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Roanoke (VA) police actions spark lawsuit (concealed carry)
The Roanoke Times ^ | December 31, 2009 | Mike Gangloff

Posted on 01/01/2010 7:09:42 PM PST by Perseverando

A Roanoke man says officers violated his rights during a dispute about his gun license.

A Roanoke man is suing city police over an altercation with officers that he said began as an argument about his permit to carry a concealed firearm.

Aaron A. Stevenson filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke alleging that his constitutional rights were violated during a May 6 traffic stop. He named two officers, Chief Joe Gaskins and the city as defendants.

On Wednesday, police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson referred questions to City Attorney Bill Hackworth, who was out of town and could not be contacted. Stevenson also could not be immediately contacted Wednesday.

The lawsuit gives this account of Stevenson's encounter with police:

Stevenson was driving along Williamson Road to pick up his daughter from church when Roanoke police Officer Jamie A. Kwiecinski stopped him. Stevenson was given a summons because his registration had expired.

Kwiecinski learned that Stevenson had a concealed carry permit and asked if he had a gun. Stevenson declined to answer.

Kwiecinski called for backup, and Officer Dwight W. Ayers arrived on the scene. Stevenson said the officers ignored his repeated invocation of his right to remain silent, and to have an attorney present during questioning.

The officers pulled Stevenson from his vehicle, the lawsuit said, took the .45-caliber handgun he wore in a belt holster, and put him in handcuffs in the back of a police car. Stevenson said he was threatened with loss of his permit, confiscation of his gun and indefinite detention while police investigated whether he was involved in anything criminal.

Officers never read Stevenson his Miranda rights, the lawsuit said, and Ayers told Stevenson the questioning would stop if he would admit to some criminal action.

As the incident continued, some of Stevenson's co-workers drove past and his employer stopped to see what was happening. The officers asked the employer if Stevenson had mental problems.

Stevenson said the tight handcuffs injured his wrists.

Eventually, Sgt. Sandy Duffey, a police supervisor, said to release Stevenson.

In the lawsuit, Stevenson asked for unspecified monetary damages, injunctions to prevent future incidents and a declaration that his civil rights had been violated.

Online court records indicated that the expired registration charge against Stevenson was dismissed in June.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; ccw; gun; leo; roanoke; vcdl; virginia
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To: freedomwarrior998
Custodial detention: Was the subject free to leave? NO. Did the officer ask him anything that would or might lead to arrest? The subject did not know one way or the other. Did the officer place the subject in handcuffs and in the back seat of a police car? Yes Totality of the circumstances would lead the subject to believe he was not free to leave therefore it was CUSTODIAL DETENTION
41 posted on 01/01/2010 9:50:01 PM PST by oneolcop
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To: freedomwarrior998
Custodial detention: Was the subject free to leave? NO. Did the officer ask him anything that would or might lead to arrest? The subject did not know one way or the other. Did the officer place the subject in handcuffs and in the back seat of a police car? Yes Totality of the circumstances would lead the subject to believe he was not free to leave therefore it was CUSTODIAL DETENTION
42 posted on 01/01/2010 9:57:25 PM PST by oneolcop
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To: Recon Dad

True story. My son is a federal police officer/K-9, perimeter and inside security for big guys. He is not allowed to carry his own legally permitted personal sidearm in DC where he works, nor in Maryland.

Md. State troopers will buddyfuck you, even if you are a legit cop with a legit CCW, and even if it is in the glove compartment, and you tell them that. The will run a check on your police status as an officer and then seize your weapon. A liberal judge questioned the insanity of Maryland’s laws on the state’s failure to recognize as legal another state’s Concealed Weapons Permit, esp. for non-state police offices.

Only a retired/active Police Officer is allowed to cross state lines with a CCP, not even federal officers who work govt building/property security.

Maryland is run by a bunch of marxist punks, which is one reason I’m glad I got out of there a long time ago.

In case you think that my son is gun happy, he is a combat veteran of Iraq, and shortly after he returned from OIF, his car/himself was attacked by a drunk Mexican. Fortunately his combat training kicked in and he had his weapon in the guy’s face as his hand came thru the broken window. The Mexi sobbered up real fast. A second later or any physical contact with my son and he would have been dead.

Son held him for the locals who arrested the guy (this was before my son became a police officer) and discreetly told him to put his gun back in the car while they filled out the paperwork.

In Maryland, they would probably shoot you.

Travellers beware of Maryland. State Police used to be the best. Now they have hotdogs without a brain.


43 posted on 01/01/2010 10:02:35 PM PST by ToTheMax
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To: Recon Dad
Your recourse is after the stop not during it. Always cooperate to avoid escalating the problem.

Good advice. This little mantra may help you keep your wits about you, so that you can make a note of such things as the officer's name and badge number. Yes, there are abusive cops out there -- but the stress of the encounter can make things seem worse than they actually are.

