After seeing some responses to my blog post, I guess I need to address a couple of things. I'm going to make it short.
1 - People are saying that, "in lieu" (instead of) taking a person into custody (arresting them) the officer can just issue a citation. So if someone refuses to sign the citation, the officer will just go back to square one. Arresting the driver.
Now I have no Utah Code for back up what I'm about to say, but once an officer has decided to issue a citation instead of arresting the person, thats all he has to do. By law I'm saying. He hands the driver the citation and leave. That's it. The purpose of my entire post was to point out that there's no LEGAL basis for requiring someone to sign a citation. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done. I'm just saying it isn't required. This is something which should be address by the legislators if the law enforcement want to start doing.
2 - The purpose of signing it is to protect yourself. Well. It makes sense. I wouldn't want an officer to just right up a citation out of nowhere, hand it to the court, and being that I never received the citation, I end up being arrested for not contacting the court.
The problem is, the officer is going to have to first have all your information. Registration, Drivers license info, etc. Handing in a counterfeit citation into a court would open up SO MANY legal problems for the officer it wouldn't be worth it. I'm not saying it wouldn't happen. Just saying I doubt it would happen all that much. And when it does, it won't do any good for anyone.
Finally, when people get parking tickets, Meter Maids usually just insert the ticket behind the wipers and go on with their day. Why can't it just be like this?
PS
I'm going to bash on the driver for a moment here. Once a citation is issued, it's issued. There's no way he's going to talk himself out of a ticket once the citation is issued. Just a heads up for all of you out there who decide to keep jibber jabbin after the citation is issued. Just leave. (And just sign it, it saves everyone a whole lotta trouble)
Friday, November 23, 2007
ATF Corruption
I have not yet had the time or resources to post my own recent experiences with the abuse by the ATF, but I will go ahead and post a couple of links with some simple information on the ATF and their corruption.
http://redstradingpost.blogspot.com/2007/11/national-report-atf-abuse-day.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39696d3b3c7b.htm
Hopefully this blog will receive enough viewers to truly expose the ATF and who they really are and what their real goal is. I'm not talking about the Alcohol and Tobacco stuff, I'm talking about the Firearms related stuff.
The #1 thing to realize is that it is unlawful to tax a constitutional right. The only authority ATF has over firearms is their (unlawful) authority to tax firearms.
This is the whole reason they raided Mount Carmel in Waco, TX. They believed the organization (cult/religion whatever you want to call it) located in the compound was manufacturing fully automatic weapons. Which isn't illegal at all. You're just supposed to pay a tax to the ATF when you do. Which they weren't. So they went into Waco with a search warrant...to collect a tax...and we all know how that went down.
Once you grasp the concept that the entire existence of the "F" in "ATF" is unlawful, it's much easier to comprehend all the other things they do.
http://redstradingpost.blogspot.com/2007/11/national-report-atf-abuse-day.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39696d3b3c7b.htm
Hopefully this blog will receive enough viewers to truly expose the ATF and who they really are and what their real goal is. I'm not talking about the Alcohol and Tobacco stuff, I'm talking about the Firearms related stuff.
The #1 thing to realize is that it is unlawful to tax a constitutional right. The only authority ATF has over firearms is their (unlawful) authority to tax firearms.
This is the whole reason they raided Mount Carmel in Waco, TX. They believed the organization (cult/religion whatever you want to call it) located in the compound was manufacturing fully automatic weapons. Which isn't illegal at all. You're just supposed to pay a tax to the ATF when you do. Which they weren't. So they went into Waco with a search warrant...to collect a tax...and we all know how that went down.
Once you grasp the concept that the entire existence of the "F" in "ATF" is unlawful, it's much easier to comprehend all the other things they do.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Hwy Patrolman arresting and tasing man for breaking law which doesn't exist
I've written this article in regards to the incident where a man was tasered and arresting for refusing to sign a speeding citation. I hope to expose the corruption of the officer. I hope to bring attention to the subject. I hope you do something about it. I only do this with what little resources and knowledge I have. The rest is up to you.
