US pipeline protester's obstruction conviction overturned by appeals court

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/18/mylene-vialard-pipeline-protester-conviction-overturned

US pipeline protester’s obstruction conviction overturned by appeals court

New trial for Mylene Vialard after Minnesota judges find ‘pervasive’ prosecutorial misconduct in Line 3 protest case

Nina Lakhani
Mon 18 Aug 2025 21.25 EDT

The controversial felony conviction of a peaceful climate activist has been overturned by an appeals court due to “pervasive” prosecutorial misconduct.

Mylene Vialard, 56, was found guilty of felony obstruction in 2023 for her role in trying to halt construction of a fossil-fuel pipeline through Indigenous territory in Minnesota, in a trial beset by irregularities.

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According to legal groups representing the activists, Vialard was among more than a thousand people arrested by Minnesota law enforcement – which along with other agencies reportedly received at least $8.6m in payments from the Canadian company Enbridge, which is behind Line 3.

On Monday, the conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered by the Minnesota court of appeals.

“Weighing the relevant factors, we conclude that the prosecutorial misconduct conceded to by the state was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The state’s evidence against Vialard was not particularly strong, the misconduct was pervasive, and the district court’s instructions did not cure any prejudicial effect of the misconduct,” the three-judge panel found.

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