And while we celebrate freedom and democracy, we should also understand that we are not technically a democracy, but a republic.

The above video does a good job on explaining the differences.

The one part that struck me is how in a democracy, a mob of cowboys who chase down a single horseman for some alleged crimes will be able to hang him instantly by a vote of the majority.

In a republic, this mob would be required to take the lone suspect back to town where he would be entitled to a fair trial.

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Photo by Michael Wolf

Photo by Michael Wolf

By Carlos Miller
The New York Times photo blog posted an incredible collection of photos by Michael Wolf, who specializes in cityscape photography.

The photos of the buildings he takes are riveting with their constrained geometric patterns and sharp details.

But the photos he takes of the people inside their sanitariums of solitude are almost as compelling, if not more.

The question that has arose on the NYT blog is about whether or not Wolf was invading these people’s privacy?

Or did these people have an expectation of privacy by leaving their blinds open even though they knew they were surrounded by high rises?

The Times did not even think about this issue when they posted 20 of Wolf’s photos in a slideshow yesterday. It wasn’t until a few commenters started raising the issue that they were forced to post an update. Those damn commenters.

Update | 12:44 p.m. A number of readers (Comments 2, 4, 6 and 19) have wrestled with the question of whether Mr. Wolf crossed a line of privacy in showing people so recognizably in their homes and offices. As we understand it, the legal question is whether the subject of the photo had a reasonable expectation of privacy. In most states, the courts tend to side with photographers who are on public property, or their own property, and take pictures of things that could be witnessed by any passer-by. The thinking is that people have no expectation of privacy if they have placed themselves where strangers can glimpse them. In the next week or so, we hope to revisit this whole subject in greater depth.

I’m a little torn on this one because I can see both sides. But I will have to side with the photographer in this one because if those people truly wanted privacy, they could have drawn the blinds.

Perhaps they will once they see these photos.

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Here you have an officer who is 52 years old; a 20 year veteran with the New York Police Department who moves down to Florida and gets a job with the Tarpon Springs Police Department.

Jeffrey Robinson is also black, so he has probably been on the receiving end of racial slurs before. Especially from those he has arrested. So you would think he would learn to ignore it.

Think again.

On January 28, Robinson arrested a homeless man on trespassing charges. John Bilawsky used racial slurs against him during the ride to jail.

On February 8, Robinson is apparently still bothered by these slurs so he enters the storage room of the Pinellas County Jail and removes Bilawsky’s bicycle, slashes it tires and places it back into the storage room.

You would think that after 11 days of plotting revenge, he would have noticed that there is a video camera in the storage room.

He didn’t.

The video showed him removing the bike, then replacing it with wobbly wheels. After an internal investigation, he resigned to avoid being fired.

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If you remember, one officer was involved in both of them. I’ve been following this closely on NBCMiami.

Today, police acknowledged that they are not even sure that the second man they killed was armed when he they shot him. Initially, they were saying he died in a shootout.

The officer involved in both shootings was also accused of domestic violence ten years ago, which may or may not be relevant depending on whom you ask. But it is public record nonetheless so it should be reported. Check out the comments in that story.

The first suspect that was shot was also unarmed but today they released a video showing either him or his brother with something beneath his shirt.

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It happened in San Diego County last weekend when a deputy responding to the noise complaint appeared “out of control” with a “raged look in his eyes.”

And no, we’re not talking a house party filled with drunken teenagers but a political fundraiser attended by middle-aged people, mostly females.

Some of the attendees happened to be lesbians, so maybe that had an effect on San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Marshall Abbott, who ended up dousing guests with pepper spray, pulling out a stun gun and dropping a 60-year-old woman to the floor.

Abbott, 29, is now being investigated by the District Attorney’s Office. They should probably test him for steroids.

Before the chaotic evening was over, a police helicopter, canine unit, fire engine and several marked units responded to the scene to assist Abbott, who, of course, was in fear for his life.

Naturally, anybody attempting to document the deputy’s actions were also arrested, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Seven guests were arrested for taking photos with a cell phone camera and talking back to an officer; most were released at the scene, they said.

The incident occurred in the home of Shari Barman and Jane Stratton, who are not only living in sin but happen to support  a democratic candidate for congress.

