Commonwealth v. Brugmann

The defendants were convicted of criminal trespass under G. L. c. 266, § 120, for occupying a restricted area at a nuclear power plant. The question presented is whether the trial judge erred in ruling that the defenses of necessity, self-defense and defense of others were not available at their trial. We hold that the ruling was correct and affirm the convictions.

On June 2, 1979, twenty-one persons, including the eleven defendants, walked past a barrier and sat down against the main gate by a fence at the Yankee Atomic Electric Company nuclear power plant in Rowe. The protestors apparently…