A district judge on Thursday held for court three charges and dismissed two charges against a 36-year-old Wilkinsburg woman whose arrest outside a North Versailles movie theater in February was captured in a viral video that sparked outrage.
District Judge Roxanne S. Eichler ordered Melanie V. Carter to stand trial on charges of defiant trespass, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The judge dismissed a failure to disperse and second disorderly conduct charge during a preliminary hearing.
Standing in the bright afternoon sun with a crowd of supporters after the nearly two-hour hearing, Ms. Carter said she was glad two charges were dismissed and said she thought her attorney, Brete Grote, put up a solid defense.
"This is the epitome of what happens in American society," she said. "This is typical. At least we got some of them dropped. We are going to continue this fight."
Mr. Grote said the charges were "fabricated and racially motivated."
During the hearing, he argued that Ms. Carter’s actions in the North Versailles Stadium 18 Theater on Lincoln Highway on Feb. 24 did not constitute criminal behavior.
Ms. Carter confronted North Versailles police Officer Christopher Kelly as the officer escorted a group of young girls from the theater because of what he described as disruptive behavior. The girls, he testified Thursday, were fighting with each other, shouting and running around.
Ms. Carter, who did not know the girls, thought the officer was removing them without cause and asked him to explain why he was taking them out. He told her not to interfere.
A friend of Ms. Carter’s then pushed her away from the officer toward the movie theater’s exit, and Ms. Carter left the theater. The confrontation continued outside a short time later when Officer Kelly followed Ms. Carter outside. She began filming as she stood on the sidewalk.
In the 91-second video, Ms. Carter is seen arguing with Officer Kelly and a manager at the theater. She says that the manager called them animals, and the manager, Jason Bauer, steps up to the camera and says, “Yeah, because you’re behaving like an animal.”
Officer Kelly tells Ms. Carter to leave. She refuses, saying she paid money to be there like everyone else. Officer Kelly then pulls out his handcuffs and approaches Ms. Carter, who backs away.
“You have to leave,” he says. “This is defiant trespassing.”
In the video, which has been viewed 2.4 million times, it appears that some sort of physical contact ensues and Ms. Carter is pushed to the ground.
“Get off of me,” Ms. Carter yells in the video. “Get off of me!”
Officer Kelly testified that he grabbed Ms. Carter’s jacket and then her arm, and said she then backed away from him as he tried to arrest her. They ended up on the ground — he didn’t say how — and Ms. Carter flailed her arms and rolled away from him, he said.
Officer Kelly’s finger became stuck between Ms. Carter’s wrist and the handcuff, he testified, which tore tendons in his finger and hand, later requiring surgery.
Assistant District Attorney Lawrence E. Sachs argued that Officer Kelly acted lawfully when he arrested Ms. Carter.
“The theater has an absolute right to determine who can and can’t be on the premises,” he said.
But Mr. Grote countered that Ms. Carter was exercising her constitutional right to free speech and said the officer escalated the situation by following her outside after she’d left the theater.
“Ms. Carter’s conduct was not criminal,” he said. “In fact, it was commendable.”
About 30 protesters gathered at the courtroom in support of Ms. Carter. They held signs and at times chanted, "No justice, no peace, no racist police."
Fawn Walker-Montgomery, 38, a former McKeesport councilwoman and candidate for state representative, said she showed up to protest because she believes what happened to Ms. Carter was wrong.
“She was arrested and assaulted for no reason whatsoever,” she said. “We want to support Melanie because she wasn't doing anything wrong.”
Shelly Bradbury: sbradbury@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1999 or on Twitter @ShellyBradbury.
First Published: May 24, 2018, 3:40 p.m.
Updated: May 24, 2018, 6:20 p.m.
