/CONTRIBUTED IMAGE CHP Officer Darren Meyer, left, arrests Hemet Calvary Chapel elder Mark Mackey on Feb. 2 after Mackey and other church members preached outside the Hemet DMV office, in this photo taken from a YouTube video posted by the church’s attorneys.
BY JOHN ASBURY
BY JOHN ASBURY The Press Enterprise STAFF WRITER
jasbury@pe.com
Published: 05 January 2012 06:00 PM
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RelatedWEBLINK PE: Church: Arrests violated First Amendment (May 5, 2011)
Two Hemet church leaders are set to appear in court today on charges related to a Bible-reading demonstration outside the Hemet Department of Motor Vehicles office.
Brett Anthony Coronado and Mark A. Mackey each face one misdemeanor count of conducting a demonstration on state grounds without a permit.
Charges were filed in September stemming from a February confrontation between the Hemet Calvary Chapel leaders and a California Highway Patrol officer outside the DMV.
Coronado and Mackey are scheduled to enter pleas this morning in a French Valley courtroom. The arraignment follows a months-long effort by their attorneys to fight the charges.
The attorneys, from the prominent Murrieta-based firm Advocates for Faith and Freedom, claim the arrests violated Coronado’s and Mackey’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Defense attorneys could not be reached for comment Thursday.
CHP officers were called to the Hemet DMV on South State Street shortly after 8 a.m. Feb. 2, about an hour before the DMV opened, where about 60 people were standing in line.
Authorities said the church did not have a right to demonstrate on state property without a permit.
Court records say a group refused to leave when approached by DMV security, and that people were reading Bible verses “with the express intent of intimidating the many customers standing in line,” according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant.
“This aggressive demeanor was disruptive to the business of the Hemet DMV, including the patrons standing in line attempting to listen to the instructions …” the declaration states.
Coronado and Mackey filed a lawsuit in April against the CHP and the arresting officer, Darren Meyer. Their attorneys posted a YouTube video of the incident that shows the church members preaching, then being handcuffed and taken away in a patrol car.
A gag order has been filed to prevent the release of any further videos or information in the case.
A federal court dismissed the first complaint applying to the First Amendment and the case against the CHP was dropped. Part of the lawsuit is still pending against Meyer, but has been placed on hold pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
Defense attorneys in the criminal case filed a 30-page motion in preparation for today’s arraignment, calling the charges “unconstitutional, vague and overbroad.” The motion admits Coronado and Mackey were on state grounds without permit, but said the Bible reading did not amount to a demonstration.
“At no time did Mr. Mackey’s reading from the Bible … create any disturbance or other disruption on the premises,” the motion states.
If convicted, Mackey and Coronado could face probation or up to a year in Riverside County jail.
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