By ROBERT SEARS
The Patriot Ledger
QUINCY - Jury selection has begun in the trial of four Asian-Americans whose arrest last year on relatively minor charges brought protests of police misconduct.
Karen Chen, 27, of Boston, Quan Manh Thin, 28, and Tat M. Yuen, 28, both of Quincy, are charged with being disorderly and resisting arrest. Howard Ng, 27, of Somerville, is charged with disorderly conduct.
They were arrested early in the morning of April 30, 2006. Jury selection began yesterday, and the trial is expected to take around three days.
The Chinese Progressive Association of Boston, where Chen worked as a community organizer, began mobilizing support for the defendants and soon after the arrests more than 100 people picketed outside City Hall in support of the four, who said they were wrongfully arrested and that police had used excessive force.
About 30 supporters of the defendants packed the small courtroom for yesterday’s session.
Mayor William Phelan met with some of the protesters and said the FBI had been asked to determine whether there was any misconduct by officers.
An FBI spokeswoman has said the investigation went nowhere because activists never pushed the matter.
Police said Thin tried to fight with State Trooper Chuck McGrail, who had stopped to check on what appeared to be an empty car with its lights on and engine running in front of the Super 88 Asian market on Hancock Street.
Officer says he used spray to control chaotic situation
By ROBERT SEARS
The Patriot Ledger
QUINCY - The city police officer who used pepper spray in the controversial arrest of four Asian people last year took the stand in court yesterday to give his version of what happened.
Officer Robert Curtis described a chaotic situation, saying he used pepper spray fearing he would be attacked.
Supporters of the defendants demonstrated at City Hall to protest the arrests and use of pepper spray.
Karen Chen, 27, of Boston; Quan Manh Thin, 28, and Tat M. Yuen, 28, both of Quincy, are charged with being disorderly and resisting arrest. Howard Ng, 27, of Somerville, is charged with disorderly conduct.
Testimony in their trial began Tuesday in Quincy District Court.
Curtis was patrolling the city’s Wollaston section at about 1 a.m. on April 30, 2006, when he came upon State Trooper Charles McGrail, who had stopped to check on a car near the Super 88 Asian market at 738 Hancock St.
The car was about two feet from the curb with its lights on. Thin was sitting in the passenger seat with the door open and vomiting, McGrail testified.
McGrail said Thin became confrontational almost immediately.
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