The anti-fracking activist ticketed for projecting a skull and crossbones onto the wall of the courthouse on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall pleaded not guilty in municipal court on Monday.
If neither the judge nor Boulder’s city attorney dismisses David Paul’s case, it will go to a jury trial in February. Prosecutors are planning to file a response by Friday to a defense motion to dismiss.
Paul, 54, was cited by Boulder police on the night of Nov. 7 for trespassing after Boulder County Attorney Ben Pearlman said the beam of light of the image and the words “Ban Fracking!” violated city ordinance.
Paul, who has retained David Lane and Andrew McNulty of Denver law firm Killmer, Lane & Newman LLP, is seeking to dismiss the case, which was amended to unlawfully posting signs on the property of another.
“Boulder is known as being this idyllic place where liberals’ rights are protected and free speech was born during the 70s,” McNulty said at a press conference outside the Boulder County Justice Center on Monday.