Say "cheese"!
The famous "Butt-Monkey" exception defense...... -- Laura Ingraham, ex-attorney-at-microphone
Posted on 04/08/2005 10:32:58 AM PDT by george wythe
An appeals court threw out a man's cocaine conviction because his strip search was filmed by a camera crew for a television program.
The Indiana Court of Appeals said in a ruling issued Thursday that filming Andra Thompson's strip-search was "unprofessional and unreasonable."
During a 2003 sting operation at a motel, officers strip searched Thompson and found cocaine stuffed between his buttocks.
[snip]
At one point, the camera focused for several seconds on Thompson's naked posterior while he was bent over in handcuffs.
"Where should the media line be drawn?" Judge Edward Najam wrote. "We will not sanction such conduct, which demeans the suspect and degrades the entire legal process."
(Excerpt) Read more at fox41.com ...
The famous "Butt-Monkey" exception defense...... Cocaine is bad. Crack cocaine is worse (and stinkier too).
"I dont understand this... fault the police or the media who filmed him, and discipline them if they must... but the guy STILL HAD COCAINE IN HIS BUTT"
Are you sure it wasn't just some crack?
No , not staged, just raw footage that is shot, is obtained by the city, which may or may not make it to air. I worked on a show in Albequerque in 2000 and shot a stabbing call (had 3 camera guys with me, because it was around the holidays and we wanted to get through our schedule to have time off to be with our families) So because I had 3 cameras rolling,(we had 3 various angles) what should have been a stabbing call and a harboring fugitive call, ended up being a domestic violence call(which was never actually declared a domestic violence call) that made it to air. Some cities do want want certain calls to be aired because of the decline in population, etc. Its sad but it is happening everyday. Some of those shows, when the police officers offer commentary, it is either the next day or some commentary is taken out. Its all in the editing.
Why do you think they call it "crack"
They should have thrown it out.
I meant that some cities do NOT want certain call aired because of rise in crime and decreased populatin. Sorry.
And I still cant spell. hahaha
I don't know about the merits of the case, but Indiana's judicial system is interesting in that the Indiana Supreme Court grants transfer about, oh, never, so the Courts of Appeals are pretty much the courts of last resort in Indiana. Obviously, the Supreme Court takes cases, but seriously, the number is very very low, even compared to other states.
This issue is pretty much a yawn, so I doubt seriously that it would go up in Indiana.
Ok, that explains a lot. Usually when there will be review by a higher court, the court issuing the decision must fit it into the legal framework to avoid sending up a red flag. But if this court knows there is little chance of getting reversed, they can extend the illegality of a search to cover the presence of a camera that had nothing to do with the legality in the first place. It doesn't fit the 4th Amendment caselaw framework, but I guess for them that doesn't matter.
The officer had to wear gloves:
Officer Gard then took Thompson into the bathroom to search him. Officer Gard pulled down Thomspon’s pants and ordered him to bend over. The officer discovered a package of cocaine in between Thompson’s buttocks.Officer Gard had to wait for Officer Lee to bring him a pair of rubber gloves so that he could remove the package of cocaine. Officers later determined that the cocaine weighed more than three grams.
These TV producers are such morons. "If it's there, film it. If it's on film, run it." I hope the sensational value made the cost of their fines and attorney costs worth it.
Well, in fairness, we don't know if it does or not. But besides that, the state constitutions can always grant MORE protection than the US Constitution in terms of civil liberties. The US constitution is just a floor for rights.
Exactly so. Wonder how many other crimes the druggie will commit now that he is free to go.
I couldnt agree with you more. But you would be so surprised at how many cities want this show in their town.
Andra Thompson v. State of IndianaThe short version is that it is not reasonable to conduct a search with a civilian TV camera, especially if the TV film is broadcast to the whole world, showing a person's private parts.
True, which is what I was getting at with my first question (the legal basis for the decision.) But it sounds like that doesn't even matter for this court, whether the state has language going past the federal protections or not.
Thank you for explaining some of the inside decision-making process in these reality cop shows.
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