Columbus Day protesters in court

Guess they've all recovered from the bloodbath--even the guy whose face was destroyed!--enough, at least, to help make court proceedings as cumbersome as possible:

Protesters arrested for blocking Denver's Columbus Day parade made good on their threat to drag out proceedings with jury trials and motions Friday.

Police arrested 83 demonstrators during the Columbus Day Parade Oct. 6.

After five hours of hearings Friday, a municipal court had heard motions on only four of the protesters. The motions demand the cases be thrown out because officers could not verify that the defendants in the courtroom were actually the people they dragged off 15th Street during the parade.

Late Friday, Judge Claudia Jordan decided to go into the night to complete motions hearings on 10 additional defendants. They are part of the first group to be tried on Dec. 17, 18 and 19.

The rest of the protesters will be tried later.

Glenn Morris, a University of Colorado political science professor who is a leader of the protesters, said motions hearings will occur in every case.

Protesters, including fired CU professor Ward Churchill, won acquittal on charges of disrupting the 2004 Columbus Day parade after a jury trial.

The charges — mostly disrupting a lawful event and blocking streets — carry 90-day sentences.