Shepard Fairey court update

Jake Wark, press secretary for the Suffolk County District Attorney, reports:

ARTIST ARRAIGNED FOR CHARGES OLD AND NEW

BOSTON, Feb. 9, 2009—A former Bay State man who rose to fame as an artist was released without bail after cross-town arraignments on vandalism charges in two Suffolk County courthouses this morning.

Frank Shepard Fairey, 37, of Los Angeles was arrested Feb. 6 by Boston Police detectives who had obtained a Roxbury District Court warrant charging him with defacing property – specifically, a Massachusetts Turnpike Authority structure near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and the Newbury Street Extension. At the time of the arrest, detectives were aware that Fairey had failed to appear in connection with a similar case in Brighton District Court and had been in default since 2000.

Shepard appeared first in Brighton court, where he was formally charged with placing a poster on an electrical box near 177 Brighton Ave. in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2000. Boston Police arrested him at the scene, seized several additional posters as evidence, and told him to appear in court the following Monday; he did not appear. In light of $1500 cash bail that Fairey had posted over the weekend, Assistant District Attorney Ellen Bisson did not request monetary bail on that case. Judge David T. Donnelly ordered him to appear in Roxbury District Court today and to return to Brighton court for a pre-trial hearing on March 10.

Shepard was arraigned for the newer charge a short time later in Roxbury. As in the earlier proceedings, Assistant District Attorney Adam Foss did not request monetary bail. Judge Edward Redd ordered him to return to Roxbury court on March 11.

Shepard was represented today by attorney Jeff Wiesner.

Previously
Shepard Fairey arrested on Feb. 6 in Boston.

Pictured: Fairey's police booking photo from Friday night.