Smile when you say that.
Posted on 03/18/2008 8:27:25 AM PDT by Lester Moore
Randy Dean Sievert drew ire from Manatee County sheriff's deputies as he aimed his cell phone camera at undercover investigators executing a search warrant in his neighborhood.
A deputy confronted Sievert, demanding that he destroy any photos of investigators and their vehicles.
Sievert was not a welcome observer of the drug raid. Authorities called him a "known drug dealer" based on a couple of past arrests. Taking photos of undercover officers jeopardized their lives, deputies said.
Sievert refused to remove his hands from his pockets and step away from his car after he was confronted about the pictures. Deputies forced him to the ground. The 20-year-old unemployed Bradenton man was arrested on a misdemeanor obstruction charge.
Investigators could not access the images on the phone. Sievert "finally" gave up a code that allowed deputies to find and destroy a photo that showed two undercover vehicles, according to reports. The phone is in evidence but not the photograph.
Sievert's obstruction case is attracting criticism in the legal community. Some defense attorneys say Sievert was unlawfully arrested and forced to destroy a photograph authorities had no grounds to erase.
"While they may not have liked what he was doing, it was not against the law," said Sievert's attorney, Charles M. Britt III.
If the police do not want undercover vehicles identified, they should not bring the cars and trucks when they execute search warrants, Britt said.
The vehicles are nondescript, blending in to allow officers to secretly monitor suspected criminal activity. Undercover officers routinely wear masks in public when participating in searches.
Britt filed court papers challenging the arrest, and a hearing is scheduled for next month. Ultimately, the state could decide Sievert did not commit a crime and abandon the case.
But an assistant state attorney, addressing the merits of the charge at a hearing Thursday, called Sievert's photograph "egregious."
Prosecutor Angel Colonneso argued to keep Sievert locked up on a probation violation charge. Sievert was on probation in a drug case when he was arrested on the obstruction charge in late February in the 6000 block of Seventh Street Court West.
Sievert refused a lawful command to erase the photographs, Colonneso said. That "reasonable request" was to protect undercover officers.
Assistant public defender Jennifer Joynt-Sanchez called the arrest "beyond belief." Joynt-Sanchez, representing Sievert in court, said Sievert had a right to resist unlawful police detention.
Joynt-Sanchez wanted Sievert released from jail on his own recognizance. But Circuit Judge Debra Johnes Riva ordered Sievert held.
Obstructing the execution of a search warrant is a rare charge. In most cases the charge is applied to a person who is at a house -- and connected to the criminal investigation -- during the raid.
Britt said he is not aware of any law that makes it a crime to snap a photo of an undercover officer in the performance of his or duty.
State laws allow law enforcement agencies to black out the names of undercover officers in police reports, protecting their identity. But their names are often included on witness lists for trial. The officers cannot hide their faces in court.
At a recent trial in Bradenton featuring two undercover detectives, the prosecution sought and received a court order blocking the media from taking pictures of the officers in court. But, during breaks, the detectives congregated outside the courthouse -- where anyone could have snapped a photo.
Sievert's mother said her son was foolish to take a photo, but the picture taking did not justify a confrontation with police.
"It was something stupid, but they had no reason to do what they did," Leasa M. Pauli, 50, said. "They just ran up on him and slammed him for no reason. I think it is unfair."
During the raid, deputies seized a box of ammunition and a checkbook but did not find any drugs. Sievert was the only person arrested that afternoon.
What Sievert planned to do with the photos - if anything - remains unknown.
And if the masked secret police with their secret vehicles conduct a raid near an ATM machine, do they damand that the bank hand over the files or else?
How about the various street webcams that are all over?
He was held on a probation violation, not on the merits of this arrest
“It seems there is a difference of opinion between the defense and prosecution on the applicable law and the judge is siding with the prosecution.”
Perhaps the judge is protecting Seivert from a blue accident?
If the police do not want undercover vehicles identified, they should not bring the cars and trucks when they execute search warrants.
This makes sense to me.
Like a Newspaper? Would the cops have the paper go around and collect every paper sold? Ah, jeez and then there’s the internet. Okay, everyone erase their HDD’s.
Don’t Pic me bro.
Ridiculous post of the day. what side are you on?
Smile when you say that.
Your being uncomfortable has no bearing on the legality of someone snapping a candid picture.
When in public view privacy fades.
Has anyone considered that the cell phone user may have already known these “undercover” cops?
What was the probation violation?
I don’t really like the idea of armed men wearing masks pulling up in unmarked cars and kicking in doors over an ounce of weed. The police budget shouldn’t rely on confiscated assets either. This is what leads to corruption.
The people. Come join us.
He dissed their tacticoolness.
perfect movie warrior image.
It freaks me when they load themselves up with multiple throwaway weapons. I guess this ninja will empty the single Uzi magazine and discard the Uzi, and then use up his pistols and then end up with his ultimate weapon, the sword.
These cops are totally out of line. What law, if any, that gives them the authority to have anyone erase pictures would be unConstitutional. Badges and guns do not make these guys right and just because the person taking their pictures has a prior record does not make him wrong.
The actual photo in question
I’ve always wondered why Snake Eyes went with the Venetian blinds-style visor — seems a bit impractical.
Does the term "circular logic" mean anything to you. He was being held on a probation violation which was the bogus arrest based on taking the photograph. If the underlying reason for being arrested is bogus, then there would have been no probation violation in the first place.
All that stuff may sound compelling, but it isn't germane to this case. The plain fact of the matter is that a person has every right to photograph whatever is happening in public. Period. It doesn't matter who that person is, why that person is there, etc. If the thing is going down in public, it has no reasonable expectation of privacy, and a person with a camera can snap away until the cows come home.
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