Jury renders 'not guilty' verdict in trial against M.D. Catherine Wilkerson

On Monday 12/3/07, after an 8 day jury trial, medical doctor Catherine Wilkerson was found not guilty on two counts of attempted resisting and obstructing police officers and EMS techs.  Wilkerson was standing trial in Ann Arbor for trying to render medical help to an unconscious man at the University of Michigan.  Dr. Wilkerson is represented by NPAP member and civil rights lawyer Buck Davis, Detroit, as well as attorney Bill Tanner of Ann Arbor. 

The case began on November 30, 2006 during an on-campus speech by Raymond Tanter, a foreign policy advisor in the Reagan administration, who has repeatedly proposed that the United States should consider a nuclear strike against Iran.  Campus police intervened when the speech drew verbal protest from listeners.  Dr. Wilkerson observed a campus police officer on top of one protester, pinning the handcuffed man to the floor with his knee.  When the man complained that he could not breathe, Wilkerson grew concerned about the possibility of positional asphyxia.  She introduced herself as a medical doctor and tried to get the vital signs of the man who by now was unconscious.  After getting shoved by the officer, she was finally allowed to check whether the man was still alive.  Dr. Wilkerson continued to offer verbal advice to the paramedics who subsequently arrived on the scene accompanied by city police. 

When she protested the unprofessional and punitive treatment by the paramedics, which included the administration of several doses of ammonia inhalant, she was told by city police to leave.  As she attempted to do so, she was seized by one officer and her arm was twisted unto her back causing excruciating pain and exacerbating an existing shoulder problem.  Superior officers later determined that there were no grounds for an arrest and released her.  Two months later, Wilkerson filed a complaint alleging police misconduct.  Seven days after that, she was charged with two counts of allegedly attempting to "assault/resist/obstruct" police and ambulance personnel.

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