Prosecutors say a Berkeley animal rights activist should serve 180 days in jail after a jury found her guilty Oct. 29 in a felony conspiracy case tied to an entry at the Petaluma Poultry facility in June 2023.
The recommendation is outlined in a brief the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office filed ahead of Zoe Rosenberg’s sentencing Wednesday afternoon. Prosecutors cited several factors, including what they described as Rosenberg’s “staggering” lack of remorse and the ineffectiveness of alternatives such as house arrest or work release.
“Custody, by contrast, is a punishment she cannot manipulate, soften or transform into something else,” prosecutors wrote. “It is the only options that carries real consequence. Custody is the only sanction that would survive (Rosenberg’s) talent for turning consequence into theater.”
Judge Kenneth Gnoss will decide Rosenberg’s sentence.
A 180-day jail term would be well below the maximum 4 1/2-year sentence Rosenberg faced. With standard custody credits, her actual time served would likely be shorter.
Rosenberg and her group, Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, have continued to speak publicly about the case. On Monday, the organization said “hundreds” of supporters plan to attend Wednesday’s hearing, followed by a press conference with animal rights advocates. They argue Rosenberg was attempting to expose animal cruelty at the facility and rescued four birds that were in poor condition.
Prosecutors offered a different version of events, saying Rosenberg unlawfully entered the facility May 21 and June 13, 2023, searched company files, placed GPS trackers on vehicles and then removed four chickens. They noted the timing aligned with DxE’s annual liberation conference and Rosenberg’s birthday.
Rosenberg was arrested outside the courthouse in November 2023, shortly after DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years’ probation in a similar Sonoma County case. Since then, the group has expanded its activity locally — staging demonstrations outside Trader Joe’s, blocking delivery trucks, and backing a 2024 ballot measure to restrict large-scale poultry and livestock operations. Voters rejected that proposal.
Rosenberg’s trial stretched much of October before jurors deliberated for about three and a half hours and convicted her of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors. In their brief, prosecutors wrote that Rosenberg and her witnesses presented claims that were “uninformed, one-sided and divorced from reality.”
She has remained free while awaiting sentencing and told supporters outside the courthouse Oct. 29 that she was unapologetic for her actions.
DxE says any jail time could be “life-threatening” because Rosenberg has Type 1 diabetes and gastroparesis, a disorder that affects the stomach muscles and slows digestion. She used a feeding tube during the trial and said on social media that she was hospitalized in September before the case began.
Prosecutors said Rosenberg would receive appropriate treatment in custody. The brief states she would be housed near medical staff, have an emergency call button in her cell and that jail personnel would coordinate with her physician.
You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com.
