VS.

If you recall, I was detained, arrested and issued six tickets for various city code ordinances in April of 2009. Eight months later, I went to court in defense of the tickets I received. At the conclusion of four and a half hours of testimony, I was adjudged NOT-guilty on all charges — Duh! In email exchanges between city officials (which were acquired through public information requests), even the city manager intimated that he didn’t really think the charges that were levied against me were appropriate for the circumstances. However, prosecutor Scott Taliaferro was unwavering in his resolve to take my case to the full extent possible. Who knows why these frivolous charges weren’t dropped at my first appearance. Scratch that! — I know WHY, I just wonder WHO was the main influence to push the issue.

Regardless of the whos and whys, all the criminal charges were essentially dismissed (NOT guilty). But, not before a few interesting details came out in testimony. Shortly before trial, the prosecutor spoke with my attorney, discussing with him details about what Code Enforcement officer Jeff Brown had told him. Seems as though James Debrow had told Brown to find anything he could to write me tickets for — that “This was getting personal”!! Debrow wanted to slap me with ANYthing he could, just to flex his muscle and cost me time/money — all because his little feelings were hurt?

Then, there’s the issue of “instanter”ing me before the Judge. Generally, this involves holding a detainee at the local “jail” for the municipal Judge to personally review the facts before any further disposition. There was much confusion and disagreement between testimonies of officers Debrow, Almaguer (pictured left), and Stone. Stone said that he first was just going to detain me locally at Lakeway police department, but then received information instructing him to go ahead and take me downtown to be booked, etc. Almaguer, I believe, was simply a pawn during this whole encounter, blindly doing only what he was told to do. Poor guy. He was quite frazzled as he tried to answer the attorney’s questions, most of the time stating that he was just “following orders”, and several times removing his glasses to wipe his eyes. During testimony, he stated that he understood there were “standing orders” for my arrest, and he was just doing what he was told.

At one point during testimony, Judge Kevin Madison paused to query the witness himself. [paraphrasing the following] “So you were told that the Judge was called, and that there were ‘standing orders’ to arrest the defendant? ["Yes."] Well, I am the Judge (for this jurisdiction), and I received NO such call(s) regarding this matter! Hmmmm… (shaking his head)”. So, all the talk and testimony about contacting the Judge was probably hogwash. Debrow just wanted me to go to jail!

While I was being detained at the Lakeway Police Department, Lt. Todd Radford (now Police Chief) and officer Debrow were discussing the “identification” I provided, scurrying back and forth between offices to consult law books. (See Sec. 38.02 of the Texas Penal Code). Even after they determined that I had violated no laws other than (potentially) local ordinances, they STILL went forward with the full arrest and booking, etc. Chief Radford lives a street over from me, and I occasionally see him walking his dog. A few months ago, he extended an invitation to a cup of coffee at his office. He seems to be a nice person and was, I believe, genuinely extending a hand, but… perhaps another time, under different circumstances. I WOULD, though, like to know why they proceeded with the full monty.

Mysteriously, less than two weeks after the trial, Sgt. James Debrow was gone! “Honorably Retired” is what I was told. He had only been there about two years!! Retired? Is that what they call it nowadays? And now, almost a year after the criminal trial, my civil case against the City, et. al. has come to an end. We settled out of court. But, before I say more, I feel compelled to say something:

“The parties have agreed to resolve this litigation by settlement. I believe that my case was meritorious and that at trial I would prevail. The City believes that its officers are without fault, that it has meritorious defenses, and that it would prevail at trial. The settlement has been made by the City of Lakeway and me to avoid additional legal expense and further inconvenience, and so we may buy our peace”

Actually, I didn’t have to say that. I’m only “required” to say that “When asked…”, and I haven’t been asked. I’m just blurting out stuff without being asked!!     Obviously, the intent of all this mumbo jumbo is to keep under wraps what the actual AMOUNT of the settlement is. Let’s just say that I’m having a nice Christmas!

This is just a quick update of what has transpired over the past couple of years. I’ll be updating/editing it more over the next few days. I just wanted to get the word out to those of you that have been following  this whole debacle. The website has been at a standstill since April, 2009. But, I’m now at liberty to resume my SpeedTrapAhead activities/videos/posts. All posts related to Lakeway are now back up on the site (search “Lakeway” to find all of them), and all videos are now back up on STA’s YouTube page.

