VID Members, Activists Protest DA's Handling of Meyers Case

BY KAREN ABRAMS

A group of Lower East Side activists along with several members of the Village Independent

Democrats (VID), met Monday morning to protest the Manhattan District Attorney's handling of a case against Joel Meyers, accused of making harassing phone calls to two members of the rival Village Reform Democratic Club and threatening to bomb one of their meetings.

The group of seven who met in front of 100 Centre St. March 12, accused DA Robert Morgenthau of having a "political motivation" for not dismissing the case against Meyers. Bruce Feffer, Meyers attorney, says "in the face of all evidence" supporting his client, charges have not been dropped.

Feffer says Morgenthau was supported in his re-election campaign by Tim James, VRDC president, and Liz Shollenberger, a Village Democratic Party district leader, who both accused Meyers of making the threatening phone calls. James and Shollenberger have submitted answering machine tapes to the court on which they say Meyer's voice was recorded. Meyers spent two days in jail in November as a result of the accusations.

Accusing the DA of "political prosecution," Feffer adds that Morgenthau's actions - by not dropping the charges - may be "much more ominous than simple politics." He says the continued prosecution of Meyers may represent "an actual campaign to inhibit the free expression of political activists," not only in the Village, but city-wide. Meyers is a vocal member of the Tompkins Square Park Task Force and has been an executive board member of VID.

Feffer says the DA's office first told him they "would consider dropping the charges" against Meyers once a "voice print" of the answering machine tapes had been performed. One expert produced by Feffer performed such a test, proving "with 100 percent certainty that the voice on the tape is not Meyers," he says.

First the DA's office said they wanted to perform its own test, and would contact Meyers - who "voluntarily" agreed to undergo the voice print. The DA has still not done his own study, indicating he "has no interest in bringing this case to justice," says Feffer. Now the DA's office says the answering machine tapes may not be "testable," Feffer adds.

The next court date in the Meyers case is March 19. At that time Feffer says he will ask for a trial by jury for his client. This will probably mean a delay of another two weeks, he adds.

The Villager
March 1990