I guess this even took place a couple of months ago, but the video of the entire incident was released very recently. You can see the entire video on youtube HERE
Living in Utah, I have had my fair share of experiences with law enforcement. Especially when it comes to speeding. Actually I never thought it was a fair share, but that's a different story.
When I was younger, my dad was pulled over for speeding. When he received the citation and was told to sign it, he asked the Highway Patrolman what would happen if he didn't sign it.
"I'll have to take you down to jail."
"Ok" my dad responded and went ahead and signed the ticket. He's always told me that there is no law requiring you to sign it, but he just assumes it's better to sign it and get on with your day. (As does 99.99 % of people who are asked to sign them)
One thing you can do, is just write "Signed under duress." and you can later argue whatever you want in court. My father has done this in the past, but has lost faith in the legal system for various reasons and knows nothing will become of it in court. So he just signs the tickets now. If this method works for you, then great. Otherwise read the rest of the article.
Fast Forward to this event where I see on the news a highway patrolman tasing a man and arresting him for refusing to sign the ticket. We could go over various things in the video, but I'll just let you watch it yourself. It's much easier this way. I'm only going to go over a few specific events.
Knowing what my father has told me in the past, I've decided to take it upon myself to research the law a little bit and find out if you are really required to sign the citation or not. This is, of course, regarding Utah and it's laws. Your local or state laws probably differ.
The Utah Code can be seen at this link
http://le.utah.gov/~code/code.htm
Go ahead and research whatever you want for yourself if you'd like. Here's what I found.
What does this mean? Let's first explain something. Traffic violations, like speeding, are crimes. When you receive a citation (a ticket) it contains the charge of the crime you committed. You are required to go to court where you can plea, Guilty or Not guilty (or No Contest). At that point you would accept the charges, or go onto arguing the case at the trial.
Traffic violations happen quite regular though. Nearly everybody has received a traffic violation. Because of this, the states just went ahead and made it easier to deal with these alleged crimes. If you don't want to go to court, you can just accept the charge and pay the set fine. Undoubtedly most people take this path.
Now, back to that law I posted. Like I said, speeding is considered a crime. You can be arrested (taken into custody) for a crime. Being that speeding is such a common thing, you just receive a citation instead. You are responsible for taking care of that alleged crime. Whether it's accepting the charge and paying the fine, or taking it to court to dispute the crime.
Long story short, 77-7-18 says that instead of being arrested (taken into custody) you can just be given (issue and deliver) a citation.
Does it require you to sign the citation? No. Most certainly does not. Go ahead. Scroll back up there. It hasn't changed. It does not require you to sign the citation. All the officer is required to do is deliver the citation. Law Enforcement have become so accustomed to just requiring people to sign the citation. For what reason? There could be a hundred reasons. Who knows. It's likely a Judge, somewhere, at some point has probably said that receiving the citation requires a signature. Is this law? No. But once at court, this argument could be used against you. This is, of course, speculating that a Judge even did all of this. This is the only thing that makes sense to me. It might mean something else to you.
Does this mean that if you don't sign the citation, you don't have to appear at or contact a court?
No. You most certainly DO have to appear or contact the court. according to 77-7-19 Section 3
In fact, not only can a warrant be issued for you arrest, but you are guilty of ANOTHER crime for not contacting the court. Taken from 77-7-22
So. Applying what we have learned to this event would mean that arresting someone for not signing a citation is unlawful. Issuing the citation is sufficient to the law. They don't have to sign the citation to agree to contact the court. They MUST contact the court. It doesn't matter what you write on the ticket. In fact, you could role up the citation and smoke it for all I care. (Disclaimer: This does not get you high....In fact, that's probably against the law to destroy the citation. Dont do it.)
What does this mean? This particular Highway Patrolman has no reason to arrest him. Let alone give him whatever reason he had to use a taser on the person. This is unlawful arrest. We'll get to that later.