They had organized a fundraiser for candidate Francine Busby, a 58-year-old woman who is running for congress in 2010. About 30 people showed up.

Between 8:30 and 9 p.m., Busby was on a microphone trying to rile up her group of Golden Girls and Guys.

But a neighbor, most likely a republican, started shouting obscenities towards Busby from behind a wall.

He is also probably the one who called deputies complaining about the noise. Apparently, the Encinitas community of Cardiff-by-the-Sea likes to tap out early.

Shortly after 9 pm, Deputy Abbott entered the residence and asked Barman for her date-of-birth. Now we all know how sensitive some women get about their age, especially when they are 60, so she turned and walked away.

It is her house, after all.

Feeling disrespected, Abbott grabbed Barman’s right arm, twisted it behind her back and threw her to the ground.

When other ladies tried to intervene, Abbott began dousing them with pepper spray. Then he called for back-up.

Meanwhile, at least one lady called 911 because Abbott appeared out of control.

“He had a raged look in his eyes and his head was bobbing from side to side,” said Kimberley Beatty, who attended the event. She said she called 911 to report that the officer “appeared to be out of control.”

The result was a helicopter, canine unit, fire truck and eight squard cars rushing to the scene.

Barman was charged with “suspicion of battery on a peace officer,” as well as “resisting, delaying and obstructing a peace officer.”

Your tax dollars at work.

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Robert Taylor is asking for $2 million, including $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

His attorney, Gerald Cohen, said although he might not receive that much, he can easily receive a five-figure settlement.

“It’s outrageous, they didn’t even read the laws,” Cohen said in a phone interview. “They were just bullying him around for no reason.”

Cohen, a Photography is Not a Crime sponsor, also represented Duane Kerzic of Amtrak fame.

Kerzic received a five-figure settlement after he was arrested for photographing Amtrak trains for an Amtrak photo contest he was planning to enter.

Also, another photographer whom Cohen did not represent received $31,000 after he was arrested for photographing trains in New York City.

Like the Kerzic case, this incident was ripe with irony.

As an MTA employee and train aficionado, Taylor is well-informed on the policies and laws regarding photographing trains. He uses the photos as screen savers on his computer.

In fact, when he was approached by the officer, he informed him of the specific statute that permits photography in the train stations.

“The cop said, ‘our rules are different than the MTA rules,’” Cohen said.

Nevertheless, the cop used the same statute to charge Taylor.

The statute, 1050.9 (c), states the following:

Photography, filming or video recording in any facility or conveyance is permitted except that ancillary equipment such as lights, reflectors or tripods may not be used. Members of the press holding valid identification issued by the New York City Police Department are hereby authorized to use necessary ancillary equipment. All photographic activity must be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

Taylor wasn’t using lights, reflectors or tripods at the time. All he was doing was holding a camera, which is permitted.

“It doesn’t even say he was using these things in the summons,” Cohen said.

Not surprisingly, they dropped the charges against him.

Check out the lawsuit here.

State Complaint Taylor

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By Carlos Miller
A King County Sheriff’s deputy who viciously beat a teenage girl in a holding cell may wind up facing federal charges for the incident that was caught on video.

And that could result in a longer prison term for Paul Schene, who attacked the 15-year-old girl after she flipped her sneaker at him.

Schene said the sneaker caused him “injury and pain” - which is why he pounced on her; kicking her, punching her and dragging her down by the hair before planting his knee on her back and punching her a couple more times.

The girl was charged with third-degree assault, which is a Class C felony in Washington, punishable by up to five years in prison.

After the video emerged, Schene was charged with fourth-degree assault, which is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail.

Apparently, the gross discordance wasn’t lost on the U.S. Justice Department, which rejected a plea deal conjured by prosecutors that would have allowed Schene to serve between six to nine months in jail if he resigned from the sheriff’s office.

If the Justice Department decides to indict Schene, he could serve up to three-and-a-half years in prison, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

His trial is set for September 9. He remains on paid administrative leave.

Schene has been involved in two-officer involved shootings during his eight-year career, including shooting a mentally ill man 11 times in the back during a 2006 traffic stop.

Shortly after the shooting, he was stopped for driving under the influence after mixing alcohol with prescription medicine. He received a deferred sentence and was placed on probation.

