TMMT

I agree, the video guy knew his rights and the NC law, which it becomes evident as the video rolls on, the officer didn't and retreated to a cellphone call (most likely) to get clarification. Again I fault the state for failure to train its peace officers adequately. How can one be expected to enforce the law if they do not know the law?

Sounds like Theft By Conversion to me.

I can't imagine any DA in his or her right mind allowing such a case to move forward. I was just relating an actual arrest and warrant hearing that I witnessed while awaiting my turn in front of the JC.

Folks coming from Peggy Noonan this is Earth shattering, she is/was a huge uber liberal.

Messed Up Email of the Day: Vandycapped | That Is Messed Up Found it...

Folks lets not turn this into a cop bashing thread, but I have a serious question. What the heck is going on with FPD? Anyone down that way care to chime in? I know that in the last 3 years FPD has been sued 3 times over stuff their LEO's have done. Several POST complaints, etc... It don't seem to be BS either, cases were settled or ruled in favor of the Plaintiff and now this, you guys messing with the drinking water or something?

Judge chides Franklin officers who held suspect without arrest warrant FRANKLIN — A Williamson County judge last week warned Franklin detectives that the next time they pull a suspect out of bed, put him in a patrol car and keep him at the police station for several hours, they "should get an arrest warrant." Despite that, General Sessions Judge Al Nations still found probable cause to send charges against Barry Durene Harris to a grand jury. Nations oversaw a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, when prosecutors outlined their reasons for charging Harris with aggravated assault and possession of marijuana. Harris, 23, is accused of firing a shotgun toward a man who sold him a stolen car stereo on June 14. Police say they found marijuana in a pair of pants in the room Harris was sleeping in. Harris, whose nickname is Bucket, told police he bought a stereo from Milton Britton for $5 but found out later it had been stolen from his sister's car, according to Detective Chad Black. Harris is accused of getting in his car with a shotgun to look for Britton. Police said Harris found Britton on Natchez Street, near 11th Avenue, got out of the car and fired the gun. Britton told police that night that Harris was trying to kill him. Harris told police he was only trying to scare Britton. Britton, who goes by the nickname Foe, testified that he did not remember what happened the evening of the shooting. He said he takes drugs for depression and had consumed a lot of alcohol that night. Police first charged another man with the crime. They obtained an arrest warrant and questioned him before dropping charges and naming Harris as a suspect. At least five officers went to 153 Acton St., where Harris was staying, according to Black. Police got oral and written permission from the home's owner to search the residence. Harris was taken into custody without a warrant and brought to the police station for questioning. Black said Harris admitted to the shooting. A warrant was obtained hours later, charging Harris with attempted criminal homicide. Harris' attorney, Sandra Wells, said police conducted an illegal seizure. "They could have gone down to the magistrate (for a warrant) if they had probable cause," Wells said. "This was an illegal seizure and anything after that should be thrown out." Nations said, "I'm a little concerned with taking someone down to the police station without a warrant. Miss Wells has raised some excellent issues." Prosecutor Says Police Were Reasonable Assistant District Attorney Tammy Rettig said police have to look at what is a reasonable action at the time they detain a suspect. Rettig said police did nothing wrong. Detective Chad Pace said he searched the home and found a pair of Harris' pants, which contained a bag of marijuana. Wells, asked Pace if he had gotten a warrant or permission to search Harris' belongings. Pace said he had the homeowner's permission but had not obtained permission from Harris. Wells pointed out that the warrant charging Harris with drug possession states Pace searched the home at 155 Acton St., not 153. Pace said that was a typo. Nations said there was probable cause for prosecutors to present the case to a grand jury, which could issue indictments against Harris. Nations said he was interested in seeing if the case ends up in the Court of Appeals. "The Franklin Police Department has the utmost respect for our courts and judges," Sgt. Charles Warner wrote in an e-mail to The Tennessean. "After Judge Nations' finding of probable cause in (Wednesday's) hearing, the case will now continue in its forward momentum. We would not be interested in commenting further on this matter currently pending in criminal court." Harris remains in custody at the Williamson County jail, with bail set at $25,000. He also faces probation violation. Harris was on probation after serving 70 days in jail for selling marijuana and bringing drugs into a penal institution. Judge chides Franklin officers who held suspect without arrest warrant | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

Anyone remember the news story about the Vanderbilt Police Dept K-9 car that was photoed parked in a handicap spot? News Ch 4 I think got it?