Stay tuned for more!

A little background for those of you who don’t know the recent history of SpeedTrapAhead.org.

As well as running a website that post articles of interest regarding traffic laws, tickets, legal decisions, driving safety, activism, state laws, etc., I also, from time to time, will stand on the side of a road, wearing my “SpeedTrapAhead.org” T-shirt, near where police are running a radar enforced speed zone. (I used to hold a sign, instead; but, that proved to be tricky with state sign laws.)

While doing the sign/shirt thing, I have been approached many times, by officers from several different jurisdictions (three times in Lakeway alone). None of them ever took it further than a quick comment or short discussion about what I was doing. They were actually quite friendly. NONE of them even asked me for I.D.

That is, until Lakeway Sr. Sgt. James DeBrow came around. A little over a year ago, I had an encounter with him. (search “James DeBrow” on this site for more info on that.) But, THAT is old news, and I’ve moved on from that experience.

Fast forward to last week. My truck, with a “SpeedTrapAhead.org” window decal was parked off of a main road in Lakeway, TX. It was parked in an area where construction vehicles and construction employees are parked during some road construction in the area. My truck was parked parallel to the road, behind a silt fence, about 6 feet from the sidewalk, and ~12 feet from the curb. My video camera was on a short tripod, sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, filming traffic going by in a school zone.

I, myself, was further down the sidewalk, simply pointing at my t-shirt as cars drove by.

Now comes the video I have of the encounter with police that day. Check it out and let me know what you think. At one point near the end of the video, officer DeBrow uses a word that some of you may not be familiar with — ‘instanter’. That means for something to happen immediately. In this case, it means to take someone before a judge, immediately, to deal with ‘whatever is the case’.

In summary, I was arrested (instantered), placed in handcuffs for 4.5 hours, and spent 7 hours in jail, until I posted $600 bail ($100 for each of six ‘city code sign ordinance’ and zoning violations). AND, they towed/impounded my truck!!

Watch the video and tell me what y’all think about ANY aspect of the whole ordeal.

On the YouTube page, you can blow it up to full screen. But, please return to my webpage if you’d like to read or post comments. (If comments are not visible, click on the TITLE of the post to see comments.)

UPDATE: The Pre-Trial hearing has been postponed until September 11, 2009. I finally got copies of the complaints filed to the court. Only four instead of the original six; but, they all reference a city sign ordinance that was modified AFTER I received my tickets. Seems that the sign ordinance was amended to include (among other things) a prohibition against WEARING signs. Interesting. My lawyer is working on getting that mess clarified.

UPDATE: See THIS link.

]]> http://speedtrapahead.org/wordpress/2009/04/23/speedtrapaheadorg-guy-is-arrested/feed/ 33 http://speedtrapahead.org/wordpress/2008/07/15/alas-i-am-guilty-of-violating-texas-transportation-code-544006/ http://speedtrapahead.org/wordpress/2008/07/15/alas-i-am-guilty-of-violating-texas-transportation-code-544006/#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:43:34 +0000 admin http://speedtrapahead.org/wordpress/?p=252 Yea… Well, it had to come to a decision sooner or later. And that decision was that I was “Guilty” of violating Texas Transportation Code 544.006 .

You know, when I first got this ticket, I thought, “It’ll never fly!” How could they be issuing a ticket under that statute for holding a homemade cardboard sign. That part of the law is really meant to keep people from erecting their own signs that are meant to appear as a real traffic sign. For instance, the farmer who made and installed fake speed limit signs on the road by his farm. And, this sign — another example of what the law was intended to prevent.

But, when I’m being a little defiant (okay, a lot), and the cop is being… well, a COP… You can expect that things are going to get a little hairy. Ask me a question, then interrupt me mid-sentence to demand identification… Well, That’s just rude. Be rude, and expect others to treat you accordingly.

