Charges Dropped In PA Video Taping Arrest 177
Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed has reversed himself completely over the charges against Brian Kelly, arrested for wiretapping after videotaping a police stop. Now let's see if they are good enough to compensate Kelly for the 26 hours he spent in jail and the anguish of the cloud over his future caused by a felony arrest. From the article: "... [DA] Freed said his decision will affect not only Brian Kelly, 18, but also will establish a policy for police departments countywide. 'When police are audio- and video-recording traffic stops with notice to the subjects, similar actions by citizens, even if done in secret, will not result in criminal charges,' Freed said yesterday. 'The law itself might need to be revised.'"
Re:First time for everything (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Cloud over his future caused by a felony arrest (Score:2, Informative)
To find you factually innocent and order the arrest records destroyed, the court must find that "no reasonable cause exists to believe that the arrestee committed the offense for which the arrest was made."
If you are successful, the police agency must seal the arrest records for three years and thereafter purge and destroy the arrest records. You will no longer need to inform an employer or licensing board of the arrest.
Now, given that there are circumstances in the U.S. justice system where you must prove your innocence or suffer consequences, we can only conclude that the bedrock principle of "Innocent Until Proven Guilty" is actually not a fundamental right.
Re:Cloud over his future caused by a felony arrest (Score:4, Informative)
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=233613&ci
Re:Cloud over his future caused by a felony arrest (Score:2, Informative)
Rubbish. If the car is not displaying a valid tax disc then the law is being broken. A quick check tells the police whether a valid disc exists for a car's registration number and, if not, it 'can' be removed and crushed. You may not like that, but I do. I pay my car tax, I have insurance and a valid driving license. I do not have problems with the police enforcing the law in this particular instance.
If 'yelling' at trespassers is likely to cause a 'breach of the peace' then an offence is being committed. The police have the right to use their discretion on how this should be treated. If, after being warned that he should stop yelling because it is an offence, the individual concerned continues to shout, then the police would be well within their rights to arrest him if it is necessary to enforce the law in this instance. However, unlike some other countries he is unlikely to be shot, nor will he be expected to endure anal rape as part of his punishment. You see, we feel that we are quite advanced and try to respect human dignity, although it is true that we sometimes fail. But nothing that would justify a revolution....
Taking into account my comments and the comments of others regarding your post, it seems that your post is based in incorrect information, probably because you are viewing this from several thousand miles away without the benefit of knowing at first hand anything about that upon which you are commenting. Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers or see on the TV. Don't even believe everything you hear on /.
You stick to the revolutions. We've not had one for several hundred years and, in many ways, I think we do well when compared with other western nations. Of course, my experience of those countries at first hand is limited, but at least I have visited many of them.
Maybe the DA should be charged under federal law.. (Score:3, Informative)
To Counter Your Point (Score:3, Informative)
It would be for any union realistically. How would you feel about being videotaped while you were working?
The difference is that police are in a position to suppress, harrass, and intimidate those who would potentially be taping their activities.
While I agree that the officer most likely did not consider wiretapping as the original charge, I would postulate that he had absolutely no reason to arrest this child. His intention was to intimidate one kid, hopefully get him charged and convicted of something, and get the word out to the local high schools that cops don't react well to cell phone videos of their activities. One can hardly surmise an excuse for arresting this child outside the scope of intimidation.
If I had a video tape of every traffic stop I received, I would have a collection of questionable police activity.
I remember one such instance very clearly. The police came up behind me with no red/blue lights at about 2:00 AM in the middle of an empty stretch of highway. They came up so fast, I was sure they were going to rear end me. I accelerated and changed lanes. They did it again. I changed lanes back trying to get away from this harassing driver. They did it a third time. At this point, a rest stop exit had popped up, so I hit the brakes to slow for the exit. Red and Blues flash. They slam open my door and yank me out of the car like I'm Rodney King, proceed to search my car - trunk and all without asking, and against my verbal demand not to do so. They gave me several sobriety tests that most sober people would have issues with. I passed, but had the sense to mention in front of the car camera - "First, you're freaking me out by how aggressive you are. Second, it's freezing out here. If I have any problems, those are contributing factors." They were totally freaking me out. I surprised myself with the presence of mind to say something like that. Then they moved me to the passenger side of the cop car and asked me how much money I had on me. I said "I don't know, let me count." Without thinking, I walked in front of the police car (where the camera would be mounted) and counted my cash. Halfway through the cop grabbed my arm, pulled me back to the side of the car and said "forget it, put your money back in your wallet". They cited me for 140 mph. My car shaked severely at 125 because of a poorly installed sunroof, but regardless I was doing 75 when they nearly rammed me. 140 would normally get you thrown in jail, a wreckless driving charge, and a towed car. They cited me and let me go.
These kinds of things happen all the time all over the country. I had another cop pull me out of the middle of a big traffic cluster with 25+ cars all going the same speed. He laughed. "I just really wanted to get me a Porsche. I've been weaving through cars for 20 miles to get to you." I have had my car searched at least a dozen times in my life with zero cause and without permission. I've been detained and released without charges - and I was a stinking passenger on that one. I've had six guns drawn at me once with barking police dogs on the background (no citation, no charge).
I had a cop order me to my knees at gunpoint in my garage. My neighbor popped his head over the fence and said "What's going on?" The cop jumped 180 degrees and nearly shot my neighbor who he ordered back into his house. Then he jumped 180 degrees and nearly shot me all while I was pleading "please don't shoot me." A family member drove up. They left. No charges. Thought I was a burglar. They laughed on their way out and the partner slapped him on the butt and said "oh well, next time." No apology.
I'm not black. These things didn't happen in the ghetto. I'm no gang member. I don't look like one. I don't hang out with the wrong people. I'm just a regular guy - computer nerd. I'm not cocky or rude to police (they'd probably beat me if I was). Fo