BREAKING NEWS:

Costa Mesa has appealed a misdemeanor criminal case against immigration activist Benito Acosta, who is accused of disrupting a January 2006 City Council meeting.

Judge Kelly MacEachern dismissed the case Oct. 1 after learning City Prosecutor Dan Peelman had not been sworn in as a public prosecutor before filing the misdemeanor charges. The city filled charges stemming from a Jan. 3, 2006 City Council meeting at which Acosta, who goes by the name Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, spoke against a plan to have city police enforce immigration laws.

Acosta was forcibly removed from the meeting by police.