As Injustice Everywhere (formerly Injustice in Seattle) could tell us, justice in King County is far from just. And the fact that it needs the feds to step in to ensure that justice gets served should be a complete embarrassment to them.

Of the more than 100 comments in the Seattle P.I. article, the following came from somebody who claims to be former King County deputy Joseph Pellegrini.

As a former deputy (and whistle blower) with the King County Sheriff’s Office, I would just like to clarify the difference between “excessive force” (the use of more force than necessary to effect a lawful action) and “unnecessary force” (the use of force when no force is necessary or lawful)… and from what I saw on the video footage, the deputy in question clearly used unnecessary force… Even if the deputy in question legitimately felt he needed to control or restrain the young girl after she had flipped her shoe(s) at him, all the deputy had to do was simply close the door to the holding cell… She was already in custody! There was absolutely no reasonable excuse for the deputy to use any force whatsoever… So, PLEASE, tell me why this “deputy” is still being paid on administrative leave and has not terminated already? Again, way to go, King County Sheriff’s Office! What a disgrace.

Pellegrini was fired from the King County Sheriff’s Office for complaining about fellow deputies who were instructing rookies to profile people based on race and income. In a 2005 Seattle P.I. article, he stated the following:

“They seem to protect their own at any cost. That’s the cost of someone’s career like mine,” said Pellegrini, 37. “They have these renegade deputies running around in the field. It’s a can of worms and they don’t want to open it up. They don’t want to clean house, or they aren’t able to clean house.”

That can of worms looks like its beginning to spill over.

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But that didn’t stop Jackson from claiming on his report that it was the man who struck him first, then tackled him into traffic.

Jackson not only proved to be a boldface liar, but a dimwitted idiot as well.

Steven Jackson

After all, he specifically told Shawn Leake that he was being “visually recorded” during the May 25, 2008 traffic stop.

Didn’t he think a defense attorney would subpoena the tape?

After watching the tape, prosecutors dropped all charges against Leake, including assault on a police officer, reckless conduct and failure to obey a lawful order.

Jackson obviously doesn’t think about the consequences of his overly aggressive actions because three months after this incident, he shot and killed an unarmed man for carrying an open container of beer.

In that incident, Jackson claimed that he “feared for his life” - which has become such a cliche in these unjust killings.

But three witnesses, including Espina’s son, say he was not resisting when he was beaten and shot. An autopsy revealed that Espina suffered blunt force injuries to his face and arms.

Jackson is still on paid administrative leave for the August 16, 2008 shooting, suggesting that the Prince George’s County Police Department is a lot more thorough in its investigations than the Miami Beach Police Department, which allowed an officer to return to duty just four days after shooting an unarmed man - only to kill again.

Or perhaps the Prince George’s County Police Department was just hoping people would forget about the controversial shooting.

Little did they know that Jackson would make the news again for the incident in which he pulled Leake over for having illegal tints.

During the traffic stop, Jackson had some type of issue with Leake’s insurance documents and ordered him to step out of the car.

Leake inquired why he needed to step out of the car, which infuriated Jackson.

“Step out of the car now, or I’ll have you out of the car,” Jackson can be heard saying.

“You yelling, but you have to give me a reason to step out of the car,” Leake replied.

When Jackson grabs and starts yanking him out the car, you can hear Leake saying something about his leg being stuck on the steering wheel.

Jackson punches him twice, then grabs him by his neck and tackles him down where they fall out of frame.

However, Jackson claimed in his report that Leake “immediately took a combative stance and struck me with a closed fist uppercut to my face.”

He also said that Leake “continued to fight me and even tackled me to the ground into the next lane of oncoming traffic.”

Jackson was in such a state of denial that after he handcuffed Leake, he accused him of hitting him.

“You hit me in my [expletive] lip,” Jackson says.”I did not hit you, man,” Leake replies. ‘

“I was trying to get out of the car. My leg was stuck to the thing.”

“Dude, it’s all on tape,” Jackson said.

Leake replies, “You hit yourself when you tried to knock me out.

Check out the video here to decide for yourself. The action starts at 3:10.

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But this was one story I couldn’t pass up.

A reputed Miami mobster is claiming that Jackson made him executor of his multimillion dollar estate as well as guardian of his youngest son; that kid Jackson once dangled from a balcony.

