motorcyclist cleared of video of officer charge

[justalayman]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland.


Remember the motorcyclist that was arrested for illegally recording the cop that pulled him over? Well, it appears the laws aren't swinging that way, yet:


http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/maryland/wiretap-charges-tossed-in-videotaping-of-trooper-092710

 

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland.


Remember the motorcyclist that was arrested for illegally recording the cop that pulled him over? Well, it appears the laws are swinging that way, yet:


Wiretap Charges Tossed in Videotaping of Trooper

I suspected as much ... I suspect that all the states' laws will go that way eventually.

 

[alabama1980]

I figured that to be the outcome. These particular laws are something I follow closely as a photographer.

The following are the comments from judge Plitt.

“Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state are ultimately accountable to the public,” the judge wrote. “When we exercise that power in public fora, we should not expect our actions to be shielded from public observation.”

Out of curiosity, on what grounds did they obtain a search warrant in the first place? I mean I know it was due to his posting the video on youtube, but doesn't a SW have to be signed by a judge? What judge would sign based on that evidence alone? That in itself is kind of scary.

Justalayman, I don't know if this kind of thing is interesting to you, but if you haven't checked out Carlos Miller | Pixiq go have a look. It's a photographers rights website. There are a lot of the typical cop haters on there, but some of the videos get your blood boiling. I can't imagine getting arrested for the simple act of filming in public...and in the case of some, from your own house.

 

[justalayman]

I suspect the warrant was issued based on the video being posted on YouTube and it obviously being a first party video.


thanks for the link. I'll have to take a look.

 

[TigerD]

Sadly, the case was dropped, but he didn't win.

I truly hope there is a very large civil suit coming. it is the only way to make government and police begin to respect people's rights again.

**Cdwjava - there are many, many good cops -- most of them in fact. But it only takes one person urinating in the Cheerios to make the whole box smell bad.

DC

 

[justalayman]

but it was dropped because the judge said the law cited simply did not apply.

Harford County Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. ruled that the wiretap law did not apply to a traffic stop because the conversation was not private.

I would rather this result than the guy winning on some other basis. This way, it has been noted the law just is not applicable to this type of situation. If they continued to trial and he won, for whatever reason, the general consensus would still be it applies in some situations.

It obviously and simply doesn't apply at all.