Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office put a rapid end to the criminal prosecution of 24 men and women arrested for trespassing during a protest at a downtown bank, successfully recommending that the court treat their cases as civil infractions.

Assistant District Attorney Susan Terrey, chief of Conley’s staff at the Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court, affirmatively recommended that resolution as all two dozen arrestees were prepared to be arraigned on misdemeanor trespass charges incurred Friday afternoon at the Bank of America on Federal Street.

“The Commonwealth makes this recommendation based on the peaceful nature of the protest and the non-confrontational manner of their interactions with police,” Terrey said at today’s hearing.

None of the defense attorneys assigned to the protesters’ cases opposed Terrey’s motion, which was made under Ch. 277, Sect. 70C, of the Massachusetts General Laws, and Judge Raymond Dougan, Jr., granted it.
The outcome of today’s hearing means that none of the two dozen protesters will have a criminal conviction stemming from their arrests at 100 Federal St. at about 4:30 on Sept. 30. The protesters ranged in age from 19 to 68; all are residents of Boston except for four who live in Brookline, Chelsea, Medford, and Newton.