A jury has acquitted a boat resident of felony charges for dousing a Richardson Bay harbormaster with bear spray.
The verdict on Friday capped the six-day trial of Kimberly Susan Slater, 34. The felony counts included obstructing an executive officer, committing an assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and unlawfully using tear gas.
“Ms. Slater was facing three felonies, a strike, and four years in state prison,” Slater’s defense attorney, Charles Dresow, said after the trial ended.
Jurors instead found Slater guilty of misdemeanor assault and delaying a public officer. The evidence included videos recorded by the defendant and the harbormaster, Curtis Havel.
Marin County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy set the sentencing for May 14. Slater could face a mix of jail time and fines.
The incident happened when Havel attempted to deliver a packet of information to Slater’s boat in 2020. He piloted his boat to her vessel and bumped into it, as recorded in his body-worn camera video.
Slater emerged and berated him profanely before firing a can of bear spray. Havel suffered pain but was not hospitalized.
In their closing arguments, the trial attorneys centered on the conduct of Slater and Havel.
Prosecutor Matthew Jacobs alleged that the defendant knew Havel and hid on her boat before spraying him. He argued that Slater intentionally injured Havel and said both parties previously had a hostile encounter.
“Ms. Slater was not confused about what was happening,” Jacobs said.
Dresow said Havel lacked proper law enforcement training at the time and failed to announce himself when he approached Slater’s boat.
“How can one know that an officer is performing a duty if they don’t announce the duty?” Dresow asked jurors.
Following the confrontation, Slater contacted the Coast Guard and handed over evidence to Marin County sheriff’s investigators, Dresow said. It was used against her.
Dresow concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In his rebuttal, Jacobs said Havel acted lawfully when he delivered the packet to Slater.
“He was not required to make an announcement in any way, shape or form,” he said.
Jacobs held the bear spray can used by Slater and said it has a warning label that the chemical can cause eye damage. He said the pain from a spraying can last for hours.
“There are no bears in Richardson Bay,” Jacobs said.
The incident occurred during a tense time between Richardson Bay maritime authorities and boat residents known as “anchor-outs.” Havel, a former county planner, became harbormaster for the Richardson Bay Regional Agency in 2019. He resigned in 2021.
During the incident, Havel was delivering a notice that alerted offshore residents about his agency’s transition plan that aimed to clear the anchorage of derelict vessels.
The Richardson Bay Regional Agency was attempting to remove the vessel to comply with demands by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
“The case in many ways is the end of the story of the long struggle between those who live in the hills and those who live on the water,” Dresow said. “After 70 years, the hill people have finally pushed the independent spirits, the outcasts, the free spirits and the nonconformists off the water.”
Dresow also condemned the agencies involved in the situation.
“The evidence at trial revealed that the results-oriented enforcement mandates created by the alphabet agencies placed all those on the water at risk,” he said. “The RBRA and the BCDC should be ashamed of the risk they created to both the people of Richardson Bay and their own staff. They may have ultimately gotten what they wanted, but the way they did it was cruel and reckless.”
Slater declined to comment after the verdict.