OT: Is this Local Gov going too far??

[William]

Is Big Brother going a bit too far? Charged with illegal wiretapping? Confiscated his computers? ***?

I certainly don't condone his reckless idiotic public driving display, but I think they're going a bit far with this.


William

************************************************** *********

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2010/05/25/am.costello.recording.cops.cnn?hpt=T2

By Carol Costello, CNN

(CNN) – The American Civil Liberties Union is calling the case surrounding Maryland’s Anthony Graber an "extremely dangerous act of police retaliation." One that could send Graber to prison for five years.

It boils down to this: do you have the right to use your personal camera to record audio and video of someone, in this case a police officer, without his consent? What if he asks you to stop recording him? What if you don't? And, what if you then posted the recording on YouTube?

Last month, a Maryland State Trooper, in plain clothes, and driving an unmarked car, stopped Graber’s motorcycle. Police say he was driving 100 mph and “doing wheelies” on I-95 in Harford County, Maryland.

The trooper approached Graber, gun drawn. After five seconds, the officer identified himself as a police officer and put his gun away. He cited Graber for traffic violations and drove away.

Here’s where the story gets complicated.

Graber had a camera mounted on his helmet. It recorded the entire incident. Graber did not turn the camera off during the traffic stop because he was upset the trooper had drawn his gun. He posted the incident on YouTube.

It wasn’t long before police showed up at Graber’s house, served him a warrant and threatened to arrest him. “They came in and they took all of my computers and my laptop and my camera. They were going to arrest me,” said Graber.

State police did charge him with another crime: illegal wiretapping. Maryland is a two-party consent state, which means if one party asks you not to record his voice then you can't record his voice. The trooper did not give Graber permission to tape his voice, so the Harford County States Attorney said he “had no choice,” Graber “broke the law.”

“I suspect Graber had that camera on his helmet to capture himself "inciting" a police officer to post a "gotcha" on YouTube,” said States Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly.

The American Civil Liberties Union sees it another way. It calls the states attorney’s action "malicious prosecution." ACLU attorney David Rocah says, “Graber was on a public street. The officer could clearly see the camera mounted on his helmet. As a citizen, Graber has a right to record video and audio of anything he wants – if he's on a public street.”

Initial court proceedings begin June 1st.

[Ahneida Ride]

IMHO

video vindicates State Police ... They acted appropriately.
weapon was never directly pointed at the a**hole dare devil.
Trooper identified himself as soon as possible.
He stunts coulda killed a cyclist. Dave Ryan was killed by a
stunt driver. Dave Ryan was a brilliant Physicist working on next
generation medical imaging at General Electric. He research could
have saved lives.

So why are the State Police so upset?
you are gonna see more and more net censorship.

Big brother knows best.

[Peter P.]

This is an interesting situation. Many marked police cars now come equipped with video monitors mounted behind the windshield, and the officer can wear a wireless mic to record traffic stop conversations and such.

Does that mean the person stopped has the right to ask the officer to turn off their camera and mic?

Can a TV crew film police in action, with the video later being used to charge officers with a crime? Under what circumstances do the police have the right to stop a crew from filming such incidents?

[djg21]

IMHO

video vindicates State Police ... They acted appropriately.
weapon was never directly pointed at the a**hole dare devil.
Trooper identified himself as soon as possible.
He stunts coulda killed a cyclist. Dave Ryan was killed by a
stunt driver. Dave Ryan was a brilliant Physicist working on next
generation medical imaging at General Electric. He research could
have saved lives.

So why are the State Police so upset?
you are gonna see more and more net censorship.

Big brother knows best.


There are two issues here.

First, whether the State Trooper acted properly in stopping the motorcyclist. I suppose the video tells, but I haven't watched it.

The second is the so-called "wire-tap." Assuming that the Trooper was in public view while stopping the motorcyclist, he could have had no expectation of privacy, and I find it hard to believe that consent of the Trooper would have been necessary to videotape him, even in a two-party consent state.

That is not to say that the motorcyclist couldn't be charged with some other violation of state law, such as impeding a law enforcement officer in the discharge of his duties. But that would depend entirely on Maryland law.

This thread reminds me of a joke I was once told by a person in law enforcement:

What's the difference between a [insert brand of motorcycle here (so that I may avoid offending)] and a vacuum cleaner?

Punchline: The location of the dirtbag!

Seems very fitting in this case!

