Re: Arrested for Obstruction
Questions of the type you were asking don't get asked at the scene. They get asked in the courtroom. Failure to obey a lawful order to leave private property could have resulted in a trespass charge in addition to the obstruction charge. When police say leave, you go, lest you risk...wait for it....arrest for obstruction. If you want to argue about it, the time is when before the judge fighting the citation, not while remaining to bicker after being told, more than once, to leave. For your own sake, let an ATTORNEY battle the citation on your behalf in court, lest you similarly put the judge in a position to act to get compliance in the courtroom.
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
The officer was in no way "hindering" you. You failed, repeatedly I dare say, to obey a lawful order and were arrested for it. Secondly, the time and place for your line of questioning is supposed to be a courtroom, not curbside at the time of offense.
Maybe you can get the ACLU to explain that to ya.
Yes I did watch the video.....now trying to get the 6 minutes 39 seconds of my life back that I wasted on the viewing. Like Catherine advised, your best bet would be to have a lawyer speak for you in court lest you upset the judge and end up doing a year for contempt.
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
"(You can hear me click my seat belt and i put the key in)."
this does not mean you were trying to leave the parking lot. In fact, you were told numerous times, by a police officer, to leave the property, and you chose to act like a smart ass.
I watched enough of the video to say....you need a lawyer. Because you don't want this played for a judge or jury. Because after less than 30 seconds, if I were a juror, I would be saying "GUILTY!"
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
You clearly ignored a lawful order to leave, by insisting on your little Perry Mason act.
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
While the officer did tell me to leave the property, what gives him this power?
I was not committing a crime being parked there, if anything, according to ACLU v. Alvarez and Gilk v. Boston I have the right to film police on such area. It seems my right to the "the free discussion of governmental affairs" as ruled in Gilk V. Boston was infringed upon. From the video you can see the only reason he asked me to leave was because I had a camera pointed at him and was commenting on what happened.
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
You can discuss what you believe your rights to be with the lawyer you hire to represent you for this charge.
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
Quote:
Quoting
wildcat1337
From the video you can see the only reason he asked me to leave was because I had a camera pointed at him and was commenting on what happened.
From the video you would also appear to be on private property which wasn't yours and which you were lawfully ordered to vacate - after which you remained. The only reason that matters is the reason the jury finds - the reason you're proposing is one of MANY possibilities - not a single "only" reason - most of which will result in "guilty". Having the right to film there doesn't equate to the right to be ON that property. Again, get an attorney.
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
Quote:
Quoting
wildcat1337
While the officer did tell me to leave the property, what gives him this power?
The state of Georgia and the municpality or the county where the officer is employed.
Quote:
I was not committing a crime being parked there,
So, you DID have permission to be on the property? If not, then you should have left. When you refused to leave you were committing the crime of criminal trespass in the presence of the officer. My thought is that he should have arrested you for THAT offense, not for obstruction. He'll probably have to do a more intense tapdance to make an obstruction charge fit the bill - and it will almost certainly have to be for something more than your filming him ... but, it is by no means an impossible order.
Re: Arrested for Obstruction
Quote:
Quoting
cdwjava
The state of Georgia and the municpality or the county where the officer is employed.
So, you DID have permission to be on the property? If not, then you should have left. When you refused to leave you were committing the crime of criminal trespass in the presence of the officer. My thought is that he should have arrested you for THAT offense, not for obstruction. He'll probably have to do a more intense tapdance to make an obstruction charge fit the bill - and it will almost certainly have to be for something more than your filming him ... but, it is by no means an impossible order.
How does criminal trespass apply here? No where in 16-7-21 does it say you need permission to enter one's property. I did have a reason to be there - getting pulled over (it was in town, so there is no shoulder on the road) -it maintained the safety and integrity of the main road. There was no notice from the owner saying entry is forbidden, or no notice from the owner saying to leave. Georgia does not have "simple trespass".
Seems like that statue does not give police the authority solely themselves to tell me to leave since I did have a reason to be there.