A Superior Court judge who refused to dismiss a case against two Asheville reporters convicted of trespassing based his decision on the First Amendment — not as protection for the journalists, but as grounds for him to uphold their conviction.
In a ruling issued June 22 obtained by Newsline, Superior Court Judge Tommy Davis wrote that had he dismissed charges against the journalists, who were arrested while covering police activity in a public park in 2021, they would have received First Amendment protections that others caught up in the sweep did not enjoy.
Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit, two reporters for the self-described leftist news publication The Asheville Blade, were charged with misdemeanor trespassing in 2021 for reporting on police clearing protestors and and at least one houseless person from Aston Park on Christmas night. The park had closed for the evening, and police repeatedly told those in attendance to disperse before starting to arrest people.
