Reverend Billy Vs. UBS Bank
What Are Reverend Billy and 35 Singers Doing in the UBS Lobby?
Answer No. 1: According to UBS, (somehow) trespassing in a public lobby.
Answer No. 2: Bringing public attention to the harms caused by UBS' financing of deadly mining practices in Appalachia.
On June 1, 2011, Judge ShawnDya L. Simpson of the New York County Criminal Court handed down her ruling that Defendant William Talen, known to some as “Reverend Billy” – could not introduce evidence in support of the Necessity Defense proposed by his attorney Wylie Stecklow in his upcoming trial for third degree criminal trespass. Mr. Stecklow has since filed a motion, now pending, seeking the Court’s reconsideration of this decision, arguing that the Court overlooked critical evidence underscoring the necessity of Talen’s actions and case law showing that Talen should be able to introduce evidence of necessity to the jury.
On November 25, known as “Black Friday,” Reverend Billy, with his 35-voice “Church of Earthalujah Gospel Choir” presented a gospel concert in the public lobby of the office building housing the headquarters of the United Bank of Switzerland on 6th Ave in midtown New York. The OBIE award-winning theatre company, under the direction of Savitri D., wore white robes and wore large angelic wings harnessed to their shoulders. In her words, the troupe “copied the freak storms” caused by UBS’ financing of CO-2 emitting industries.
The Earthalujah choir sang their gospel song “Big Banking” before exiting the large lobby. The song accuses the bank of financing Mountaintop Removal (MTR), a controversial coal mining practice, as well as other fossil fuel mining methods such as “tar sands” - which create greenhouse gasses and accelerate climate change. UBS’ critical involvement in financing these dangerous mining methods is well documented by NGO’s such as the Rainforest Action Network, whose 2010 “MTR Report Card” ranked UBS’ investments in MTR as among the most environmentally irresponsible today.
NYPD arrested Talen about a block away from the UBS headquarters, across from Radio City Musical Hall, acting on the complaint brought by UBS security. Following his arrest, Talen was held overnight and charged with third degree criminal trespass, which forbids unauthorized presence in an area that is fenced off or otherwise enclosed to exclude, after a preaching and singing performance in the public lobby of the office building housing the headquarters of the United Bank of Switzerland on 6th Ave in midtown New York.
Arguing for the necessity defense, Stecklow introduced evidence including a peer-reviewed scientific journal article showing that 1) MTR is a present and continuing danger to the environment and to public health, especially causing birth defects, cancers and asthma epidemics among children in Appalachia, and that 2) legislative and administrative oversight of MTR is ineffective in reducing these harms. Mr. Stecklow argued that under applicable precedent, the necessity defense should be available in this case of civil disobedience, particularly because the comic/spiritual approach of the Earthalujah Church activists has proved successful in the past.
The defense also produced an affidavit submitted by one of the negotiators who worked with financier JP Morgan Chase to end that bank’s financing of environmentally destructive MTR coal-mining practices. In the affidavit, the negotiator notes that Talen’s bank lobby church services in Chase Bank branches throughout 2009 played a critical role in inducing JP Morgan Chase to distance itself from the financing of MTR. The affidavit states in no uncertain terms that the local lobby songs, prayers and creative rituals were influential in Chase’s reduction of its loans to Massey Energy and other coal companies active in MTR.
UPDATE- on Ocotber 20, 2011 a Not Guilty verdict was delivered and Reverend Billy was acquitted
THE SUMMATION DELIVERED AT TRIAL OCTOBER 20, 2011 by attorneys
Wylie Stecklow and Samuel Cohen
Thank you your honor and may it please the court.
My client, William Talen, the Reverend Billy Talen, stands accused of one crime: criminal trespass in the third degree under PL 140.10(a), which proscribes knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in a building or upon real property which is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders.
The prosecution has shown us a great deal of video and have evinced a great deal of testimony in seeking Mr. Talen’s conviction, and they have proven:
· That there are no less than ten entrances to 1285 avenue of the Americas that were open to the public on November 26, 2010 when Mr. Talen is alleged to have criminally trespassed there;
· That there are no signs present at 1285 forbidding members of the public from entering 1285;
· That there are no gates fences or other enclosures surrounding 1285 in a manner designed to exclude intruders; and
· That no police officer witnessed the conduct complained-of herein;
The Defense, in turn, has shown that a normal member of the public was free to enter and remain in the lobby of 1285, even if that individual may have violated one of 1285’s non-posted rules. It is fairly clear at this point that it is not unlawful for members of the public to enter the lobby of 1285, and that the only area of that lobby that is enclosed to exclude intruders is the elevator bank, where no one is claiming that Mr. Talen was.
The prosecution has failed to prove a critical element of their case: specifically, that 1285 Avenue of the Americas was fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders. Indeed, the prosecution has effectively proved that 1285 Avenue of the Americas was NOT fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders. “Fenced or otherwise enclosed” is a critical element of PL 140.10(a), as the Court of Appeals set forth in People v. Moore, (5 N.Y. 3d 725) (2005), and the prosecution’s case fails as a matter of law because of the prosecution’s failure to prove this critical element.
Additionally, the prosecution has failed to show that my client knowingly remained unlawfully at 1285. The prosecution’s witness Mr. Wells, who was the only prosecution witness who was even present at the time of the incident from which this prosecution arose, had no recollection of any specific interaction with Mr. Talen, let alone of telling Mr. Talen that he was trespassing and needed to leave. There was no testimony of an announcement that was loud enough for anyone in the lobby to hear. Instead, Mr. Wells testified that he and others told other individuals that they should leave. That is simply not sufficient to impute knowledge or intent to Mr. Talen.
The prosecution has charged Mr. Talen with one crime, and they have failed to prove multiple elements of that crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense respectfully submits that Mr. Talen should be acquitted as such.