Activist or criminal? Jury hears opening arguments in East Bay woman’s trial over poultry farm break-ins

Opening statements began Monday in the Sonoma County trial of animal activist Zoe Rosenberg whose defense hinges on whether jurors see her actions as a moral rescue or a criminal conspiracy Rosenberg faces one felony conspiracy count and three misdemeanors stemming from a series of incursions at a Petaluma Poultry facility between April and June Her matter overseen by Judge Kenneth Gnoss is expected to last much of October and has drawn national attention because of her ties to Direct Action Everywhere or DxE an animal rights group known for aggressive demonstrations at farms and grocery stores Related Articles East Bay man allegedly threatened to kill or deport girl for reporting rape Scrappy bragged about killing Mini Jug before Bubba and Frog killed him Oakland police say A man was shot during East Bay boat sale remained a quadriplegic for years until his death Man charged in fatal Oakland shooting of Hayward teen he commented was trying to steal a van Man shot last month next to Oakland s Lake Merritt dies from wounds Several of Rosenberg s supporters filled the courtroom Monday as opening arguments began She sat quietly beside her attorneys as prosecutors laid out their matter Deputy District Attorney Jessalee Mills narrated jurors the event will show activism that crosses the line into criminal conduct This matter is not about what Miss Rosenberg believes it s about what she did Mills disclosed And what she did was illegal Prosecutors allege she entered the facility on Lakeville Highway late at night accessed computers and records and placed GPS trackers on delivery trucks On June they say she removed four birds from a trailer while about DxE members rallied outside before several drove away with the animals in a rented SUV RELATED -year-old protester dragged from field at Levi s Stadium Mills described it as a deliberate campaign to infiltrate and disrupt a lawful business Rosenberg s attorney Kevin Little countered that his client is not nearly the radical person the prosecution is trying to portray He declared Rosenberg meticulously documented what she deduced to be cruelty inside the facility and contacted law enforcement before removing the birds which he stated were suffering This is not necessarily a whodunit Little narrated jurors It s a whydunit The judge has already barred Rosenberg s club from using a necessity defense which allows defendants to argue their actions were taken to prevent imminent harm Gnoss ruled in June that the criteria including lack of legal alternatives and immediate danger did not apply to the poultry farm actions The trial marks the second high-profile DxE prosecution in Sonoma County in as a great number of years Rosenberg was arrested outside the courthouse in November just hours after DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung was sentenced to days in jail and two years probation in a similar conspiracy and trespassing situation Since then DxE has continued to target poultry operations in Sonoma County and beyond Activists have staged mass demonstrations blocked delivery trucks protested outside company functionaries homes and disrupted Trader Joe s stores across California to discourage the sale of Petaluma Poultry products Trader Joe s and others have sought injunctions to stop the demonstrations Ten months ago county voters overwhelmingly rejected a DxE-backed ballot measure that sought to shut down large-scale poultry and livestock operations Local agricultural leaders say Rosenberg s trial will be a test of how far such activism can go before it breaks the law When you break the law you pay the price revealed Herb Frerichs general counsel for Petaluma Poultry in a message Friday Your personal opinion about whether people should eat meat does not overrule the laws that we must all follow We expect the jury will agree Rosenberg faces probation to up to five years in prison if convicted Testimony is set to resume at p m Tuesday