Motorcyclist wins taping case against Maryland state police

[variablebinary]

There is no way in hell this case should have gone any other way.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/28/followup-motorcyclist-wins-taping-case-against-maryland-state-p/


Score one for the good guys. Not that we think police in general are bad guys or anything, but after watching this video of a Maryland state trooper jumping out of his unmarked car in plain clothes while brandishing a gun, we're not exactly keen to put him in the good guy category, either.

[Belmont31R]

Im sure the LEO jumping out in the middle of the road while brandishing a pistol and wearing plain clothes felt bad so we can't blame him, and he probably didn't have the best administrators on his side either.


But that guy riding the bike is a shit bag, drug addict, low life, and deserved everything he got.

[kal]

The motorcyclist was going to get charged with felony wiretapping? Sometimes I question the country I live in.

[mr_smiles]

The motorcyclist was going to get charged with felony wiretapping? Sometimes I question the country I live in.


You haven't been keeping up with all this have you? It's some how illegal now to video tape police offers in public, more than one case has been brought up.

Don't worry however, it's not an equal system, you see LE can still wiretap your vehicle with out a warrant if your vehicle is visible from a road. Because of course, you can't expect privacy on your property if I can see it.

[kwelz]

Im sure the LEO jumping out in the middle of the road while brandishing a pistol and wearing plain clothes felt bad so we can't blame him, and he probably didn't have the best administrators on his side either.


But that guy riding the bike is a shit bag, drug addict, low life, and deserved everything he got.


Wow. A bit opinionated there?
Guy was doing stupid shit on his bike sure. He even admits this. I know many people, including officers who have done equally stupid stuff. This doesn't make it right or good, but don't try to act like he did something evil that has never been done before.

I would also like to see some info backing up the drug addict claim. Not that I doubt you but this is the first I have heard of it.

And we absolutely can blame the officer for his actions.
I honestly feel he got really lucky here. How many of us would have reacted a lot more aggressively if someone jumped out of their car and started to pull a weapon on us? I know my first reaction would have been to go for my gun. I don't care what they are yelling, if I don't see a badge or uniform, they are a threat at that point.

The ironic thing is all this is that even the rider admits he was doing stupid shit. He was fine with the ticket he got for it. The real problems started when the police decided to get vindictive and pull out these BS charges to try and get back at him for showing one of their own doing something stupid.

What it comes down to is this. It doesn't matter what stupid shit the rider does or was doing. The officer still did something wrong. Originally it turned out to be relatively minor because he didn't get shot for it. However the action after that by the officials were absolutely deplorable and can not be justified.

There are a lot of officers on this board. I can't see a single one doing something like this.

[John_Wayne777]

Im sure the LEO jumping out in the middle of the road while brandishing a pistol and wearing plain clothes felt bad so we can't blame him, and he probably didn't have the best administrators on his side either.


But that guy riding the bike is a shit bag, drug addict, low life, and deserved everything he got.

While I understand that you aren't happy about the outcome of the Las Vegas Costco shooting inquest, that doesn't buy you a free pass to start trouble.

Posts designed solely to rile people up and cause fights are not welcome here.

May I politely suggest that you knock it off.


The motorcyclist was going to get charged with felony wiretapping? Sometimes I question the country I live in.

He was charged under a Maryland law that says you have to have the consent of everyone being recorded to videotape audio and video. Charging him on a violation of that law was ridiculous.

[Alex V]

stupid question:

Since the officer was in plain clothes, driving an unmarked car, pulled over the biker by [I am assuming] using his vehicle not the non existant lights on top of it, then ran out with a gun. If the biker had a CCW, considred this a threat, unholstered his weapon and killed the cop. Would the biker be at fault?

To me this is a clear abuse of power by the cops and DA in order to cover up police misconduct. But I am no expert.

[Entropy]

It's a shame that the MD state attorney even filed these charges with the incredibly high probability that the case would be thrown out. Sometimes judges get very tired of officers throwing the book at a defendant when the charges surpass the realm of common sense on the prosecution's part. Maintaining an unbias and professional relationship with your judges can make or break future cases.

