NYCCM: NYT\Another Convention [Bike] Arrest Is Undercut by a Videotape

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/nyregion/03video.html

Another Convention Arrest Is Undercut by a Videotape
By JIM DWYER
New York Times | 03-May-2005

In the seven months since Eliza Wyka was arrested during the
Republican National Convention, the district attorney's office
has offered three times to declare a kind of judicial ceasefire,
saying it would drop charges against her if she stayed out of
trouble for six months.

More than 1,100 of the 1,800 people arrested during the
convention have agreed to just those terms, formally known as
an "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal."

Ms. Wyka, however, was adamant: she had done nothing wrong,
merely ridden her bicycle on Aug. 29 up Avenue of the Americas
to Herald Square, where she was arrested by police officers who,
she said, were sweeping anyone on two wheels into custody. She
wanted to be unconditionally exonerated. So she kept coming back
to court. Her trial was due to begin this morning.

Last week, however, she had second thoughts.

A native of Poland, Ms. Wyka, 26, came to the United States
around the age of 8 and is a lawful permanent resident, though
not a citizen. Perhaps, she said, she would not be able to
overcome police testimony. She asked her lawyer, Howard R.
Leader, to find out if it was too late to accept the truce.

This would put an end to the court appearances and the charges
that she and another woman had, on their ride, obstructed
government administration, engaged in disorderly conduct and
paraded without a permit. (Ms. Wyka said she never saw or met
the other woman, a city schoolteacher, until they were both in
custody.)

When Mr. Leader called the assistant prosecutor last week,
he learned there would not be a trial today. The reason: a
videotape had turned up, showing that Ms. Wyka had not been
riding with the teacher. Moreover, charges had already been
dropped against the teacher.

Yesterday morning, prosecutors also moved to dismiss the case
against Ms. Wyka, and attached no strings. Barbara Thompson,
a spokeswoman for the Manhatta n district attorney, said, "The
video casts doubt on whether the incident happened the way the
officer said."

For her part, Ms. Wyka said, she will not go to a police
warehouse to retrieve the bicycle seized that day. "It's an
object that has been violated," she said.