So. He arrested this man. Let's go over the what the Utah State Code says about arresting a person. According to Utah Code Section 77-7-6
According to 77-7-6, the only exception to NOT informing the driver of the arrest, is clearly stated in a, b, and c. None of those circumstances applied. I'm sure they could be argued. I'm sure they will be argued. From my opinion, those circumstances did not exist. Besides, if those circumstances DID exist, then the officer has little to worry about. He already has the taser pointed at him and ready to fire.
For whatever reason this officer forgot to follow the law (perhaps he didn't know the law?) it's most certainly going to cost him. If the law requires someone to drive a certain speed, the law requires officers to make an arrest properly. Letting one get away with one crime, and convicting the other of another crime is not justice.
With all that said above. What crime did the OFFICER commit. Well, I would be inclined to say "Unlawful Arrest." However, I do not know what the penalty for that is. Or, if that crime even exists. So if this wasn't grounds for arrest, then what happened?
1 - The driver was restrained against his own will.
2 - He was placed in the back of a car against his own will. Meaning, he was kidnapped.
3 - He was assaulted with the taser.
That's really all I can think of right now. I do not know of the pentalties for each crime the officer committed. I would imagine kidnapping is a felony. Again, I am only a concerned citizen of Utah. I am not an attorney. All this information was gathered today, thanksgiving. I only bring you the information I know. And urge my fellow citizens to study their local laws to prevent corruption from ensuing.
If you would like. Contact the Utah Highway Patrol and make sure this officer receives justice for his crimes. Don't stop their. Contact the local attorney's office. Make sure the officer is prosecuted for his crimes. If the attorney's refuse to press charges, contact the Bar association and report them. Finally, contact the Utah Attorney Generals office and let them know you don't want Officers to get away with crime. Furthermore, whatever happens to him because of his crimes, I would ATLEAST expect him to lose his job and not be allowed to work for the public again.
Still not satisfied? Thinking tasers are too much? Contact your legislators. Get them to do whatever they can. Restrict tasers from officers using them. Limiting the use of tasers by officers. Increasing the penalties for unlawfully using the tasers. Increase the penalties for not making an arrest properly. Or banning tasers all together. Whatever you want. I'm not saying I want all those things to happen. I may not even agree with any of them. I am only urging you (the reader) to do something about it.
Do whatever you want. This is your country. If you see something wrong with the system, make sure it gets changed.
Contact Info for various institutions:
Utah Highway Patrol
Contact Page
Link to the digg submission. Digg to help expose the corruption!
http://digg.com/politics/Hwy_Patrolman_arresting_and_tasing_man_for_breaking_law_which_doesn_t_exist
I guess this even took place a couple of months ago, but the video of the entire incident was released very recently. You can see the entire video on youtube HERE
Living in Utah, I have had my fair share of experiences with law enforcement. Especially when it comes to speeding. Actually I never thought it was a fair share, but that's a different story.
When I was younger, my dad was pulled over for speeding. When he received the citation and was told to sign it, he asked the Highway Patrolman what would happen if he didn't sign it.
"I'll have to take you down to jail."
"Ok" my dad responded and went ahead and signed the ticket. He's always told me that there is no law requiring you to sign it, but he just assumes it's better to sign it and get on with your day. (As does 99.99 % of people who are asked to sign them)
One thing you can do, is just write "Signed under duress." and you can later argue whatever you want in court. My father has done this in the past, but has lost faith in the legal system for various reasons and knows nothing will become of it in court. So he just signs the tickets now. If this method works for you, then great. Otherwise read the rest of the article.
Fast Forward to this event where I see on the news a highway patrolman tasing a man and arresting him for refusing to sign the ticket. We could go over various things in the video, but I'll just let you watch it yourself. It's much easier this way. I'm only going to go over a few specific events.
Knowing what my father has told me in the past, I've decided to take it upon myself to research the law a little bit and find out if you are really required to sign the citation or not. This is, of course, regarding Utah and it's laws. Your local or state laws probably differ.
