WAL-MART, JOHNSON IN COURT OVER ARREST

Mendocino Country Environmentalist publisher Richard Johnson faced off with
Wal-Mart employees in small claims court on Wednesday.

Johnson has sued the store and one of its managers for arresting him last
year on trespass charges while he was gathering signatures for a Green
Party ballot measure to decriminalize personal marijuana use in the county.

He claims the store violated his right to petition by arresting him.

Store officials claim they only wanted Johnson to comply with their rules
for petitioners, which includes staying within a small, marked area to one
side of the store.

Johnson said the store's requirements are too restrictive and contrary to
court cases governing the issue.

Johnson initially was seeking $50,000 each from the retail giant and
assistant store manager Richard Tellstrom, who made a citizens arrest.
However, small claims courts only allow a maximum of $5,000.

They also don't allow attorneys to participate in arguments.

Johnson said he took the claim to small claims court because he can't
afford an attorney.

In his opening statement, Johnson told Judge Richard Henderson the case is
"nationally important."

He said places like Wal-Mart have become the equivalent of town squares for
purposes of collecting signatures to petition the government, as he was doing.

Johnson cited the landmark Supreme Court case Pruneyard Shopping Center vs.
Robin, which deemed privately-owned shopping centers to be public places,
much like town squares.

While Wal-Mart is not a shopping center, Johnson said giant chain stores
have taken the place of shopping centers in many cases.

Wal-Mart's competitive pricing has driven other stores, and shopping
centers, out of business, Johnson said.

As a result the opportunity to petition on private retail property has been
limited, he said.

Johnson acknowledged that stores still have a right to limit speech that
takes place on their properties, but it must be reasonable restrictions.

And "these (Wal-Mart) rules are overly restrictive," Johnson said.

Wal-Mart's rules are "obviously designed to discourage public participation
of any kind," he said.

That includes requiring petitioners to apply for permission at least three
days ahead of time and to stay within a 3-foot by 4-foot spot near the
front of the store.

Johnson also noted Tellstrom reportedly told police the petition for
Measure G was contrary to the store's family values.

Limiting speech because of content generally is illegal.

When Tellstrom took the stand, he testified the statement in the police
report was actually made by a shopper.

Tellstrom told the court he confronted Johnson only after numerous shoppers
complained they were being harassed.

He said Johnson was "very non-cooperative" when he and police tried to come
up with a way to solve their differences.

Tellstrom said Johnson told him to place him under citizen's arrest, which
would result in media coverage.

Wal-Mart cashier Andrea Williams testified one elderly woman asked her to
escort her to her car because she was afraid of Johnson.

After Williams walked the woman to her car, she said she observed Johnson
gather signatures.

She said some people would take the petitions and examine them. But when
people tried to simply go around Johnson, he would "get in their faces."

Under cross-examination from Johnson, she said she'd never seen him before
Feb. 17.

"I don't even know you," she said.

Another Wal-Mart employee who testified, greeter Denver Smith, also said he
hadn't seen Johnson before.

In fact, "I wouldn't recognize you (now) because you did clean up to come
here," he said, perhaps referring to Johnson's shorter-than-usual hair and
clean-shaven face.

Johnson has shaved his beard and cut his hair, but did so months ago.

Smith also called Johnson "aggressive" but said he was able to sidestep him
and go into the store.

But "the customers came in complaining," he said.

Johnson said the fact no one noticed him before supports his claim that he
was not overly aggressive.

He said he'd gathered around 400 signatures at Wal-Mart between December
and February, and, had he been obnoxious, there would have been complaints
and someone would have remembered him.

Johnson said it would be detrimental to his signature gathering efforts -
which have spanned 20 years - to alienate voters.

In his closing statements, Johnson said the record shows he did not
interfere with customers coming and going to the store.

The arrest, he said, "was intended to chill further petition gathering" at
Wal-Mart, he said.

Wal-Mart store manager Don Estes made closing statements for the store.

"We're not a public forum," he said.

There are no movie theaters and people don't go there to congregate, Estes
said, citing qualifications mentioned in the Pruneyard case.

After hearing all the arguments, Henderson took the case under submission
and will later issue a written decision.

Another case related to Johnson's arrest also is pending.

Eight people who were arrested for protesting Johnson's arrest filed a
lawsuit in February.

It differs from Johnson's case because it involves a right to protest
Wal-Mart in particular rather than collect signatures.

Protesters generally are subject to fewer restrictions than signature
gatherers, according to lawyers who specialize in First Amendment issues.

The plaintiffs in that case, who include former Congressman Dan Hamburg,
have hired a Sacramento attorney.

Their lawsuit alleges false arrest, violation of state constitutional
rights and unfair business practices.

They were arrested several days after Johnson when around 20 people showed
up with petitions and protest signs.

Wal-Mart managers placed the ones who would not leave under citizen's arrest.

District Attorney Norm Vroman declined to file charges against them or
Johnson, stating they had a right to petition at the store.

What's often referred to as "the Wal-Mart eight" case does not yet have a
court date.