The 15-year-old accused of ruining $1,000 worth of meat by putting flowers on it during a protest at Ideal Market will not face felony charges after the Boulder District Attorney decided to only file a misdemeanor charge in the case.
Ateret Goldman, 15, was originally arrested on suspicion of felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor tampering. But after reviewing the case, Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett said that his office decided to only file the misdemeanor tampering charge.
“The police have to make a quick decision for an arrest charge that is often different from the filed charges that are decided once my office has a chance to review everything,” Garnett said.
Garnett said in this case, criminal mischief required Goldman to knowingly ruin the meat, and prosecutors felt that Goldman may not have known that putting the carnations on the meat would make it unfit for sale.
“That charge required knowing that putting the flowers on the meat would destroy it,” Garnett said. “We concluded that element could not be proven based on evidence.”
Goldman made her first court appearance Friday morning to be advised of her rights and receive a copy of the charge. Boulder District Judge Thomas Mulvahill appointed Alec Egizi with the public defender’s office to Goldman’s case, and scheduled her for a status conference on April 3.
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