Couple in dispute with Somerville police agree to continuance

Rebecca Knobel and Catherine Courtemanche, both of Nashua, N.H., agreed to a continuance without finding in Somerville District Court Aug. 14 regarding the criminal charges against them for disorderly conduct and, in Knobel's case, resisting arrest. The two women have publicly accused Somerville Police of assaulting and sexually harassing them during their arrest, and they held a pair of benefit concerts last month to raise money for their defense and a planned civil suit against the police (see "Couple Accuse Somerville Police of Abuse," July 12). The continuance plea means that Knobel and Courtemanche do not plead guilty but acknowledge that there is sufficient evidence to allow the state to convict them. If the women re-offend before the expiration of the continuance, six months for Courtemanche and a year for Knobel, the court will find them guilty, but if not the charges against them will be dismissed.

In a statement provided to Bay Windows by her attorney Knobel maintained both her and Courtemanche's innocence.

"Due to the stress of the matter and wanting to move on with our lives, Catherine Courtemanche and I have decided to accept a continuance without a finding. We originally fully intended to take our cases to trial before a jury, because we believed and still believe that the actions of the Somerville Police were illegal and unnecessary and that our resistance was justified," wrote Knobel.

The charges stem from an incident last April when the two women were arrested by Somerville police in the early hours of the morning. According to the couple's version of the events, their car broke down while driving home from a club and the police mistook them for car thieves. They claim that the police refused to allow Knobel to show them the car's registration and that they pepper sprayed her and kicked her after she fell to the ground. They also allege that police made sexually harassing comments to Courtemanche.

The Somerville Police account of the incident, detailed in the police report, said that police found the women in the midst of a loud dispute by the side of the road and that Courtemanche appeared to be trying to drive off without Knobel. The report said that when police tried to restrain the two women, they responded by shouting obscenities at them. According to the police account of the incident officers pepper sprayed Knobel after she turned physically violent. Somerville Police spokesperson Captain Paul Upton told Bay Windows last month that the department had video footage of Knobel violently resisting officers at the booking window and that that footage would likely be shown in court if the case went to trial.

During the district court hearing Judge George Sprague asked the couple's attorney, William Logan, for an explanation for their behavior during the incident. Logan responded, "That will be dealt with later, civilly." When asked by Bay Windows after the hearing if the couple still planned to file a civil suit against Somerville Police he answered, "Possibly, yes."