Jury to be selected for ejected student’s trial

Jury selection for the trial of an Orange Coast College student arrested during a January 2006 Costa Mesa City Council meeting is scheduled to begin Wednesday.

The trial against Benito Acosta has been delayed several times. The latest setback came in August when City Prosecutor Dan Peelman asked for a 60-day delay for medical reasons.

During a public comment period at the City Council’s Jan. 3, 2006, meeting, Acosta, 26, criticized the city’s plan to train police to enforce immigration laws.

Mayor Allan Mansoor told Acosta to stop speaking because his time was up, but when Acosta protested several police officers pulled him out of the meeting.

Acosta’s attorney, Belinda Escobosa Helzer of the American Civil Liberties Union, was not pleased the case was pushed.

“The feeling is more disappointment that the city would go so far to prosecute a person who only spoke up against what he thought was wrong,” Helzer said.

— Kelly Strodl