The Utah Code can be seen at this link
http://le.utah.gov/~code/code.htm
Go ahead and research whatever you want for yourself if you'd like. Here's what I found.
"77-7-18. Citation on misdemeanor or infraction charge.
A peace officer, in lieu of taking a person into custody, any public official of any county or municipality charged with the enforcement of the law, a port-of-entry agent as defined in Section 72-1-102, and a volunteer authorized to issue a citation under Section 41-6a-213 may issue and deliver a citation requiring any person subject to arrest or prosecution on a misdemeanor or infraction charge to appear at the court of the magistrate before whom the person should be taken pursuant to law if the person had been arrested. "
What does this mean? Let's first explain something. Traffic violations, like speeding, are crimes. When you receive a citation (a ticket) it contains the charge of the crime you committed. You are required to go to court where you can plea, Guilty or Not guilty (or No Contest). At that point you would accept the charges, or go onto arguing the case at the trial.
Traffic violations happen quite regular though. Nearly everybody has received a traffic violation. Because of this, the states just went ahead and made it easier to deal with these alleged crimes. If you don't want to go to court, you can just accept the charge and pay the set fine. Undoubtedly most people take this path.
Now, back to that law I posted. Like I said, speeding is considered a crime. You can be arrested (taken into custody) for a crime. Being that speeding is such a common thing, you just receive a citation instead. You are responsible for taking care of that alleged crime. Whether it's accepting the charge and paying the fine, or taking it to court to dispute the crime.
Long story short, 77-7-18 says that instead of being arrested (taken into custody) you can just be given (issue and deliver) a citation.
Does it require you to sign the citation? No. Most certainly does not. Go ahead. Scroll back up there. It hasn't changed. It does not require you to sign the citation. All the officer is required to do is deliver the citation. Law Enforcement have become so accustomed to just requiring people to sign the citation. For what reason? There could be a hundred reasons. Who knows. It's likely a Judge, somewhere, at some point has probably said that receiving the citation requires a signature. Is this law? No. But once at court, this argument could be used against you. This is, of course, speculating that a Judge even did all of this. This is the only thing that makes sense to me. It might mean something else to you.
Does this mean that if you don't sign the citation, you don't have to appear at or contact a court?
No. You most certainly DO have to appear or contact the court. according to 77-7-19 Section 3
So whether or not you even signed the citation, as long as you received it, you are required to make some sort of contact with the court. (Depending on whether or not you accept the charges, of course)
(3) A person who receives a citation and who fails to comply with Section 77-7-21 on or before the time and date and at the court specified is subject to arrest. The magistrate may issue a warrant of arrest.
In fact, not only can a warrant be issued for you arrest, but you are guilty of ANOTHER crime for not contacting the court. Taken from 77-7-22
77-7-22. Failure to appear as misdemeanor.So, the argument that "Signing a citation only means you are accepting to contact the court" serves no purpose at all. There's no reason for a signature, regardless of whether or not you are supposed to sign it. There's no reason for that argument either. The very fact that you received the citation, requires you to contact the court. Not only would you get arrested, but you would committed another crime.
Any person who willfully fails to appear before a court pursuant to a citation issued under the provisions of Section 77-7-18 is guilty of a class B misdemeanor, regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he was originally cited.
So. Applying what we have learned to this event would mean that arresting someone for not signing a citation is unlawful. Issuing the citation is sufficient to the law. They don't have to sign the citation to agree to contact the court. They MUST contact the court. It doesn't matter what you write on the ticket. In fact, you could role up the citation and smoke it for all I care. (Disclaimer: This does not get you high....In fact, that's probably against the law to destroy the citation. Dont do it.)
What does this mean? This particular Highway Patrolman has no reason to arrest him. Let alone give him whatever reason he had to use a taser on the person. This is unlawful arrest. We'll get to that later.
