Indians Face Noise Charges In Continuing Cape Cod Trial

Only defense rebuttal and closing statements remain in the trial on Cape Cod of six Mashpee Wampanoag Indians charged with assault and battery of police officers, disorderly conduct, and violation of an anti-noise law.

During last Saturday's litigation, Barnstable District Court Judge Dennis Collari, who has conducted the case since January, set the final court date for April 30.

A defense witness testified Saturday that a group of mostly Indian men were participating in a religious ceremony on public land which they had permission to use when a noise complaint from a nearby resident prompted police to arrest 11 men last July 29.

Charges against four men were eventually dropped, while a fifth, a non-Indian, pleaded no contest and was released on payment of a $25 fine.

Defense and prosecution witnesses testified Saturday that state troopers and 20 officers from five area neighborhoods, equipped with dogs, riot helmets, sticks and mace, were dispatched to the site following the complaint.

All of the defendants testified Saturday that on the arrival of the squad cars they were asleep, or talking quietly around their campfire.

The original noise complaint was challenged Saturday when the closest resident to the 12-acre site testified that she had been at home but had not heard any noise on the night in question.

Following defendants' and defense witnesses' testimonies Saturday, the state's prosecuting attorney Alan Green called four Mashpee residents as rebuttal witnesses. They testified that they were bothered late on the evening of July 28 by "a warring sound, yelping, and drumming and screaming."