By Dan Corcoran

EUGENE, Ore. -- Ben Bond was back in Eugene Municipal Court Tuesday and is one step closer to standing trial for his Obstructing a Government or Judicial Administration charge.

Several motions from Ben Bond's lawyer were shot down, including a request for an advisory panel and not a single municipal court judge to rule on the case.

Bond pleaded not guilty to the obstructing charge that comes from a January confrontation with a Eugene parking enforcement officer. The city prosecutor said Tuesday Bond and the parking officer had a series of contacts on January 13th. He says Bond kept the city employee from doing her job by means of intimidation. Which specific part of the law that Bond may have broken is still unclear.

"We could produce evidence on any or all of them and that's a very common practice in cases of this nature," said Eugene City Prosecutor Dan Barkovic.

"Information is power. So we want to get the truth out so we want as much information as we can before we go to court," said Bond.

The defense doesn't believe verbal interaction would be enough to constitute the obstruction of a government function and instead may become a matter of Bond exercising his right to free speech.

Both sides are in the process of subpoenaing witnesses for trial. Ben Bond will take the stand in his own defense. Opening statements are set for March 18th.