So. He arrested this man. Let's go over the what the Utah State Code says about arresting a person. According to Utah Code Section 77-7-6
The Highway Patrolman in the video, did NOT inform him he was being arrested when he pointed the taser at the man. As far as that driver was concerned, he was about to be killed. (Keep in mind, the driver had though that was a real gun. I read this somewhere online. Sorry, I do not know the source) If the officer told him he was being arrested, the reason he was being arrested, and the authority he had to arrest him BEFORE he was placed in handcuffs, then the driver MUST to listen to the officer. But ONLY AFTER all that is said. The only thing the driver was told was "Place your hands behind your head" and "turn around."
77-7-6. Manner of making arrest.
(1) The person making the arrest shall inform the person being arrested of his intention, cause, and authority to arrest him. Such notice shall not be required when:
(a) there is reason to believe the notice will endanger the life or safety of the officer or another person or will likely enable the party being arrested to escape;
(b) the person being arrested is actually engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, an offense; or
(c) the person being arrested is pursued immediately after the commission of an offense or an escape.
According to 77-7-6, the only exception to NOT informing the driver of the arrest, is clearly stated in a, b, and c. None of those circumstances applied. I'm sure they could be argued. I'm sure they will be argued. From my opinion, those circumstances did not exist. Besides, if those circumstances DID exist, then the officer has little to worry about. He already has the taser pointed at him and ready to fire.
For whatever reason this officer forgot to follow the law (perhaps he didn't know the law?) it's most certainly going to cost him. If the law requires someone to drive a certain speed, the law requires officers to make an arrest properly. Letting one get away with one crime, and convicting the other of another crime is not justice.
With all that said above. What crime did the OFFICER commit. Well, I would be inclined to say "Unlawful Arrest." However, I do not know what the penalty for that is. Or, if that crime even exists. So if this wasn't grounds for arrest, then what happened?
1 - The driver was restrained against his own will.
2 - He was placed in the back of a car against his own will. Meaning, he was kidnapped.
3 - He was assaulted with the taser.
That's really all I can think of right now. I do not know of the pentalties for each crime the officer committed. I would imagine kidnapping is a felony. Again, I am only a concerned citizen of Utah. I am not an attorney. All this information was gathered today, thanksgiving. I only bring you the information I know. And urge my fellow citizens to study their local laws to prevent corruption from ensuing.
If you would like. Contact the Utah Highway Patrol and make sure this officer receives justice for his crimes. Don't stop their. Contact the local attorney's office. Make sure the officer is prosecuted for his crimes. If the attorney's refuse to press charges, contact the Bar association and report them. Finally, contact the Utah Attorney Generals office and let them know you don't want Officers to get away with crime. Furthermore, whatever happens to him because of his crimes, I would ATLEAST expect him to lose his job and not be allowed to work for the public again.
Still not satisfied? Thinking tasers are too much? Contact your legislators. Get them to do whatever they can. Restrict tasers from officers using them. Limiting the use of tasers by officers. Increasing the penalties for unlawfully using the tasers. Increase the penalties for not making an arrest properly. Or banning tasers all together. Whatever you want. I'm not saying I want all those things to happen. I may not even agree with any of them. I am only urging you (the reader) to do something about it.
Do whatever you want. This is your country. If you see something wrong with the system, make sure it gets changed.
Contact Info for various institutions:
Utah Highway Patrol
http://highwaypatrol.utah.gov/contact_uhp.htmlCounty Attorney
Local Vernal Office (closest to incident
152 East 100 North
Vernal, Utah 84078
Office: (435) 789-8575
Fax: (435) 789-8575
Mon - Fri 9am to 5pm
JoAnn Stringham
152 East 100 North
Vernal, Utah 84078
(435) 781-5436
(435) 781-5428 (fax)
Mon - Fri 8am to 5pm
Attorney General
Contact Page
Link to the digg submission. Digg to help expose the corruption!
http://digg.com/politics/Hwy_Patrolman_arresting_and_tasing_man_for_breaking_law_which_doesn_t_exist
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