How Detroit, the Motor City, turned into a ghost town How Detroit, the Motor City, turned into a ghost town | World news | The Observer

My friend if this is exactly what happened and he did infact say these words, then he phuked up. You were coerced and that is a huge no no! Court have long frowned upon circumstances affecting the voluntariness of searches and the threat of arrest, even for an actual crime to obtain CTS is not tolerated. Some of the most famous words from the US Supreme Court, "Where there is coercion there can be no consent".

The laws in this state are some of the most screwed up I've seen in all my years of policing. Its not just gun laws its across the board, guns, criminal, taxes, alcohol etc... Since I moved here and began policing its been a struggle to at times comprehend some of the ridiculous ramblings and obvious twisting and torturing of the english language that has passed as law in this state. Couple that with the overt and very brazenly incorrect application of these same laws day in and day out by local and state LE. Such as the one instance I pointed out recently where a police department used the state Disorderly Conduct Law to arrest a HCP holder for simply being "spotted" by people who reacted hysterically and call 911 leading the dispatcher to believe someone was wandering around Wal mart with a belt fed bazooka or something... This state has alot of problems in many areas but the gun laws are one of the worst. If I didn't know better I'd swear we were in Wisconsin, Michigan or some other hybrid liberal union... Just look at the disaster of the parks carry bill and the opt out provision. The guns in bars bill is just as messed up. Its a serious problem that needs to be addressed on so many levels not just gun laws, but laws in many categories.

I doubt its a department policy, it would be very unusual if it was. I'm sure the officer tells the same story in court and depending on the presence of a defense attorney will govern just how bad the officers gets raked over the coals so to speak. f you have the money to fight the arrest, retain good competent counsel then you will most likely win but at what financial cost to you? I am not a uniformed officer for Metro or any other agency in this state. I am an criminal Investigator for a State Agency.

In Tennessee (especially Nashville) you can go to jail for LAWFULLY carrying both open and concealed. Metro will charge you with DOC (Disorderly Conduct) in a heart beat if someone sees your gun, panics and calls the police. Their justification to the Judicial Commissioner for granting the warrant, usually flows along the lines of you creating an offensive situation that caused such an alarm in public, the police were called. Since you (the arrested one) can't give refuting testimony to the JC during a warrant hearing your at the mercy of the cop who just decides to arrest you and how ever he/she decides to paint the situation. I've seen it happen first hand while down at CJC securing warrants for my cases and I even asked the officer if the guy had a permit to which he responded "yes, but he still freaked everyone out with his gun". So you takes your chances when you carry...

STIMULUS WATCH: Stimulus jobs overstated in report : NPR It seems there is a pattern with this White House...

Experts see rebounding economy shedding jobs San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Carolyn Lochhead Posted on October 27, 2009 Experts see rebounding economy shedding jobs Forget a jobless recovery. The economy may be entering a recovery with job losses. Third-quarter estimates this week are expected to show that the economy grew for the first time since the quarter ending in June 2008. Despite the estimated 3 percent expansion and a stock market that has been on a tear since March, hundreds of thousands of people are still being laid off each month. Eight million jobs have been lost nationwide since the recession began two years ago, and by some measures workers face the worst job market since the Depression. The average laid-off worker has been without a job for 61/2 months, a post-World War II record. Many of those workers will never recover financially. California's hole, deepened by a state budget mess and volatile tax system, is far worse: Unemployment is at 12.2 percent, third highest in the nation; and adding discouraged and part-time workers puts it over 20 percent. "It's not even a jobless recovery; it's a recovery with more job losses," said UCLA economist Lee Ohanian. "The idea of having essentially no net job creation after a remarkably severe recession is a real pathology for the U.S. economy." (Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...

