Defendant also charged for illegal possession of milk crate
The city is taking Stewart Lamle, a local game inventor, to trial for allegedly operating a business without a license on the Third Street Promenade.
Lamle is contesting the 16 misdemeanor citations, two of which are for illegally possessing a milk crate, that each carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Deputy City Attorney Linda Mills convinced a Santa Monica Superior Court judge that Lamle should have possibly received a business license before selling an invented game called “Farook” on the Promenade.
But the judge also said Lamle may have a case based on claims that his protected First Amendment right to free speech had been violated, and the entire matter deserved to be heard before a jury trial.
“I think it will be a lengthy trial,” said Paul Mills, Lamle’s attorney. “But the city attorney still has the option of dropping most of the charges to avoid a lengthy trial.”
Linda Mills was unavailable for comment Thursday.
For the past three years, Lamle has set up an impromptu table on the Third Street Promenade to demonstrate a game he has invented called Farook.
However, the demonstrations are not considered “performance” by the city, which refuses to grant Lamle permits or a business license for his game.
Police ticketed Lamle 34 times during the last three years for not having a performance permit, but he was able to have each ticket dismissed in court, Lamle said.
Playing and selling the game garners a lot of money for Lamle, who charges $1 to play a game with him and $15 for a copy of Farook, which looks like a tic-tac-toe board crossed with Chinese checkers.
Then on July 6, 2002 at 11:30 a.m., police arrested Lamle on the Promenade and seized his game, his table and all his money for repeatedly operating a business without a license.
A Santa Monica Superior Court judge later returned the property to Lamle, and police were asked not to further interfere with his activities until today’s court date. That order was lifted Wednesday, and Lamle was instructed not to sell his game on the Promenade until his trial is over.
Mills said the city is playing a game with his client, claiming that when the 34 performance citations were thrown out of court, city officials then charged him with misdemeanor citations for not having a business license, which the city refuses to issue to Lamle.
And Mills said he believes the city has deliberately written vague street performer laws to give it more leverage over controlling performers.
To prove that, Mills has subpoenaed every citation issued by the city during the past year for the illegal possession of a milk crate. There were 10 incidences, two of which involved Lamle.
If the other eight citations were not prosecuted, Mills believes it could hold significant meaning for his client.
“A possible defense is that it’s discriminatory prosecution,” he said. “This is a crime which the city attorney’s office never prosecutes and is only prosecuting (Lamle) because of his First Amendment rights complaints.”
“A possible defense is that it’s discriminatory prosecution.” — — PAUL MILLS Lamle’s attorney
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 27, 2002. Read the original PDF.