Prosecutor asks judge to keep environmental, treaty issues out of first protester trial

The first pipeline protesters will go on trial Monday and the prosecutor is asking that they keep issues of tribal sovereignty, the concerns about the Dakota Access Pipeline and "any other social or political cause" out of the courtroom. "This trial is not being held so there can be a forum to extend the months of conflict and context over these extraneous issues," Ladd Erickson, who is prosecuting the case for Morton County, wrote in a motion filed Dec. 12. But a local criminal defense attorney involved in the protest cases said the 10 people set to be tried on disorderly conduct charges have "a right to explain why they were there," which the prosecutor's request seems to preclude. The protesters fear pipeline construction disturbed sacred sites and that a leak could contaminate the Missouri River."They just didn’t parachute in from Mars," Tom Dickson said. "They certainly have a right to say why they were there, why they were doing what they were doing." South Central District Judge Cynthia Feland, who is overseeing the trial, has yet to rule on the motion.