Charges dropped against final defendant in Seattle May Day riots

Charges have been dropped against a May Day protestor who was accused of punching a police officer, the King County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.

Maria J. Morales, 30, had been charged with fourth-degree assault in an incident involving a Seattle Police bicycle officer near First Avenue and Pike Street on May 1.

According to initial court documents, Morales punched the female officer in the chest and called her a “bitch” after being told to move back.

However, new amateur video that surfaced on YouTube calls the incident into question.

“We no longer felt we could prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Dan Donohoe with the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

Aaron Pelley, the defense attorney for Morales, said while the video does not prove his client’s innocence, it provides reasonable doubt that he believes would have cleared her at trial.

“But to be clear, my client had always taken the position that she had never done that,” he said. “She had actually turned a bike handle in order for her to pass. Although the officer may have felt contact from her it was so that she could pass.”

Of the four people charged in King County with crimes related the May Day riots, Morales is the second person to have her charges dropped due to video evidence. Charges of third-degree assault against Joshua A. Garland, 28, were dropped on May 15 after a YouTube video failed to show him grab and twist an officer’s arm as police alleged.

The other two defendants, Paul W. Campiche and Robert Ditrani, both 23, have pleaded guilty.

Ditrani was convicted of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, and given a 90-day suspended sentence and 12 months probation.

Campiche was convicted of attempted assault on a police officer and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5.