It’s being discussed on a few local websites but nothing major yet. We’ll see how that turns out.

Check out the story here.

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I knew this would be about $2500 because last time it was more than $30000 and I ended up paying $500 for the portions of the transcripts that pertain to my article.

Well the company that does this agreed to do it for $2,000, which is a significant discount. The guys at Absololute Video have been on my side from the beginning. They are all amatuer photographers so they frequent this site.

Transcribing pages is not easy work. Especially when there are so many pages.

I am very thankful to them as well as to those readers who have sent donations. I plan to send each and every one of you a personal response. I’ve just been a little busy digging for evidence against a certain trigger-happy cop. If only half of what I’ve been told on him is true, then he is screwed.

Your donations will make a big difference once I pay the $2,000.

-30-

I am a multimedia journalist who has been fighting a lengthy legal battle after having photographed Miami police against their wishes in Feb. 2007. Please help the fight by donating to my Legal Defense Fund in the top left sidebar, which helps pay for the thousands of dollars I’ve acrued in debt since my arrest. To keep updated on the latest articles, join my networks at Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed.

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The arrest was captured by another TV videographer from another station who was also harassed moment before.

Castillo was standing there with a tripod, camera and microphone dangling from his pocket, looking like an obvious TV reporter.

Check out the video here.

The incident occurred in mid-March near the border of Mexico after police and Border Patrol Agents chased a car filled with bales of marijuana. Apparently there was some type of accident, which resulted in the actual bust.

Both of the videographers were nowhere near the actual bust where they would be interfering with any investigation.

It is moments like this that make one wonder what is it the officers are trying to hide. The average viewer would probably think they are just doing the job.

But by chasing away the videographers, it gives the impression that they were trying to hide something.

And considering corruption along the border runs rampant, I wouldn’t be surprised.

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Today, I published a piece on Miami Beach 411 that sheds more details on the first incident, in which the suspect was unarmed.

And there will be more to come in the near futre.

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By Carlos Miller
Last month we saw how El Monte Police Officer George Fierro kick a gangbanger in the head after having chased him for several miles in a car, then several blocks on feet.

The incident was caught on a live camera from an overhead news copter and we also saw Fierro high-five another officer who was at the scene with him.

While it may not have been pretty scene - and it probably wasn’t legal - it was their way of showing the gangbangers who was boss.

And while many people on this blog criticized Fierro, many cop supporters hailed him as a hero and wrote it off as nothing but a “distraction blow.”

Mexican Mafia

But they probably didn’t know that Fierro runs an online business that caters to these same gangbangers.

Torcido Clothing, according to its website, “features some of the hardest authentic jail house threads for the streets. Straight from East L.A., Califas…” Califas is Chicano slang for Southern California.

Other items for sale include t-shirts with hand logo of the notorious Mexican Mafia prison gang and t-shirts replicating those apparently found in the Los Angeles County Jail in 1750 unit, the gang segregation unit. Just in case your authentic shirt was ripped off by other inmates during your stay.

Fierro ads a bit of authenticity and cuteness by stating that “visitation is open 24 hours” for shoppers.

His shoppers, who never come face to face with him unless he is kicking their head in, probably have no idea they are buy merchandise from an actual cop.

The Los Angeles Times reports that one El Monte councilwoman didn’t mind the kick to the head. She just didn’t appreciate the business.

“Our police officers spend their time doing everything possible to prevent gang members promoting themselves and here is an officer who is doing his best to glorify gangs,” she said.

In 2007, an LAPD officer discovered that Fierro was running the site and sent out an email asking the following:

“Has anyone seen or know about this gang clothing that a police officer is selling to gangsters. . . . I understand the clothing has hiding places for contraband, guns and dope. Things that can hurt our real cops on the street.”

This offended Fierro who ended up filing a lawsuit for libelous statements. After all, he insisted, the clothes he sells to gangbanger criminals do not contain hiding places for guns and dope.

Gang intervention experts said wearing this clothing can dangerous in many neighborhoods.

And the El Monte Police Chief said he didn’t mind because it was a “freedom of speech thing.”

But we’re sure some of the gangbangers are going to mind when they learn they’ve been doing business in with a cop liable to kick them in the head when they’re down.

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