Anyway, there’s not much to say about the outcome, except that there ARE some plain and simple facts that I would like to make known about the whole thing:

The court found me guilty of violating a Texas statute;

The judge will let the prosecutor play a video and make comments and pose questions throughout; but, he won’t let the defense replay portions of the same video during cross examination;

The slower Officer DeBrow draws a sketch, the more overtime everyone gets paid;

Witnesses can outright LIE so long as the jury doesn’t know otherwise (and it’s hard to disprove some things when the judge won’t allow you to replay part of a video);

The bailiff can take catnaps while the jury deliberates;

I need more practice at being my own lawyer;

AND,

The “Thin Blue Line” DOES exist!

So, all in all, everything’s cool now. The jury cut my fine by 65%! (Because I requested the jury determine the fine amount, not the judge.) There WERE additional costs associated with the jury trial. Overall, I paid more than if I’d just rolled over and taken it. But it was worth it. I got to participate in the system — something far too few people take advantage of. And, I learned alot along the way. The main thing being: I need to redesign my sign. I’ve got some good ideas already. Obviously, it’s gotta be something that doesn’t even come close to resembling a traffic sign. Easy enough — How about the profile of a police car, with “Speed Trap Ahead.org” all in one line down the side of the car?

I’ve always found that “You almost never get PAID for learning something; You seldom learn something for FREE; and, There is usually a cost, of some sort, associated with learning.” I don’t mind paying for my education. In fact, I consider the price I paid for the multitude of things I learned to be quite a deal!

I wonder what new things I’ll learn from my next encounter?

Be careful out there! Drive safely; and, Pay attention to your surroundings.

Well, I’ll make it short and sweet — I’m a little busy right now. I’ll write more details when I have more time.

Jury trial is set for July 11, 2008, at 1:00 p.m.

All done!

Here’s the post about the outcome.

I went to the arraignment a couple of weeks ago. The prosecutor stated that he didn’t really know what the ticket was about. But then I started explaining about SpeedTrapAhead.org… then he suddenly knew what was going on. Obviously, there had been discussion of my sign holding prior to that day.

He asked what I thought should happen. I said, “I think it should be dismissed because…” He then interrupted with, “Well, That’s not gonna happen.”

“Well, then sign me up for a jury trial“, I said. And that’s where we’re at. I have a a pre-trial hearing on June 13th.

I really don’t think that this will actually go to trial. I think this is just a delay tactic to give me a little time to “get scared” and bargain my rights away. Now, I can say, “Well, That’s not gonna happen.”

The prosecutor doesn’t want to drop it because that’ll put out the message that it was a bogus ticket and it’s okay to hold my sign. On the other hand, if it goes to trial and I win, a precedent will be set saying that it’s absolutely not against the law to hold my sign. Either way is okay, as either ruling will have basically the same effect. There is NO WAY Joe Citizen would think my sign is an official traffic control device.

Anyway, I’m just waiting, and getting my stuff together.

UPDATE: Jury Trial is set for July 11, 21008, at 1:00 p.m.

Any clicks on AdSense ads in the right column that may be of interest to you would be appreciated.

Also, Please check out THIS video of a PLEASANT encounter with a rational LEO.

I also have re-edited my existing videos to include this new footage. Now, it is much easier to understand what transpired and to hear both sides of the conversation.

You can now clearly hear Sgt. DeBrow threaten to arrest me and impound my truck for not showing him my driver’s license, even though he already had all the identification that was required by law for me to divulge.

In addition to audio/video from my webcam, and audio/video from the dashcam, I also used audio from my cell phone recording. This is really neat because the way I do it, the audio is recorded directly to the web, securely stored somewhere that can’t be confiscated, erased, or lost by law enforcement.

You can check out the original post, with the updated videos here.

(Recent updates are at the end of this post.)

There I was, just doing my thing on RR 620 in Lakeway, TX. It was just like any other event I had held, standing beside the road and holding my Speed Trap Ahead sign. As usual, I was getting honks and waves as people passed by. Then officer James DeBrow pulled up along the side of the road behind me.

He started by saying that he thought I was broke down, but he then saw that I was holding a sign. So, obviously, he didn’t decide to stop because I was causing a problem of some sort, like he would say later in his conversation.

