Judge dismisses charges against man arrested in anti-abortion protest at Lakeland clinic
A judge has dismissed charges against a Seffner man arrested in June while protesting outside a Lakeland clinic that performs abortions.
Quentin Eugene Deckard was one of two people arrested by Lakeland Police officers on June 24, the day that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights. Both were demonstrating outside the Lakeland Women’s Health Center at 4444 S. Florida Ave.
LPD officers arrested Deckard, 52, on charges of breach of the peace and violating the city's noise ordinance, according to an arrest report.
Polk County Judge Robert G. Fegers of the 10th Judicial Circuit granted Deckard a judgment of acquittal last week before a scheduled trial. Deckard issued a verdict of not guilty for Angela Delauney of Mulberry. She had been arrested on a charge of resisting arrest without violence.
Anti-abortion protesters regularly gather outside the Lakeland Women’s Health Center, the only clinic in Polk County that provides abortions. Protesters are not allowed on the property but are able to stand on a sidewalk along South Florida Avenue.
Deckard’s arrest came after he stood on a ladder along the sidewalk to look over a black screen that clinic employees and volunteers placed above a solid fence at the front of the property. Deckard spoke through a bullhorn toward patients and volunteer escorts entering and leaving the building, according to the police report.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Charges dismissed against abortion protester arrested at Lakeland clinic
