SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Lawyers gave opening statements Wednesday in the trial of 10 Muslim students charged with disrupting an Israeli diplomat's speech in California.
The 10 are charged with two misdemeanors, conspiracy to disturb a meeting and disturbing a meeting, for heckling Ambassador Michael Oren during a 2010 speech at the University of California at Irvine, The Orange County Register reported. Seven of the defendants are Irvine students and the other three from UC Riverside.
Assistant District Attorney Dan Wagner said the shouting and heckling was so disruptive Oren was able to deliver almost none of his speech in the first half hour. There was no time at the end for questions.
"You'll find the defendants conspired to exercise the heckler's veto," Wagner told jurors.
Lawyers for the students suggested they were exercising their own free speech rights. They acknowledged their actions were planned ahead of time.
"This case is about time," Daniel Mayfield said. "Time involved in planning a peaceful, non-violent protest, time it took to stand up and shout a few words, time it took the ambassador to complete his speech."