44 posted on 01/01/2010 10:49:17 PM PST by RJR_fan (Christians need to reclaim and excel in the genre of science fiction.)
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To: Perseverando
When I went thru required training class for CCW permit in Virginia (taught by an NRA instructor)... did advise you had to tell a police officer if you're carrying a firearm when asked/pulled over. I've only 1 had occasion when pulled over and after volunteering the information, the police officer was cool about it.
45 posted on 01/01/2010 11:04:11 PM PST by strykr
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To: freedomwarrior998

Hmmm? well when police pull you out of you car and handcuff you, and you’re placed in the back of a cop car, you are in deed under arrest. It’s nice to know that some people like to believe that there are “exceptions” to one’s RIGHTS. Perhaps you should actualy READ the miranda warning. Read the definition of “Arrest”. Maybe even READ the Second Amd. for the Constitution of the United States of America, you know the part that specifically states “Shall NOT be infringed”. Too many cowardly sissys wearing badges like to feel they are above the law, and too many idiot lawyers like to think people are actually ignorant of their rights, and like to use legal terms like “exceptions”. People don’t need to take a test to “practice” law, to actually “know” the law.


46 posted on 01/02/2010 5:03:29 AM PST by Words of Art
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To: All
Custodial detention: Was the subject free to leave? NO. Did the officer ask him anything that would or might lead to arrest? The subject did not know one way or the other. Did the officer place the subject in handcuffs and in the back seat of a police car? Yes Totality of the circumstances would lead the subject to believe he was not free to leave therefore it was CUSTODIAL DETENTION.

First of all, we only have one version of facts. It is foolish to take the facts given by a party filing a lawsuit at face value.

Second, Miranda was imposed (with no grounds in the Constitution) as a "prophylactic" to prevent the use of statements in Court. Even from the Plaintiff's version of facts, the questioning did not result in a prosecution.

I'm not saying that everything that the Officer did was OK. I am saying that we don't know. I am also saying that people invoke Miranda like a magic Talisman when in the majority of situations it doesn't even apply.

If you are/were a cop, you would know that.

47 posted on 01/02/2010 10:39:07 AM PST by freedomwarrior998
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To: All
Hmmm? well when police pull you out of you car and handcuff you, and you’re placed in the back of a cop car, you are in deed under arrest. It’s nice to know that some people like to believe that there are “exceptions” to one’s RIGHTS. Perhaps you should actualy READ the miranda warning. Read the definition of “Arrest”. Maybe even READ the Second Amd. for the Constitution of the United States of America, you know the part that specifically states “Shall NOT be infringed”. Too many cowardly sissys wearing badges like to feel they are above the law, and too many idiot lawyers like to think people are actually ignorant of their rights, and like to use legal terms like “exceptions”. People don’t need to take a test to “practice” law, to actually “know” the law. Ok, please cite the specific portion of the Constitution that contains the Miranda warning. Where did the Framers insert the Miranda warning in the text? And why did it take Earl Warren to find it?
48 posted on 01/02/2010 10:40:29 AM PST by freedomwarrior998
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To: ScoochDude

Sorry, I have the whole city marked down as the hood in my threat index. Some parts are better than others, but I worked for ambulance company there for about a year. Richmond is the same way, decent in the surrounding counties, but when you see a city limits sign watch out.


49 posted on 01/02/2010 11:00:47 AM PST by ClayinVA ("Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it")
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To: ClayinVA
Apology accepted. You posted it with such authority, I thought you were a resident. It really isn't that bad of an area, I travel that area unarmed 75% of the time.

But when I visit my daughter who lives on Grace St. in Richmond, I'm packing like Neo from The Matrix, day or night.
50 posted on 01/02/2010 2:23:23 PM PST by ScoochDude
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To: Recon Dad
Im a recent user to this site. Curious to kno if ur opinion has changed since ur original posting. My view is its better to let the officer do his job. Impeding an investigation is a crime. However, when an officer w/o reasonable suspicion (u kno what i mean) begans to frivolously expand his questioning past the original cause for the stop, it becomes not just a inconvenience but a civil rights violation. The automatic nervous response of the officer has to be controlled by that officer...basically he has to fine tune his cop sense. Its not incumbent upon a stopped suspect to try to settle the fears of the officer. Doing so causes more problems in the search and constitutional rights of the citizen. Disclaimer: I am not an Internet lawyer. 50+ yrs of living has taught me a lot and i’m still learning. In ending, its the law-abiding concealed weapon holder thats less of a danger to the public at-large.
51 posted on 08/28/2012 7:23:19 AM PDT by JoePublicVA
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To: oneolcop

Maybe someone should ask the officers for their side of the story... we only know one side.


52 posted on 10/29/2014 6:30:14 AM PDT by SpudsMom
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