CHICAGO - A video that could exonerate prolife activist Eric Scheidler from criminal trespassing charges at Chicago's Navy Pier earlier this year is being withheld, and Scheidler's legal counsel is pushing for its release.
Thomas More Society has filed a Petition for Rule to Show Cause, a step that could lead to contempt of court charges being entered against Navy Pier.
"This Petition asks the Cook County Circuit Court to order John Graeber, Navy Pier's Director of Safety and Security, to explain why Navy Pier has failed to produce critical documents in response to a valid subpoena served by the Society," a press release from Thomas More Society says. "These subpoenaed documents are expected to provide crucial evidence supporting the Society's defense of pro-lifer Eric Scheidler who is facing controversial criminal trespass charges in the wake of his arrest on Navy Pier over two months ago."
The video will show that Scheidler did not trespass, and was given permission by a Navy Pier security guard to walk onto the Pier, Thomas More Society Associate Counsel Corrina Konczal said.
On April 15, 2015, Scheidler, Executive Director of the Pro-Life Action League, organized a pro-life protest against Planned Parenthood, which was hosting a fundraising dinner at the ballroom at the far end of Navy Pier. The pro-life picketers, bearing protest signs, were positioned on public property, near the entry way to the Pier.
At one point during the evening, Scheidler walked onto the Pier without any picket sign or other protest insignia and was immediately confronted by a Navy Pier security guard. After talking to Mr. Scheidler and calling his superior officer, Thomas More Society says the guard told Scheidler that it was okay to walk down the Pier as long as he went alone and did not hold any protest signs.
"Mr. Scheidler even put his pro-life hat in his pocket so he could not be accused of protesting while on Pier property," Thomas More Society argues. "Yet, despite his obeying the security guard's directions, Mr. Scheidler was later arrested by Chicago police as he was about to exit the Pier property and was charged with trespassing. The charge goes so far as to claim - falsely - that Mr. Scheidler was explicitly told by Sophia Hardy, the Pier's complaining witness, that his 'entry was forbidden,' in utter defiance of the truth."
Thomas More Society's attorneys immediately sent a letter to Navy Pier admonishing Pier personnel not to destroy any video evidence from that day. The Society's attorneys then filed a subpoena demanding that Navy Pier produce video footage of Mr. Scheidler's interactions with the security guards, as well as any personnel logs that could help determine the name of the security guard who granted Mr. Scheidler permission to enter the Pier. This information is key to Mr. Scheidler's defense, as it would prove that Eric was given explicit permission to enter the property, thereby negating the trespass charge.
Navy Pier was due to comply with the subpoena by June 15, 2015, but did not do so. As a result, the Society's attorneys have filed and served a Petition for Rule to Show Cause asking the Court to order John Graeber, Navy Pier Director of Safety and Security, to appear before the Court on July 1, 2015, and explain why Navy Pier has failed to produce these key documents, or to be held in contempt of court.
