Trial in Acosta suit set for next month

The trial phase of a federal lawsuit against Costa Mesa claiming free speech violations, which was brought by a Latino activist with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union, has been rescheduled till November.

The suit, filed by Benito Acosta and the ACLU, claims that Acosta’s 1st Amendment rights were suspended illegally at a 2006 City Council meeting. The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 9 at U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

Acosta, also known as Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, railed against Mayor Allan Mansoor and Councilman Eric Bever for nearly three minutes before Mansoor called a recess to that 2006 meeting.

Acosta was speaking out against the city’s then-proposal to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws on Costa Mesa arrestees.

Police arrested Acosta at the meeting when he refused to leave the podium.

The Orange County district attorney’s office declined to press charges. City attorneys are seeking to have prosecutors’ report on the incident withheld as evidence in the civil trial.

— Joseph Serna