Kansas City vs. Food Not Bombs: Trial continuance granted thanks to prosecutor’s lack of preparation

Courtesy City of KC

Three minutes and twenty seconds. That was the duration of the Kansas City vs. Food Not Bombs trial. Or more accurately, the city’s latest attempt to indefinitely side-step the issue. 

Almost an entire year of stress, legal fees, and jail time hung in the balance… until an admission of incompetence that lasted about the length of a pop song set the proceedings back into limbo. 

On October 7th, Michael and Wolfgang entered the Kansas City Municipal Courthouse to fight the trespassing charge and belligerent arrest from the Kansas City Police. What followed was an ignorant proceeding that left the two volunteers back where they started.

When the case was called forward, the city prosecutor, Linda Miller, immediately addressed the continuance filed to push the trial for a “special setting.”

The City filed this continuance motion virtually the day The Pitch’s article on the farce was published (Sept. 18th), where we implored the public to attend and view the proceedings.

The motion stated, “It has come to the City’s attention that there will be multiple potential witnesses and the City believes that this should be a special setting trial.”

The judge denied that motion on the defense’s objection.

Doubling down on the filed motion in the courtroom, the prosecution claimed they were unaware the motion had been denied and that the trial was still set for the original date.

“I thought it had been granted, but I found out now that I didn’t realize that there was an objection that was filed by the defense counsel,” Miller stated in front of the judge.

Additionally, the prosecution was unaware of how many witnesses THEY HAD. The city walked into trial unaware of what was happening and oblivious to how many witnesses would be called.

“I found out that I have five witnesses. The defendant, who has a co-defendant—I’ve been told at least three are going to testify, and there is video.”

An entire court proceeding halted because the city prosecution assumed the court would grant its absurd continuance motion. The City’s uninformed practices left all five prosecution witnesses absent, with only the defense present. Claire Wyatt, Michael and Wolfgang’s legal representative, reiterated the obtuse nature of the proposed motion.

“The city said they didn’t realize that it was set for today, so she couldn’t have a witness in front of them.” Wyatt also reminded the court that this trial has been going on for almost a year, and its volatile nature has put undue stress on the defendants’ lives.

“The problem still remains that my two clients are here now, and I do have an entry of appearance, and a third witness is here. Mr. McConnell (Michael) is a school teacher. It’s hard for him to take off, and everyone is anxious to get this resolved.”

Even though the judge denied the continuance motion two weeks ago, the judge overseeing the case granted the city’s motion in person and has pushed the trial back again.

“It appears that it’s unable to be resolved today. Under most circumstances, just as a matter of procedural practice in this court, the city is granted one continuance,” decided the judge. “When I receive these cases, I have no idea how many people are going to be involved in this. All I know in these cases are the names of the parties. That’s it. That’s the limited information the court has.”

The exchange between prosecution, defense, and judge lasted three minutes and twenty seconds in total.

The judge has moved the trial to an indefinite date, with a future scheduling conference set for Oct. 19th. During the trial, the date proposed was Friday afternoon, Dec. 18th, the week before Christmas. This—for obvious reasons—created a scheduling conflict, especially for Michael, who feared he might have educational responsibilities, saying, “I may have conferences around that time, since it’s the end of the semester.”

With the trial potentially going into December or even 2027, it is hard not to see the injustice and double standard set before the court. Over a year of legal fees, jail fines, and time off work has amounted to constant misdirection and apathy from the court system. While Michael and Wolfgang are kept awake by the stress of testifying and fear of a guilty verdict in a broken system, the city lawyers sleep peacefully, ignorant of the pressure they put on these volunteers. They are rewarded for “not seeing a motion denial” or not realizing they have five witnesses, while the defense appears every time, well dressed and prepared to make their case.

Michael, Wolfgang, and Wyatt walk out of the courtroom, dejected, facing another hill to climb and another boulder to push.

“Well, that was a whole bunch of nothing,” Michael says immediately after leaving. 

The mission and momentum of Food Not Bombs has not changed, and the two volunteers have no plans to stop serving Kansas Citians with hot soup and fresh meals.

The longer the city drags this sham out, it only serves to bring more support to the cause. In that way, Linda Miller’s inability to get her shit together should be celebrated as a public service. 

For updates about the case and the new trial date, follow The Pitch.