Posted on 08/26/2014 3:21:59 PM PDT by Ken H
Video catches Kentucky State Trooper harassing motorist. US Court of Appeals rules cop can be sued for false arrest.
Videotape proved essential for Freddie Gregory, a motorist falsely accused of traffic violations by a high-ranking Kentucky State Police trooper. The US Court of Appeals on Friday allowed Gregory to pursue false arrest charges against Lieutenant Phillip Burnett.
Since February 2009, Lieutenant Burnett had stopped Gregory on three occasions under what the motorist considered to be bogus circumstances. The 53-year-old decided to install a video camera to document the harassment. The device was ready on April 4, 2009, when Gregory decided to take his granddaughter to lunch in his pickup truck. As he was leaving his driveway, Gregory spotted Lieutenant Burnett about twenty yards away.
Gregory stopped his car and removed his seatbelt to reach the on switch for his camera. Lieutenant Burnett pulled alongside the pickup truck and demanded to see Gregory's license. After pointing out he was on his own property, Gregory produced his license and complained about the traffic stops.
GREGORY: I'll tell you this: You're gonna quit this harassment.
BURNETT: Do what?
GREGORY: You're gonna quit this harassing me, because I ain't done nothing illegal.
BURNETT: Well, let's see here. Your window is tinted. And you're getting ready to get out here, and you didn't have your seat belt on. So I can stop you now. Okay?
GREGORY: Where you see my windows tinted at? Where you see my windows tinted at?
BURNETT: Look right here. Look right here. You can't even see through that.
GREGORY: Well, I can't help it that you got them dark glasses on and can't see nothing.
BURNETT: I'll tell you what. I'm gonna take you to jail for menacing.
Gregory was searched, given a seatbelt ticket and arrested for menacing and disorderly conduct. Gregory spent three hours in jail.
After seeing video of the incident, Bell County Prosecutor Neil Ward dropped the charges. Although the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky rejected Gregory's malicious prosecution lawsuit against Lieutenant Burnett, a three-judge appellate panel reinstated it.
"A review of the tape shows that Gregory did nothing that would legitimately constitute either disorderly conduct or menacing," the panel wrote in its decision. "Gregory had a protected right to request that Burnett stop harassing him, and a jury could conclude both that Burnett's conduct in arresting Gregory was in response to Gregory's exercising that right and that the arrest would deter a person of ordinary firmness from exercising that right."
The appellate court cleared the way for Gregory's claims to be resolved by a jury at trial. Instead of sanctioning Lieutenant Burnett for his conduct, Kentucky State Police promoted him to captain in 2012 and put him in command of all troopers in Bell, Harlan and Knox counties last year.
He was not Arrested, he was the victim of a FELONY KIDNAPPING. The Gestapo Agent belongs in PRISON FOR LIFE.
A candidate for Governor could get lots of support by campaigning on reigning in the jack booted thuggery.
That promotion is the nail in the coffin. The KSP are liable for this corrupt cop’s conduct, and I would give the victim a huge amount in punitive damages. I’d also like to see the cop personally pay for his abuse of power. I am disgusted by most civil lawsuits, but this one has merit.
THIS is why white, middle-class support for Ferguson cops was so tepid:
Cop behavior can often be as oppressive as The Jungle, even if there are fewer explitives.
“Instead of sanctioning Lieutenant Burnett for his conduct, Kentucky State Police promoted him to captain in 2012 and put him in command of all troopers in Bell, Harlan and Knox counties last year.”
And yet they assure us that abusive cops are just rogue officers acting on their own.
If I were writing this story, I would want to dig a little and figure out why this cop is harassing this guy. The cop obviously has it in for him, but why?
He would last about two days before he was killed by some Leftist crank. His State Police "bodyguard" would "make a mistake" and never be punished for it.
I've got a cure, which can only be applied after the Revolt. It simply is to make ALL crimes committed by public servants be punished by a slow and agonizing public death. We make the cost of the crime way out of proportion to the benefit.
Exactly. 6 years ago I would have assumed the cop was in the right. Based on their behavior chronicled due to the proliferation of recording devices middle class whites can now see cops for what they are, a bunch of badged goons who, if not willing to directly violate your rights, will protect those that do.
I agree — this poor grandad was harassed, assaulted, and kidnapped.
“RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH!”
I don’t like to sound racist here, but in reading the the quotes of the harassee, I got the distinct impression from his verbiage that he’s black.
Maybe he’s a white redneck, but in either case he WAS smart enough to acquire and operate a dash cam.
Now, fold into the recipe one bigoted Kentucky cop, and you have the makings of some unpleasant incidents.
Fortunately the cop was wearing the obligatory shades, which probably hindered his observing the dash cam through the tinted windshield.
I think it was kind of funny that he thought the windows were tinted...only because he was wearing sunglasses. Not very bright, that one.
Gee, Rush was saying just today that there are no bad cops. Maybe not, if you’re a zillionaire.
It's important to go with the flow if you ever encounter a bad cop. Need to avoid getting an attitude adjustment, or getting arrested for "menacing."
Don't know, in another case a (lib?) cop had it in for a TEA party activist and harassed him by signing "him" up on homosexual dating/hookup sites and otherwise targeting him using privileged information.
Maybe, but the point is that we are left to speculate about one of the most intriguing aspects of the story—the “why”. My comment was more a lament about the sad state of journalism.
Yea I try to be as polite and respectful as possible because I know they ticket and/or arrest if they don’t get the respect they think they deserve.
As a defense attorney I’m not worried about the case, but really don’t want to spend the night in jail and have to sue them.
Lots of trouble.
consider yourself lucky if you’ve never been threatened to be taken to jail by a thug state trooper.
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