This along with this... 10,000 apply for 90 factory jobs (Louisville, KY.) 10,000 apply for 90 factory jobs | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal I think really shows just how bad the economy and the job situation is. According to Forbes.com its just going to get worse. They are now saying the jobs that have been lost recently and the ones that we continue to lose are actually gone forever.

5,000 seek VW jobs on Day 1 Application period runs through Nov. 15 CHATTANOOGA — Joe Benton of Chattanooga said he's been unemployed for six months and really wants one of the production jobs for which Volkswagen started taking applications online Monday. "It's not all about the money. I want benefits," he said at the Tennessee Career Center at Eastgate Town Center in Chattanooga. Benton was among thousands of people who applied for the 1,200 production jobs at VW's Chattanooga plant on the day the automaker opened a three-week application period. Some applicants showed up in person at state career centers to file for jobs, although the same paperwork can be submitted electronically from a person's home computer. The VW plant is under construction and is slated to open in 2011. As of late Monday afternoon, more than 5,000 people had applied for the jobs, which will start at $14.50 an hour and grow to $19.50 an hour over 36 months, according to officials. Benefits will include medical, dental, life insurance and retirement savings. 5,000 seek VW jobs on Day 1 | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

What about tinted windows, hard to ID the driver if you can't see him/her.

The problem with so many wealthy people flocking to this state is, it has the unfortunate byproduct of bringing many who hold liberals views and have the money to donate to liberal politician's campaigns and get them elected. Something we don't want or need, this state is already a bit messed up we don't need it getting any worse.

Now, this seems to me that we have a group who is basically doing the job the Prosecutors should have done before they decided to bring the case. These students are now finding out the Prosecutors convicted innocent people and their work (The Students) have freed 11 people wrongly convicted. Now the Prosecutors have began a witch hunt, going after those who have questioned those in power. This is why so many people including myself have lost faith in our criminal justice system and I still work in LE.

Prosecutors subpoena journalism students' grades Chicago prosecutors have subpoenaed the grades and other material regarding the classroom performance of Northwestern University journalism students, according to The New York Times. Seems the prosecutors are tired of being second-guessed by the J-students, who are participants in The Innocence Project. The Innocence Project is an effort by Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism to provide students with real-life experience in scrutinizing the actions of police and prosecutors in old cases. Their work has led to the release of at least 11 inmates who were shown to have been wrongly convicted. It's that success rate that has the local DAs filing motions with little precedent, according to the Times: the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of the journalism students themselves. "But as the Medill Innocence Project is raising concerns about another case, that of a man convicted in a murder 31 years ago, a hearing has been scheduled next month in Cook County Circuit Court on an unusual request: Local prosecutors have subpoenaed the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of the journalism students themselves." Whatever one thinks about the death penalty, everybody agrees that innocent people should not go to jail for crimes they didn't commit. That Chicago prosecutors are going after the messengers of bad news has the aroma of abuse of office. Go here for the full report from the Times. Prosecutors subpoena journalism students' grades | Washington Examiner

Tennessee Sales Tax Rate Is Highest In U.S. WSMV Nashville, TN. ^ | 10/25/2009 | WSMV Posted on October 25, 2009 Study: Tenn. Sales Tax Rate Is Highest In U.S. - Nashville News Story - WSMV Nashville CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A study shows Tennessee's average 9.4 cent tax on every $1 spent is the highest sales tax rate in America. Opponents of the sales tax say it's most unfair to those least able to pay but others favor the sales tax over a state income tax. The author of the tax comparison study, Tax Foundation staff economist Kail Padgitt, said an increasing number of states are raising so-called "millionaire taxes" on income of the wealthiest taxpayers and so-called "sin taxes" on cigarettes or beer. Padgitt told the Chattanooga Times Free Press the foundation is "definitely seeing more movement upward than downward in taxes on the state level, and the most popular seem to be to target particular types of tax groups." The nonpartisan study group said the average 9.4 cents combined state and local sales taxes for every $1 spent by consumers in Tennessee is nearly 38 percent more than the median sales tax nationwide. By comparison, the combined state and local sales tax rate averages just over 7 percent in neighboring Georgia and 6.15 percent in Alabama. Although some localities in central Alabama have higher combined rates of up to 11 percent, Tennessee averaged the highest rate among all 50 states. The Tax Foundation said Tennessee derives nearly 57 percent of its tax revenue from sales taxes, third highest among the 50 states. Critics of Tennessee's reliance upon consumer taxes say it is unfair to the poor and sends consumers to border states to shop. "Tennessee's sales tax is regressive tax so those that can least afford it have to pay the most," said Samantha Maples, a community organizer for Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, a pro-income tax group. "In addition to being unfair, the sales tax also hurts businesses along our borders and it is simply inadequate to fund our government." But Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, said relying on sales taxes is better than using income taxes to fund government. Tennessee is one of nine states that does not impose a tax on earned income, although the state does have a Hall income tax on dividend income. "Our sales tax in Tennessee doesn't need to be as high as it is and the government should look for ways to cut spending and waste," Johnson said. "But the sales tax is still the fairest and most responsible way to tax residents of the state. Tennessee is a haven for entrepreneurs because we don't have an income tax."

