Marquis Campbell, the man whose Sept. 15 arrest at San Diego State caused protests against perceived police brutality, was arraigned on four misdemeanor charges on Monday, Sept. 18.
Tanya Sierra, public affairs officer for the San Diego County District Attorney’s office, said Campbell pleaded not guilty to two charges of resisting an officer and two charges of resisting an executive officer. She said he is being held on $20,000 bail and his trial date was set for 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 6.
Campbell, 20, is not an SDSU student, but was on campus on Sept. 15 for a Chance the Rapper concert, according to his father, Marcellus Campbell.
His arrest was videotaped and shared on Instagram.
Joshua Mays, SDSU interim chief of police, said on Sept. 15 that Campbell had been arrested for appearing to be under the influence of narcotics and trespassing in the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater.
He said a staff member in the open air theater saw Campbell jump a construction fence into the theater and jump back out.
“There was an exchange between the staff member and (Campbell) that concerned the staff member, who also reported this incident to police,” Mays said.
Marcellus Campbell said his son is not the type of person to abuse drugs or alcohol.
“He’s a good kid. They prejudged him,” Marcellus Campbell said “They don’t know how he acts, that is just how he is.”
Marcellus Campbell said what the police did to his son was harassment and they detained him without cause when he was trying to leave.
“He was trying to get out of there, and they just kept messing with him,” Campbell said. When he turned to leave, they jumped on him.”
Mays said on Sept. 15 that the decision to arrest Campbell was based on him being under the influence of a controlled substance, but Campbell’s current charges are all related to resisting arrest. He is not being charged with public intoxication, drug possession or trespassing.
When asked why Campbell is not being charged with public intoxication, Sierra said, “We do not discuss our charging decisions except to say we file charges when we believe we can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Retired San Diego Assistant Chief of Police Rulette Armstead said the district attorney does not necessarily have to charge Campbell with the crime he was arrested for to charge him with resisting arrest.
She said that some people made the assumption that Campbell was under the influence of alcohol and or some other drugs due to his behavior.
“If blood, breath or urine tests were done and they were negative, then a public intoxication charge would be invalid,” she said. “The police officers clearly felt that he resisted arrest and they probably articulated and detailed his actions thoroughly in their reports to substantiate those charges.”
The Campbell family and others present at the arraignment said they were initially told by a court officer that no charges were being filed.
“I believe the defendant’s family was given bad information by mistake,” Sierra said.
Campbell’s family could not be contacted for follow-up after it was confirmed charges were in fact being filed.
