A judge has thrown out charges of second-degree criminal trespass against seven people who had refused to leave a downtown Portland post office because they were protesting U.S. Postal Service cutbacks nationwide.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Karin Immergut ruled that their rights to speedy trials had not been met because of unjustified delays.

The seven defendants were among a group of 10 arrested and charged with wrongdoing from the May 24, 2012, protests. Three others either pleaded guilty or didn’t show up to court, said a spokesman for the protesters.

The group of seven was scheduled for trial on Nov. 17. Although second-degree criminal trespass is a misdemeanor, the district attorney’s office had decided to handle it as a violation, similar to a traffic ticket.

The protesters stood inside University Station Post Office at 1505 S.W. Sixth Ave. as they held two banners, which read “No closures! No cuts!” and “Occupy the Post Office.”

University Station closed in January 2013, although a new, smaller post office -- called Waterfront Station at 101 S.W. Madison St. -- opened up as a replacement.

The defendants whose cases were dismissed Friday are: Michael Otis Colvin, Timothy Flanagan, James Partridge, John Herbert, John Schwiebert, Trudy Cooper and Ann Huntwork.

Partridge, who was one of the seven, said Monday that he and his co-defendants were relieved that the judge dismissed the charges. But they also were disappointed that they didn’t get to defend their right to protest before a jury.

“We wanted to put forth the argument that we’ve tried everything else to stop the post master general from dismantling the post office,” Partridge said. “We felt like this was one of the few options we had left and we wanted to try that before a jury.”

But Partridge also is among a group of people headed to trial in January to defend themselves against charges from a similar protest -- at the main post office facility in Northwest Portland in October 2013.

-- Aimee Green