Lawyers critical of the decision to prosecute protesters arrested on the first night of the Democratic National Convention say Denver’s city attorneys are trying to shut them up.

They say the city has twice asked a Denver County judge to issue a gag order to keep defense lawyers quiet about the validity of the Aug. 25 arrests.

Judge Karen Bowers has denied the requests.

“They want to stop me from criticizing them and telling the public about this,” said Robert Corry, an attorney representing several DNC defendants. “I thought it was remarkable they would try this in a First Amendment case.”

The judge’s order says city prosecutors accused the American Civil Liberties Union and lawyers for the People’s Law Project of trying to poison the jury pool by publicly criticizing the cases.

“Despite apparent efforts by third parties to influence these cases, the court believes that the juries have been honest in the selection process and able to listen fairly to the evidence presented,” the order says.

The order also says that the ACLU is not representing any of the clients and that she cannot gag that entity. The record says there was no evidence that any individual lawyer associated with a DNC case is responsible for the release of information.

City Attorney David Fine said no motion for a gag order was made.

“We did not move for a gag order and, in fact, deliberately decided not to,” he said. “I cannot understand why the order is written that way.”

Fine did say attorneys who have entered appearances on behalf of their clients have an ethical obligation not to talk about the case.

“Anyone can speak freely as to their opinion about whether or not these cases should be prosecuted, but the problem here is when attorneys who have entered appearances in cases give opinions about the guilt or innocence of the defendants,” he said.

Corry and other lawyers from the People’s Law Project are representing about 60 people who were arrested on 15th Street and Court Place during a mass protest that occurred on the first night of the DNC.

The lawyers say that their clients were merely bystanders or students who were documenting the protests and got caught up in the crowd and couldn’t leave before police blocked the exit routes.

One hundred and six people were arrested.

Police have testified that they blocked off the streets because they had heard anarchists planned to move from Civic Center park toward the 16th Street Mall to cause trouble at delegate hotels and other businesses.

The Aug. 25 incident was the only time during the DNC that mass arrests took place. In contrast, police did not arrest anyone during an unplanned and unpermitted protest held by Iraq Veterans Against the War that snaked through Denver.

Defendants represented by the People’s Law Project have been charged with a municipal-code violation of obstructing the street and face a $141 fine.

Of the 18 cases that have gone to trial, the city has won a conviction in one.

Another 13 people will go on trial next week, and there are another 30 cases coming up, said Brian Vicente, director of the People’s Law Project.

The lawyers have questioned why the city would pursue the cases, given the cost of prosecution. Vicente says the cases are circumstantial and there is no direct evidence that any of their clients broke the law.

Vicente said he filed a request under the Colorado Open Records Act with the city on Nov. 10 for a breakdown of what it is costing the city to prosecute his clients.

Vicente has not received a response.

Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com