Last month, a video went viral showing a Connecticut resident was protesting a DUI checkpoint because of his belief that it was an unconstitutional waste of taxpayer money. He was holding up signs just a few miles before the checkpoint, warning drivers police would stop them. Due to the growing suspicion of police, the protester brought a camera, just in case.
The camera showed three officers, once of whom walked up to the protester and illegally seized his camera, claiming it was illegal for the protester to take his picture (not true). What he didn’t know was that the camera was on video mode and was actively recording everything. So, when the officer walked back and set the camera on top of the car, he had no idea it was still recording while the three officers began fabricating criminal charges to hit the protesters with.
“You want to punch a number on this either way?” (This is police slang for opening up an investigation involving a case number)
“Gotta cover our ass.”
“We could hit him with reckless use of the highway by a pedestrian and creating a public disturbance.” “And then we claim in backup we had multiple people who stopped to complain. They didn’t want to stay and offer a statement, so we took our own course of action.”
Now, the protester and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit saying the three police officers retaliated against the protester, violated his First Amendment right to protest and his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.
If Police Are Fabricating Criminal Charges for Your Case, Contact a Texas Criminal Defense Attorney
Police have a responsibility to uphold the law, but are not allowed to create random reasons to punish law-abiding citizens just because the police don’t like what they are doing (or in this case, protesting). If you have been charged with a crime and you believe police fabricated the charges for the sake of charging you, you’re going to want a successful Dallas criminal defense attorney on your side to help you through this.
The Goolsby Law Firm is a Texas criminal defense law firm with offices in the Dallas, Plano, Arlington, Fort Worth and Denton areas. We offer free consultations.