Tennessee has a bad habit of ending up on the wrong side of the Appeals Courts, with its poorly written laws and the way those laws are enforced. I work with the States Attorneys Office alot and I have had more than one tell me that Tennessee loses more cases on appeal than most other states in this appellate circuit

One reason I am growing tired and no longer have the love of the law I once did. It's no longer about the law, its about money. Its no longer about a good case it's about fines and probation fee's. When I retire I think I'm gonna move to Alaska or someplace just as remote, just so I can escape it all.

The traffic-camera scam Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax and Virginia Beach are preparing to stimulate public spending with new red-light camera programs. This is part of a push to fill government budget shortfalls by ramping up tickets for moving violations. Virginia is driving the wrong way down this street. After banning the commonwealth's ticket-camera programs in 2005, the General Assembly is again opening the door to this lucrative revenue stream. Proponents claim that traffic cameras enhance public safety, but two Georgia state Republican lawmakers are calling the safety bluff. Last year, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, District 14 state House Republican, and Sen. Jack Murphy, District 27 state Senate Republican, introduced a bill to add a few restrictions on the use of traffic cameras. One provision requires the addition of one extra second to the duration of the yellow warning period at any intersection where red-light cameras are used. The law took effect three months ago, and the results underscore the revenue-orientation of photo-enforcement programs. "The addition of one second has made a significant reduction in red-light violations," Norcross, Ga., Police Chief Dallas Stidd wrote in a Feb. 5 memorandum. "We along with other jurisdictions have seen a significant decrease in citations. This will cause a shortfall in our budget for this program." After revenue projections were diminished, the safety argument was abandoned by the Norcross City Council, which voted March 2 to terminate its red-light camera program. The Georgia towns of Duluth, Lilburn, Rome, Snellville and Suwanee all cancelled their photo-enforcement programs when violations dropped as much as 80 percent due to the extra second for yellow lights. This progress exposes the dirty little secret of the red-light camera industry. As reported on thenewspaper.com, about 80 percent of citations are issued to vehicles photographed making split-second, technical violations that are in most cases invisible to the unaided eye. The trigger on red-light cameras in Fremont, Calif., was so quick that the shutter clicked faster than the signal itself could change from yellow to red. According to the California State Auditor, the city was forced to cancel 459 tickets taken for violations "during which both the yellow and red lights were displayed on some photographs." The truth about traffic cameras is that the real motivation behind the programs is revenue, not safety. For this reason, the systems are often rigged to guarantee a large yield of tickets. In Fairfax County, at the intersection of U.S. 50 and Fair Ridge Drive, the yellow light was shortened just three days after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors signed a contract to implement red-light cameras in October 1999. When the longer yellow time was restored in 2001, violations decreased by 90 percent. In 2007, the Virginia Department of Transportation documented a 29 percent increase in accidents and a 19 percent increase in injuries at red-light camera intersections. This is because drivers slam on their brakes or speed up to try to avoid getting a camera ticket, thus causing more accidents. If Virginia lawmakers are really interested in safety rather than revenue, they will follow Georgia's lead and lengthen yellow lights and ditch their traffic cameras. EDITORIAL: The traffic-camera scam - Washington Times