Trial gets underway over possible assault of a Palestinian-American teenager on Scribble Hill.

The trial for the case The People of the State of California vs. Steiner, Max Joseph started in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 23 and continues through today, July 25 in the Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas. Defendant Max Steiner is facing misdemeanor charges of assault and vandalism. 

On Oct. 12, 2023 in Sand City, Steiner approached four young Palestinian-American women who wrote on a sand dune a message that read: “Free Palestine.” The incident took place right by Highway 1, next to the intersection with Fremont and Del Monte boulevards, where the Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail runs along the beach and the highway. The sand dune is known as Scribble Hill, since people often draw signs and slogans in the sand.

Both sides agree that Steiner saw the sign, got off his bike and during a heated exchange proceeded uphill and destroyed the sign. Thirteen-year-old Maryam Khalil started recording the incident with her phone that Steiner allegedly eventually took away from her and threw on the ground.

While provoked by politics, the case is about whether Steiner grabbed, lifted and choked Khalil until she released the phone, as the group of women claims. Both sides agree that Steiner left the scene before the women called the police. 

The People are represented by Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Laura Batcha; Steiner is defending himself. Monterey County Superior Court Judge Ian Rivamonte and 12 jurors were present in the courtroom, along with about 20 observers.

The afternoon session on July 23 started with the opening statements. The session on July 24 consisted of cross-examinations of witnesses by both prosecution and defense. The witnesses were Maryam Khalil (accompanied by an emotional support dog), Monterey County District Attorney's Office Digital Forensic Investigator Natalie Dill and Sara Khalil, respectively. 

During the cross-examination, Steiner had questions regarding the number of videos taken by Maryam Khalil and submitted to the police and the District Attorney’s office, and whether they were edited in any way. Dill confirmed that she examined Khalil’s phone and prepared the video to serve as exhibits to the case. Per his request, she also confirmed the type of damage made to the iPhone (back shattered under the phone case, front screen cracked at the bottom) and the software she used to examine the phone and extract the data.

The witnesses and the jury also reviewed in public other recordings—the original 911 call made by Maryam’s older sister, 28-year-old Sara Khalil, the material recorded by a body camera on the officer who arrived on the scene 10-20 minutes after the incident and the interview Maryam gave at the police station in Sand City.

Steiner was looking for possible inconsistencies in those materials, while Batcha pointed out that the jury nor the judge were able to confirm if the transcripts of the audio and video material fully reflected prepared transcripts. All of the materials, except the initial 911 call made a minute or two after the incident by Sara Khalil, were of too poor quality to be understood in the courtroom.

Steiner also questioned the emotional state of the women, who despite claiming feeling being in danger, proceeded to kick sand on his bike.

When they got to the bottom of the hill, Sara Khalil said she decided that the heated exchange with Steiner was not “worthwhile” and ushered her three companions down the hill with the goal to get back to her car.

Steiner asked Sara Khalil if she is aware of the damage sand can cause to a bicycle. He also inquired about the visit to the emergency room, where the women went before returning to their household, frightened by Maryam’s state—shaking, crying, even allegedly fainting after the physical contact with Steiner. Steiner insisted on seeing the hospital report, but the women never received it, Sara Khalil said.

Even though—as of early afternoon, July 25—a verdict has not been reached, Steiner already filed a lawsuit on July 11 against the Superior Court.