Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Hanley Chew on Tuesday denied a motion by the District Attorney’s Office seeking to bar defense attorneys from referencing “genocide” in the felony vandalism trial of five pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Stanford University.

In a related decision earlier Tuesday, Chew also denied a motion to exclude political motivations from being argued by the defense, but said any discussion would be “severely limited” under evidentiary rules.

“What I’m going to rule is this: I will deny the prosecution’s motion. However, I would ask defense counsel to be very judicious with the use of the word ‘genocide,’ because, as all of you pointed out, the word is very powerful and politically charged. If I feel that parties are exploiting that word, I’ll sustain an objec

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