What is the name of your state? MICHIGAN (occurred in Kalamazoo)
7 years ago a party of a friend's house was going on across the street. Police officers were testy, and took down a friend of mine by (what I think was) excessive force. At the time, I was sitting on my own porch, directly across the street. I boo'd the police officers, held up a water pump from a fish tank and said "Mr. Officer, do you need a penis enlarger??", and then before heading inside cried out 'Freedom of Speech!'. No warnings were even hinted at me before an officer right after the fact walked up to my porch, asked for my ID, just took my wallet, cuffed me, and took me to jail. I pled not guilty, was going to fight it, had another pre-trial scheduled, skipped it for a job (plane trip) thinking they'd take my bail money as the maximum fine for the 'offense' and being auto-guilty, but that didn't happen. I had a warrant out this whole time, but I got that part resolved after recently finding out. That part is resolved w/o offense, so now I'm back to the original 'offense'.
The local law states that any volume, measured or unmeasured that's deemed excessive is a violation. It's very open-ended, no times of day, etc. IMO, it means that it's a judgement call, and that some excessive noise violations (I assume most are due to crowds of people and/or music at night) can be very argumentative.
I didn't yell loud, as I didn't really have to, being about 30 feet away. There were 3 police cruisers. I believe WHAT I said, not the volume, made them arrest me. Especially since a local General Order (64) states that tickets are to be given out, and arrests of such offenses only if the person is a repeat offender, identity problems, or were non-cooperative face to face. WHAT I say doesn't make the specific law any more applicable (even the prosecutor didn't argue with me on this during pre-trial)... and in fact, me saying something rude, IMO, would actually bring up reasonable doubt that they did arrest me for what I said not not how loud I said it.
When arriving at the police station, other police officers joked, "Is this the guy who yelled Freedom of Speech?" Additionally, they gave me a breathilizer, me blowing a .09, which at the time, was less than the required amount to even get a DWI -- and I was on my own property. Additionally, in the police reports, they both say that I was very cooperative when arrested and that there were no problems at all.
My settlement meeting is on the 19th, one day before the JURY TRIAL I opt'd for. The prosecutor was very feisty toward me. My question is -- what should I keep in mind? Is it realisitic for me to fight this? Should I settle?
Technically I could face up to 90 days in jail... and the current charges are now up to $500 (I had $100 bail, and at the time that was the max $$ fine which they still have).
Any feedback would be great!! Thanks!!
Todd
[email protected]
7 years ago a party of a friend's house was going on across the street. Police officers were testy, and took down a friend of mine by (what I think was) excessive force. At the time, I was sitting on my own porch, directly across the street. I boo'd the police officers, held up a water pump from a fish tank and said "Mr. Officer, do you need a penis enlarger??", and then before heading inside cried out 'Freedom of Speech!'. No warnings were even hinted at me before an officer right after the fact walked up to my porch, asked for my ID, just took my wallet, cuffed me, and took me to jail. I pled not guilty, was going to fight it, had another pre-trial scheduled, skipped it for a job (plane trip) thinking they'd take my bail money as the maximum fine for the 'offense' and being auto-guilty, but that didn't happen. I had a warrant out this whole time, but I got that part resolved after recently finding out. That part is resolved w/o offense, so now I'm back to the original 'offense'.
The local law states that any volume, measured or unmeasured that's deemed excessive is a violation. It's very open-ended, no times of day, etc. IMO, it means that it's a judgement call, and that some excessive noise violations (I assume most are due to crowds of people and/or music at night) can be very argumentative.
I didn't yell loud, as I didn't really have to, being about 30 feet away. There were 3 police cruisers. I believe WHAT I said, not the volume, made them arrest me. Especially since a local General Order (64) states that tickets are to be given out, and arrests of such offenses only if the person is a repeat offender, identity problems, or were non-cooperative face to face. WHAT I say doesn't make the specific law any more applicable (even the prosecutor didn't argue with me on this during pre-trial)... and in fact, me saying something rude, IMO, would actually bring up reasonable doubt that they did arrest me for what I said not not how loud I said it.
When arriving at the police station, other police officers joked, "Is this the guy who yelled Freedom of Speech?" Additionally, they gave me a breathilizer, me blowing a .09, which at the time, was less than the required amount to even get a DWI -- and I was on my own property. Additionally, in the police reports, they both say that I was very cooperative when arrested and that there were no problems at all.
My settlement meeting is on the 19th, one day before the JURY TRIAL I opt'd for. The prosecutor was very feisty toward me. My question is -- what should I keep in mind? Is it realisitic for me to fight this? Should I settle?
Technically I could face up to 90 days in jail... and the current charges are now up to $500 (I had $100 bail, and at the time that was the max $$ fine which they still have).
Any feedback would be great!! Thanks!!
Todd
[email protected]