[SEABREEZE]

Maryland is a two-party consent state, which means if one party asks you not to record his voice then you can't record his voice

The question lies in the fact if the trooper asked him to stop recording, or perhaps one doesnt have to request it.It the law to disclose.

I seen no mention of this in OP post.

IF he did Trooper wins,

If he didnt cyclist wins.

The next thing, prove what you are saying,if the camera was rolling, the truth will come out. Perhaps that was why the computers laptop and camera were confiscated.

Kind of reminds me of the cop that pushed a bicyclist to the ground in times square, filmed by a bystander that proved what the bicyclist was saying.In which the cop was dismiised later from the police force.

It boils down to this: do you have the right to use your personal camera to record audio and video of someone, in this case a police officer, without his consent? What if he asks you to stop recording him? What if you don't? And, what if you then posted the recording on YouTube?

If thats the law on the books, thats the law regardless if you are aware of it or not.

[zap]

MD is an odd state.

Remember Linda Tripp of Monica and Bill fame. She was on the wrong side of this law too

[rugbysecondrow]

If this is a helmet cam, I wonder if it would be visible.

I am no lawyer, but isn't there a presumption that what happens in public, in view and plain sight of others, is fair game for recording? Isn't that the logic behind red light cameras, web streaming cameras in downtown areas etc? I understand private phone calls, private space and residence etc, but public streets would seem to be different.

[Dekonick]

This will be interesting to follow.

[johnnymossville]

The motorcyclist was doing stupid $hit by pulling wheelies over a hundred on 95 (I see that all the time around Baltimore by the way)

But,... I don't see in any way how that video could be illegal. He was recording before the officer stated who he was or showed a badge, and it was a public place.

For all the motorcyclist knew it was some road rager jumping out of his car with a gun. Sounds like that's exactly what the cop ended up being. A road rager.

[benb]

This has been discussed widely in motorcycle circles..

Everything I've heard from other police officers was that this officer was way out of line to pull the gun right away and not show his badge after he exited an unmarked vehicle.

The camera was very visible... which is apparently where a lot of the controversy is.. the rider was not secretly recording because the helmet camera was so conspicuous.

What would your reaction be if you remove the motorcycle and the speeding/wheelie from the equation and replace it with a bicyclist running a stop sign? It's not like the guy committed a felony with his motorcycle or was a dangerous criminal. All he was due was a ticket for reckless driving + speeding.

[JeffS]

The implication that he was baiting the officer is ridiculous. Anyone with an internet connection should know how many people are out there filming their stunts.

As for the gun... I've seriously lost count as to how many officers have approached my vehicle with a drawn gun. Come to think of it, happened a couple months back with my wife and kid in the car. Senior officer came around the right side with a gun out while rookie approached the driver window. Broad daylight driving my wife's SUV and all of us in the car. Was I supposed to file a complaint?

[rugbysecondrow]

The implication that he was baiting the officer is ridiculous. Anyone with an internet connection should know how many people are out there filming their stunts.

As for the gun... I've seriously lost count as to how many officers have approached my vehicle with a drawn gun. Come to think of it, happened a couple months back with my wife and kid in the car. Senior officer came around the right side with a gun out while rookie approached the driver window. Broad daylight driving my wife's SUV and all of us in the car. Was I supposed to file a complaint?

Driving while Jeff.

[WickedWheels]

Public road, camera in plain sight... there is no expectation of privacy. If cop cars in MD have cameras, if there are red light cameras, if there are cameras in front of government buildings then motorists should be allowed to have them as well. I've often considered filming police officers, as I see a lot of them doing some stupid stuff (i.e. turning on lights to blow through traffic lights, driving the wrong way down one-way streets, speeding, parking in the middle of the road in dangerous intersections to try to catch people for seat belt violations). Considering the stupid things that I've been stopped and ticketed for, I like to give some of that back to the cops and put some accountability on them.

That being said, the proper response by the DA should have been to file charges for reckless driving and throw the book at the motorcyclist. "Confiscating" his computer and camera equipment is over the top. If I was in a situation that stupid I would be counter-suing for harassment and cost of equipment.

[Vancouverdave]

I can only applaud that state and their cops. As someone who has been a cyclist for 40+ years, and has seen the behavior of motor vehicle operators deteriorate steadily over that time, seeing every bad thing (9/11, BP's blowout) directly or indirectly caused by excessive motor vehicle use I have come to believe that the sooner we establish a fascist police state legal structure around motor vehicle use the better. We need for drivers to fear police enough to keep 'em behaving. Yes, I drive as well as ride, thank you.