The case could have set a precedent for public protest if the district attorney had pursued it, but at an October pretrial hearing, the prosecutor dropped the request for the 51 defendants to pay the security fees.

On April 22, more than 300 war protesters targeted Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, showing their opposition to the company's military ties and involvement in the Iraq war. Public safety officers arrested 52 people for misdemeanors such as obstructing traffic and failing to disperse.

Since April, Lockheed Martin has been working with Santa Clara County prosecutors to seek reimbursement for more than $15,000 the corporation paid for additional security hired for the day of the protest.

"What was important to Lockheed was that the protestors accepted responsibility for their actions in violating the law. Restitution for the money that they had to spend in security fees was not the priority," said Deputy District Attorney Sumerle Pfeffer.

In response, 36 of the 52 protestors arrested that day pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of blocking traffic and failing to disperse.

Phil Andonian, an attorney for several of the defendants, said most of the protestors agreed to settle the cases because the restitution request was dropped.

Malavika Mohan was one of the defendants who did not settle her case, but only because she was out of town on Oct. 3. "I'm planning on settling. Restitution was definitely the focus of the case, and pretty much the only thing that held me back [from settling the case]," said Mohan. She speculated that almost all of the defendants would plead guilty because the restitution was dropped.

In July, all parties had agreed to consider an option where the protesters would pay the $15,000 if Lockheed would give the money to a charity such as the Iraqi Children's Fund.

But that compromise went under at a pre-trial hearing in September, when lawyers for the defendants unanimously rejected any payment restitution to Lockheed Martin.

The main concern for the protesters and local civil rights groups was that the case could have set a legal precedent that would limit public protest by charging citizens for corporations' security fees.

Out of the 36 who plead guilty, 31 agreed to do 80 hours of community service, three decided to accept a six- to nine-day jail term and one woman chose to pay a $612 fine. One man was sentenced to 45 days in jail for refusing the sentencing options.

One protestor must still pay restitution, however. Mallory Moser was separately convicted and found guilty for obstructing traffic in June, and Judge Infantino of the Sunnyvale courthouse ordered Moser to pay $600 in restitution to Lockheed Martin for her share of the security fees. Moser was separately charged because she demanded a jury trial early on, instead of waiting to settle the charges like the other defendants.

Moser's attorney is currently trying to change the sentence to remove the restitution payment.

The remaining 15 defendants will meet in court again in late October for another pre-trial hearing. "I expect that the majority of these will resolve their cases on that day. There may be one or two that actually go to trial," said Pfeffer.