10/25/2004
James De La Vega (SENT: to fifty hours of community service at the Point Community Center, at 940 Garretson Avenue. On the charges of attempted criminal mischief, attempted making graffiti, and one count of possession of graffiti instruments. Failure to comply with the stipulations of this sentence will result in a thirty day in jail term).
MANHATTAN GRAFFITI ARTIST IS SENTENCED FOR PAINTING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY WITHOUT OWNER'S PERMISSION
De La Vega Strikes Back
East Harlem- May 15, 2004. Resident community artist James De La Vega issued at tee-shirt with the words "Free De La Vega" printed on it. De La Vega is selling the tee-shirt to get the word out about his present legal woes.
He was charged with vandalism when he painted on a blank wall in the Bronx. According to De La Vega, he was just trying to create an image which would make people smile, brighten their day. According to Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, Mr. De La Vega was vandalising private property. During a recent hearing Mr. De La Vega decided to have his case go to court rather than accept a deal where he had to admit to destroying public property, which he feel he did not in fact do.
By issuing the tee-shirt, James De La Vega is trying to garner community support and let the authorities know that he is not taking the vandalism charges lying down. De La Vega will use self expression to defend his right to self expression.
Support James De La Vega, by buying his tee-shirt and by writing to the Bronx DA and letting him know that he is prosecuting an artist and not a criminal. DA Johnson is vandalising the justice system by persecuting our beloved artist.
East Harlem News, May 15, 2004
De La Vega Opts For Trail
April 16, 2004. New York artist James De La Vega appeared in court today before Judge Joseph Dawson to face disposition of a case stemming from an arrest on July 17, 2003. Surrounded by his supporters, including his mother Elsie Matos and Bronx Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, De La Vega was faced with the option to accept a year’s probation for a guilty plea on a graffiti misdemeanor.
Media Release
Offered Year Probation on a Guilty Plea, De La Vega Opts for Trial
The dialogue between Judge Dawson and De La Vega’s attorney Kenneth Gilbert focused on the language of the law regarding intent and graffiti. Judge Dawson was clear in explaining that he could only accept a guilty plea if De La Vega admitted that he painted on the wall with the intent to damage property. After much discussion and thought, De La Vega stated that he would only acquiesce if the language used indicated his admission to intentionally ‘making graffiti-art’.
Upon leaving the court room, De La Vega said: “Although I was prepared to take a guilty plea and a year’s probation, I could not accept having to admit to intentionally damaging property. My intent was to share my art in the hopes of bringing a smile or a thought to the commuters stopped at the traffic light.”
A court date had been set for June 9. East Harlem News, April 16, 2004
De La Vega Charge with Vandalism
East Harlem - April 7, 2004. 7, 2003, New York (East Harlem) artist James De La Vega was arrested and charged with vandalism in the Bronx. Eight months later, a motion to dismiss the charges was denied and he has been scheduled to appear in court (for the fifth time) on April 16, 2004 for disposition of the case. The prosecutor has offered 30 days in jail, and will not accept any form of restitution that does not include jail time.
Born and raised in Spanish Harlem, De La Vega attended Central Park East and the Academy of Environmental Science. An excellent student, De La Vega was offered a scholarship to New York Preparatory School and later established The Fishtank (a working studio) on East 103rd Street and Lexington Avenue.
De La Vega has worked with many local organizations and has spoken at schools throughout the City serving as a positive role model for today's youth. 30 days in jail for 'vandalism' - this is neither justice nor rehabilitation! Join us to show support and speak out against the criminal justice system.
Note: The above text is not my own, but take from flyers posted around the East Harlem community. I do concur with the message. Please come and support James De La Vega on April 14th.
Jose B. Rivera - Founder, East Harlem.com April 07, 2004
The Sharman Visit East Harlem
The first thing the Russell and his lovely wife Cheryl wanted to see was some of James De La Vega's art. They visited De La Vega art on East 111th Street and Lexington Avenue, on 110th and Lexington, on 104th and on 103rd streets. They also saw the Hope Community, Inc. wall, restored by Manny Vega on the corner of East 104th and Lexington Avenue, and Graffiti Wall of Fame on 106th Street and Park Avenue. An attempt was made to visit Mr. De La Vega at his 103rd Street office, but (we later found out) he was busy being interviewed for a New York One (local cable news channel) piece featuring him as the New Yorker of the Week. Congrats to Mr. De La Vega.
July 15, 1999
NYT Article on James De La Vega
Street Muralist May Soon Be Looking at Jailhouse Walls
By IAN URBINA
Published: June 12, 2004
The lawyer for James De La Vega, a well-known muralist from East Harlem who was convicted on misdemeanor graffiti charges this week, said yesterday that his client deserved community service, not jail time, and that he planned to appeal.
"This verdict was entirely unjustified," said the lawyer, Daniel J. Ollen. "We definitely think this case deserves a second look."
Mr. De La Vega, 32, who was arrested on July 17, 2003, while painting without permission on the side of a Bronx warehouse near Willis Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard, was found guilty on Thursday of attempted criminal mischief, attempted making graffiti and possessing graffiti instruments. He is to be sentenced in Bronx Criminal Court on July 29 and faces up to 90 days in jail.
During his two-day trial, about 25 supporters sat in the back of the courtroom, some of the them wearing "Free De La Vega" T-shirts. On the second day of the trial, a court officer asked them to turn the shirts inside out.
During the trial, Mr. Ollen called his client "an artist, a teacher and a neighborhood icon" who was intending to improve the warehouse, not damage it. In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Ollen said Mr. De La Vega's "sole purpose in life is to make things prettier and more visually thought-provoking, not to lessen their value."
But an assistant district attorney, Karen E. Antoine, argued during the trial that intent was less important than the fact that Mr. De La Vega did not have permission to paint on the side of the building.
Several months before the trial, the Bronx district attorney's office offered Mr. De La Vega a plea bargain involving a year of probation and no jail time in exchange for a guilty plea, Mr. Ollen said. But Mr. De La Vega refused, partly on principle and partly because he expected to win if the case went to a jury, Mr. Ollen added.
On the first day of the trial, the district attorney's office reduced the charges to Class B misdemeanors that removed the possibility of a jury trial. "We thought this was a really underhanded tactic," Mr. Ollen said.
In a statement after the trial, the district attorney's office said: "It's a simple proposition. You need an owner's permission to paint on his or her property. The quality of the artwork does not change that fact."
Mr. De La Vega, who received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornell in 1994, is well known in East Harlem where his chalk drawings have appeared on sidewalks throughout the neighborhood.
Portraying feelings of entrapment and unvanquished love, Mr. De La Vega usually drew images of fish staring longingly at each other from separate bowls. Mr. De La Vega also scrawled various aphorisms on trash cans and buildings around the city: "Beauty magazines make my girlfriend feel ugly," was penned on the sides of fitness clubs on the Lower East Side. And "The best remedy for a cheap person is to have him pay for everything," was written on the walls of banks and expensive restaurants near Wall Street.
