WOODLAND — Davis’ controversial “Picnic Day 5” court case came to a close Thursday when the last remaining defendant made the same plea agreement that four others entered into last week.
Like his co-defendants, 21-year-old Antwoine Perry of Elk Grove pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery and a felony charge of resisting a peace officer with threats, force or violence, in connection with the April 22 brawl between Picnic Day revelers and three plain-clothed police officers on Russell Boulevard.
Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg sentenced Perry to a year of informal probation for the battery count and deferred entry of judgment for the felony — meaning, if Perry successfully completes his probation by obeying all laws and participating in a restorative justice process, that charge will be dismissed.
The four others charged in the case — Alexander Craver, Iszir Price, Angelica Reyes and Elijah Williams — made identical plea deals on Aug. 30 during what was to have been the fourth day of their preliminary hearing to determine whether prosecutors had sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
A day earlier, Davis Police Detective Joshua Helton testified regarding his interview with Perry following his arrest. During that conversation, Perry reportedly acknowledged that he may have precipitated the brawl by swearing and trying to “get big” when the officers’ van, its horn blaring, pulled up to the crowd that was partially blocking a traffic lane.
However, Perry and the others maintained they did not know the van’s occupants were police officers, learning so only after the fight was underway. Two officers, who say the crowd members assaulted them first, sustained head injuries in the melee.
“Lesson learned all around, Mr. Perry — I urge you not to ‘get big’ again,” Rosenberg said Thursday after handing down Perry’s sentence.
Earlier, prosecutor Ryan Couzens had urged Rosenberg to accept the plea deal, citing Perry’s youth, lack of a criminal history and willingness to take early responsibility for his conduct.
“He’s a really nice kid — no record whatsoever,” said Perry’s lawyer, Bob Spangler, who received the case just last week after Perry released his prior attorney. “I have no worries about him completing (probation).”
Couzens said his office is working on the format for the restorative justice aspect of the plea deal. The goal of that process is for the five defendants to meet with the officers to discuss the incident and the harms caused to all involved.
“We’re trying to find something logistically that everyone wants to participate in,” Couzens said. “The goal isn’t to follow a particular format. The goal is to find a way that best accomplishes the mission of restorative justice.”
All five co-defendants, who avoided jail time in exchange for their pleas, are due back in court on Sept. 4, 2018, for a review of their probation status.
The case captured widespread attention and spurred the creation of a citizen activist group, Justice for the Picnic Day 5, whose members regularly spoke at City Council meetings and collected signatures urging Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig to drop the charges, alleging that the officers engaged in police brutality and racial profiling.
All five defendants in the case are African-American or Latino.
With the court case over, the group’s organizers say they’ll now shift their focus to the involved officers, whose actions are the subject of an internal investigation ordered by Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel.
“We believe that it is unjust and wrong that while overall outcome of the court process argued that wrongdoing was done ‘on both sides,’ the Picnic Day 5 have been forced to admit wrongdoing and adhere to a strict probation process while the Police Department has not had to formally acknowledge any wrongdoing on their part, nor face any repercussions for their instigation of this violence,” organizers wrote on the group’s Facebook page.
Former U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott is leading the internal probe, which Pytel has said will “determine whether there was any misconduct and whether any changes to departmental policy and/or training are warranted.”
The investigation, which began in late June, is expected to take at least several more weeks.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene