the plaintiffs was that Seattle Police had arrested them in order to muzzle anti-WTO sentiments and that this First Amendment violation was part of official city policy.

The second contention was that police made arrests without probable cause.

The city maintained people were arrested on the grounds of their violation of a mayoral order to make certain areas of downtown off-limits, an emergency curfew that then-Mayor Paul Schell implemented after the city erupted into chaos Nov. 30, 1999, the first day of the protests.

A federal jury has already ruled that this curfew was legal.

Former police chief Norm Stamper testified for the city.

“We made the arrests based on violation of the order, not people’s beliefs about the WTO,” according to a statement from Stamper.

On Jan. 30, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that police did indeed lack probable cause for the mass arrests made Dec. 1, 1999, but that these arrests were not based on an official city policy to target and silence those with anti-WTO views.

The city of Seattle is contesting the ruling and asking that Pechman vacate the verdict on the grounds of “confusion on the part of the jury.”

The city’s lawyers argue that the free speech and probable cause issues are necessarily intertwined, and the jury cannot logically rule for one and not the other.

“The jurors clearly came back with a verdict that the city of Seattle did not arrest people because of what they were saying,” Heather Carr, an attorney for the city, told The Seattle Times.

She and the city’s other lawyers are arguing if police did not make improper arrests, then the probable cause violation should be thrown out as well.

“We think it’s pretty clear that because the plaintiffs couldn’t prove viewpoint discrimination, the city cannot be held liable for false arrest,” Ted Buck, an attorney for the city, told The Times.

The amount of damages the city must pay will be decided at a subsequent part of the trial, and may be subject to the pending appeal by the city.

Seattle has already paid $800,000 in settlements in related suits.

One of the plaintiffs in the suit was Denise Cooper, who was arrested Dec. 1, 1999, while protesting in Westlake Park.

Cooper was a UW student during the WTO debacle, and was demonstrating with other students at the time of her arrest.

“I was with a collective of people of color that were concerned that, because this is Seattle, the issues affecting people of color were not going to be addressed and that our voices were not going to be heard,” said Cooper. “We went down for the first day –— November 30 — and then went back down on the next day.”

It was on this day that Cooper was arrested.

“It seemed to me like the police started crowding people into Westlake Park and then started arresting everybody,” Cooper said.

Cooper and others were then loaded onto a Metro bus and taken to a holding facility Sand Point Way.

She was later transferred to the jail in the King County Courthouse, where she was held until Dec. 5.

Like the rest of the plaintiffs, Cooper maintains she was arrested as part of an attempt by the city and the police to squelch anti-WTO demonstrations.

“It’s not just that they didn’t want protestors to be downtown,” said Cooper. “It’s that they didn’t want people protesting the WTO.”

Cooper further charges that police failed to clearly articulate the grounds on which they were making these arrests.

“Police never made a clear indication whether we were supposed to be downtown or not,” she said.

Despite the mixed ruling, Cooper said she is pleased with the outcome of the trial. Cooper also said she is glad that she could have a role in this case.

“This trial reminded me how amazing that day was,” she said. “We haven’t seen the 1960s and ‘70s again in this city. We need to practice democracy in action, beyond what the politicians and the mouthpieces say. That’s what this was about.”

Reach reporter Siv Prince at news@thedaily.washington.edu.