When he asked what was going on, I stated that I was just “exercising my right to free speech, as guaranteed by the Constitu…” But then, he interrupted by asking me for some I.D. He wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say. (Duh!) Then I threw him for a loop by reaching into my pocket and pulling out a red business-type card with my name, address, and date of birth. He said, “No! I need your I.D.” I told him that since I wasn’t operating a motor vehicle, I was not required to show him any type of I.D. He again demanded that I show him a picture I.D. And again, I refused. He told me that I was required to identify myself; I once again told him that I WAS identifying myself. “Here is my name, address, and date of birth, sir” He didn’t like it; but, he accepted it and went back to his cruiser.

Meanwhile, a couple of people approached me for a chat. One was a young man named James that had just a few days earlier posted a comment to the SpeedTrapAhead.org forum. In the forum, he stated:

“I saw you standing on RR620 just after 7 o’ clock. I completely support what you’re doing (being a victim of Lakeway police one too many times.) I appreciate it and I go to the highschool here in Lakeway. I’ll definitely promote to get your message out there.”

After a brief chat, he said that he intended on making a donation while on the site, but hadn’t yet. To my amazement, he pulled out $10 and said, “I know it doesn’t go a long way, but I just wanted to help out…” THANKS JAMES!

The other fellow was just asking general questions. I think he may actually have been an employee from the bank, coming to scope out the situation.

I could go on and on about all the details; but, In the end, I DID receive a ticket for “§ 544.006. DISPLAY OF UNAUTHORIZED SIGNS, SIGNALS, OR MARKINGS.” They were grasping at straws, and this is the ONLY statute that even possibly could be used against me. I’ve already plead not guilty and requested a jury trial. It’s VERY likely that the ticket will be dismissed because of part (d) of that statute that states: “(d) This section does not prohibit a person from placing on private property adjacent to a highway a sign that gives useful directional information and that cannot be mistaken for an official sign.” I hardly think that a guy holding a particle-board sign on the side of the road would be mistaken for an “official” sign. If it were to go to jury trial, and I were to win, that would set a precedent that they wouldn’t want. So, it’s in their best interest to dismiss the ticket. They will, however, be able to ticket me every time I hold up my sign, just to inconvenience me — which they WILL do, I’m sure. But, hell, it gets me web traffic!

I wasn’t fully prepared for the barrage of police attention, and didn’t have my video camera set up ahead of time. I DID, however, record all of the audio to the web with my phone. I later received the audio/video from the cops dashcam, and was able to re-edit the videos so that you could hear both sides of the conversation and everything was more clearly understood.

Anyway, watch the video and comment on what you think. I had to split it into three parts to be posted on YouTube.

Interesting parts are at:

Video #1 – 2:10, 6:03, 7:10

Video #2 – 4:24, 7:30, 9:11

Video #3 – 1:48, 7:30

Update (04/29/08): I recently received the dashcam video from Sgt. DeBrow’s patrol car. The videos below have been re-edited, so that everyone can more clearly understand what transpired, and to be able to hear BOTH sides of the conversation clearly.

Update: (05/22/08) I went to the arraignment a couple of weeks ago. The prosecutor stated that he didn’t really know what the ticket was about. But then I started explaining about SpeedTrapAhead.org… then he suddenly knew what was going on. Obviously, there had been discussion of my sign holding prior to that day.

He asked what I thought should happen. I said I thought it should be dismissed because… He then interrupted with, “Well, That’s not gonna happen.”

“Well, then sign me up for a jury trial“, I said. And that’s where we’re at. I have a a pre-trial hearing on June 13th.

I really don’t think that this will actually go to trial. I think this is just a delay tactic to give me a little time to “get scared” and bargain my rights away. Now, I can say, “Well, That’s not gonna happen.”

The prosecutor doesn’t want to drop it because that’ll put out the message that it was a bogus ticket and it’s okay to hold my sign. On the other hand, if it goes to trial and I win, a precedent will be set saying that it’s absolutely not against the law to hold my sign. Either way is okay, as either ruling will have basically the same effect. There is NO WAY Joe Citizen would think my sign is an official traffic control device.

Anyway, I’m just waiting, and getting my stuff together. (And, I DO have PLENTY of stuff I’m putting together.)

———-

UPDATE: (June 13, 2008) Jury Trial is now set for July 11th, at 1:00 pm.

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UPDATE: (July 11, 2008) See THIS POST.

Clicks on any adsense link that interest you would greatly be much appreciated.

Also, Please check out THIS video of a PLEASANT encounter with a LEO.