The Baltimore Sun reported yesterday that the case against motorcyclist Anthony Graber has been dismissed. Mr. Graber was speeding down the highway, popping wheelies, when an unmarked car pulled in front of him. The driver of the car pulled out a gun before announcing he was a police officer. I’ve written about it a bunch and am sort of in a rush so I’m not going to link to all of the previous entries right now (I know, bad for my google juice.) Anyway, the Judge wrote: “Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state are ultimately accountable to the public. When we exercise that power in public fora, we should not expect our actions to be shielded from public observation. ‘Sed quis custodiet ipsos cutodes’ (“Who watches the watchmen?”).”
Here’s a longer article with some tasty snippets from the police chief and the State’s Attorney.
I’ve been trying to find a copy of the decision online but can’t right now. I’m writing an article right now, and I’ve got to edit out all the swear words. If I get to another part of Maryland this week I’ll see if I can pick up a copy of the decision and publish it here for you all.
UPDATE:
Found it here
Copy of the Motion to Suppress.
Power to the people, or something like it.
What has really been missed is this nutcase cop is still a cop.
On his writ for the unfounded warrant he goes in great detail about the stop; except for very important parts. THERE IS NO MENTION OF HIM PULLING HIS GUN.. There also is no use of deadly force report filed either. The traffic tickets issued to the motorcycle rider is again from this nut case cop.. Watch the video; the rider is backing up when he sees the cop – unknown to him he's a cop; EXIT HIS CAR PULL HIS GUN AND APPROACH HIM WITH A "ROAD RAGE" LOOK ON HIS FACE. that is when he starts to backup ON HIS MOTORCYCLE.
AGAIN WATCH THIS NUT CASE COP SEE THE MARKED CAR PULL UP BEHIND THEM; HE SHIELDS HIS GUN FROM VIEW FROM THE OTHER COP AND HOLSTERS IT STANDING NEXT TO THE MOTORCYCLE RIDER.
It is appalling and disgusting that this kind of thing can happen in America. The police are supposed to be there to protect us.
They shouldn't do anything on duty that they wouldn't want to be filmed doing. Anthony Graber is not a criminal, he is a victim of a terribly flawed system.
I have served in the US military, and have had professional police training afterwards. I do not work for a police department now – but after reading this – I don't think I would want to. This is 100% wrong, and it should never happen in what is supposed to be the greatest country in the world.
There was a marked car right behind him. The motorcyclist knew the cops where pulling him over. A report for "deady force" when none was used is not even in the cards.
Did the cop over react. A little, the gun drawn bit was to intimidate the cyclist into being arrested imho. There was plenty of room for the cyclist to get away and the cops both marked and unmarked would be unable to follow.
The illegal wiretaping charge was overzealous and shameful on there part. That is the important stuff. Not the hamfisted counter swing by the previous commenter.
By serving hyperbole with hyperbole you obstiicate the important bits.
I agree with you that the real issue is with the wiretapping charge. I must not have made myself clear enough.
It is already established that the cyclist knew that he broke the law. He received a ticket – and deserved it.
But – part that I see as appalling and inexcusable – was the decision to file wiretapping charges against this individual.
In my professional training and experience – I find those charges to be unacceptable and unethical.
It goes back to what I said before:
The police should not be doing anything on duty that they would not want to be filmed doing.
But to clarify, the police officer did not do anything wrong during the stop.
Cadets and new officers are told that their life is now a fish bowl. There should not be any expectation of privacy for a police officer while he or she is on duty.
Filing charges against this individual for recording the police is absurd. This isn't NAZI Germany. This isn't a dictatorship. This is America – and this individual is clearly the victim of a flawed system.
I find it disturbing that a warrant was issued and this persons home was violated and he was arrested for recording audio/video the same traffic stop that the second marked police car was also recording audio/video(with tax payer purchased equipment no less)
Coldac911, Anthony Graber was not arrested, thank God, but I agree with you 100% on all the other stuff you said.
He was not arrested but spent 26 hours in jail….sounds like being arrested to me.
By the way, for those not familiar with what happens when the police perform a warranted search on a home, "violated" does not adequately describe the treatment of one's possessions or one's home.
I was visited by the police one evening after work. They'd come with a search and arrest warrant for my roommate, as well as all devices capable of storing electronic media.
I spent the following two and a half hours with my hands cuffed behind my back in my living room because they did not feel like releasing me to simply wait outside the apartment.
They kicked through the door to an unoccupied room that hadn't had a tenant inside in over a year. My roommate was in the other room at that end of the hall. When searching, they are not obliged to show any form of respect to one's belongings. Every drawer and shelf was ransacked and items strewn across the floor. The camera was not carried in until after they'd left a hole in a door that necessitated purchasing a replacement and hiring the labor for its installation.
Oh, and that door was nonstandard. Didn't exist in any home improvement store I could find. Had to be special-ordered.
At least I got my stuff back, right? Nine months later, after my roommate had finally (or finally been given the opportunity and) plead guilty to various charges, when my computers were no longer "evidence" I got them back, thankfully undamaged. But you know, there's this little matter of software licenses expiring, antivirus and the like included. I'd just renewed most of that stuff in the April or May before my stuff was taken.
I think the real moral of the story is…Baltimore sucks.
COps who do this sort of thing should be punished severly and in public. The cop should have been fired and arrested for abusing his power. The cop's supervisor should have been arrested on malicious prosecution charges for allowing Graber's door to be kicked in and finally, Graber should get to name his compensation becuase nothing like this could ever set you straight afterwards …. Graber will be afraid and worried everytime he sees police lights… The leo metaility should be reigned in publicly and across america becuase if we don't these overgrown egos and bodies will take us back to the rules of the jungle. If I can't trust the cops I will have to prepare to defend against them. That attitude alone will make their job almost impossible and they will encounter more and more resistance until someone decides to pull the plug on reason and just go toe to toe with the cops. The advantage is with the angry person because they can get mch better equipment than the cops have. In other words, my message to cops is, reign yourselves in or the people might just have to do it for you and in a way that you don't like.