MONTICELLO -- Roy Howard's trial came to an end yesterday, with the Town of Bethel and Howard claiming victory.

Supreme Court Judge Joseph P. Torraca decided Howard was not in contempt of court for a mass gathering on his property during last year's 28th anniversary of the Woodstock festival. But he granted a permanent injunction against Howard ever having a festival without town approval.

The injunction makes it impossible for Howard to host a Woodstock anniversary gathering on his property this summer. "That's fine with me because we have no plans to have a festival this year," said Howard.

Howard owns part of Max Yasgur's farm off Route 17B. Yasgur, now dead, owned the site of the original Woodstock concert off Hurd Road.

Town officials sued Howard for violating a court-ordered temporary injunction the town obtained last August when 2,000 people showed up on his farm for the annual three-day Woodstock celebration. The town also claimed that Howard was in contempt of court for staging the event without proper permits.

Michael Sussman, the nationally known civil rights lawyer from Goshen, represented Howard during the four-day trial. The town was represented by Bethel lawyer Larry Lagarenne.

Torraca said the town failed to prove its point. The trial featured a string of witnesses who testified that Howard was not present at the impromptu gathering and that he had tried to dissuade people from camping and partying on his farm.

In his decision, Torraca went so far as to say that he felt that there was a "definite double standard of police protection at work in Bethel." He was referring to Howard's comments that he made many calls to the State Police to try to get people moved off his property, but they didn't respond. Conversely, Torraca said that June Gelish, former owner of the original Woodstock site, always received police protection.

Bethel Town Supervisor Allan Scott was disappointed the judge ruled against the contempt charge. The town ran up more than $20,000 in legal fees in the case. "But we got what we were after – a permanent injunction that will force Mr. Howard to comply with town regulations if he ever plans a mass gathering on his property. He'll have to get the proper permits.''

Jeryl Abramson, Howard's wife, finds Scott's statement disingenuous. "We offered to submit to the permanent injunction months ago and as recently as last week. If that's really what they wanted they could have had it all along. They wanted to get a contempt conviction so Roy would have to pay their legal fees."