The officer did have authority to stop the motorcycle, but he could have done a much better job of visually and audibly identifying himself other than his pistol. Particularly being in an unmarked and in plaincloths, he should have flashed a badge and yelled "police" several times. For most agencies, the only time that you can stop someone from filming you is if it prevents you from utilizing your full scope of safety precautions. For instance, anyone filming can be told to stand away from the contact to a sufficient safety distance dictated by the situation. If the contact is half naked, there are children involved, or there is some circumstance were the average person would expect some degree of privacy or child protection, the camera/film can be seized until the incident is over. We can also seize cameras/film in high security areas, or if it might contain evidence of a crime(usually can't be view unless by warrant though). Finally, a law enforcement contact is bound to obey an officer's "reasonable" orders which are defined as those that would normally excersized by an officer to control the contact under a reasonable level of safety. That includes controlling the contacts hands, and objects within reach of the contact.

If the officer knew that there was a camera involved in the incident, that camera could have been declared as evidence and seized until the case was settled. Or the camera and film could have been subpeonaed as evidence to be brought to court by the defendant, and if the film was altered in any way.....or not brought to court in its entirety the defendant would have been charged with evidence tampering.

Charging the defendant with wire tapping and that the officer had a right to privacy during the commission of his duties was a very idiotic way to go about it.

[RWK]

stupid question:

Since the officer was in plain clothes, driving an unmarked car, pulled over the biker by [I am assuming] using his vehicle not the non existant lights on top of it, then ran out with a gun. If the biker had a CCW, considred this a threat, unholstered his weapon and killed the cop. Would the biker be at fault?

To me this is a clear abuse of power by the cops and DA in order to cover up police misconduct. But I am no expert.

Based upon what I saw and heard on the video, were I the motorcyclist, we'd have been fighting.

[ST911]

Parties to an event or conversation in a public or private place should have absolute right to record it via both audio and video. No exemptions for anyone. (Often referred to as "one party consent")

Parties in a public place, whether a party to an event or conversation or not, should be similarly entitled.

Owners of publicly accessible private places, same.

[Irish]

Wow. A bit opinionated there?
I honestly think he was just being sarcastic.


Based upon what I saw and heard on the video, were I the motorcyclist, we'd have been fighting.

Really? He wouldn't have caught me :sarcastic: I'm glad the judge used some common sense and threw the case out. Anybody know what happened to the officer?

[ForTehNguyen]

keep hearing many bad things about MD cops. Especially after seeing that U of M beatdown where the relevant 30 seconds of video had "technical malfunctions". Nice "wiretapping" laws to protect bad cops.

[Ejh28]

Anybody know what happened to the officer?

That's what I want to know. Because in my mind he was WAY out of line.

[GermanSynergy]

*Double post*

[GermanSynergy]

keep hearing many bad things about MD cops. Especially after seeing that U of M beatdown where the relevant 30 seconds of video had "technical malfunctions". Nice "wiretapping" laws to protect bad cops.

The vast majority of LEOs in Maryland are good guys doing a difficult job. Not knowing all of the details of the case, I'll refrain from jumping to conclusions.

[Ejh28]

I've been pulled over for speeding before, one time it was for going well over 100pmh on a highway. But I have never had a gun pulled on me by any police officer due to a traffic violation. It's not like the guy was running from him, he was on an exit ramp. I feel that the police officer should have called it in (like he did), and then on the ramp CLEARLY identified himself as a LEO before doing anything. No need what-so-ever for pulling out his sidearm.

I'm not an internet Rambo that thinks I could have drawn from concealment and beaten the cop to the trigger, since he was already showing his gun, but I know I would have dumped the clutch and gotten the hell out of dodge. I wonder if there will be a civil suit on this.

*EDIT*
I have family members that are police, and I know it's a tough job, please don't think I'm ragging on all police. I have a lot of respect for the good ones.

[RogerinTPA]

There is no way in hell this case should have gone any other way.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/28/followup-motorcyclist-wins-taping-case-against-maryland-state-p/

Good.

As articulated by Judge Andrew Nepolitono on Fox this morning, LEOs are in the public domain and should be allowed to be observed/watched/videoed to prevent LEOs from treading on your Civil Rights in the performance of their duties. He further stated he suspects that it is that very reason the law was implemented, to prevent LEOs from getting "Caught" violating your rights.

However, the law has not been removed, just the decision over turned, so I suspect this will not be the last incident.

[Moose-Knuckle]

While the wire tapping farce was a stretch of the imagination it doesn't change the fact that the stunt rider is a douche.

[pilotguyo540]

While the wire tapping farce was a stretch of the imagination it doesn't change the fact that the stunt rider is a douche.

You took the words out of my mouth!!!

One thing I did see was that there was a marked police car behind him. He probably already knew he was busted and not just surprised by the unmarked cop.