Media is Taking ME to Court Tomorrow!!!

Originally posted by samstone11
reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum

 

That may not absolve me, but at least my kids can sleep at night knowing, right or wrong,

If you are convicted will they understand how wrong you were? or might you explain it a little differently to them?

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by Paschar0

 

Unfortunately the OP is cooked. The camera was Not inches away, it was more than a foot away. No cameraman gets that close unless he filming bugs on a leaf.

He really has No Defense.

His best bet is to plead No Contest and pay his fines and cost.

Hyperopia, Far Sighted. People who are far sighted, maybe it was 12 inches from his face....but if you are far sighted....it may seem right on top of you.

Lawyer up, claim that in court. If you lose, tell the Judge you don't have money and you'll sit it out in jail.

The country may be corrupt.....make them feed you while they punish you.

No use living on Ramen Noodles for 2 months trying to pay their fine.

The irony. We are losing the big issues of privacy and searches yet just trying to mildly stop the snoopy news from filming you will probably result a fine. At this point the news is darn near useless for the truth.

If the judge is lenient, be sure to avoid slapping someone on the rear when you hear it.

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by PsykoOps

 

Is this the post you are refering to?


Other Post About Assault

EDIT:

To anyone else interested. This link might shed some more light on this post

Yes that was it. Thanks for that. I looked all over and couldn't find it. Was sure that it was 404'd. Seems my memory of it was somewhat accurate

reply to post by muzzleflash

First thing:
File a MOTION TO DISMISS the case.

You must File Motions BEFORE the CASE BEGINS!!!!
This is your only chance, do it quickly or you will probably have to pay it no matter what.

What would the grounds/reasons for dismissal be?

I'm in the UK - so completely different over here. However op you could perhaps seek an extension on the grounds that you have been unable to secure legal representation. Then again, I'm sure you weren't cited just last week - and must have known about this for quite some time.....but....if it is financial limitations that are stopping you from engaging a legal agent the court may accept that argument and grant the extension.

On the other hand, if there was no damage done to either camera or cameraman the court may well not look too kindly on the pursuers' case - seeing it as wasting court time and taking advantage of an opponent. Your arguments could factor in the stress of the extenuating circumstances - more concern for the children's safety than usual due to the events that led to the camera crew being there in the first place.

Courts largely operate in the realms of common sense. Use the K.I.S.S. approach (keep it simple stupid) do NOT try to act like a lawyer - and appeal to common sense. If it is evident during the hearing that you are in way over your head - ask the bench for that extension - and get a lawyer (or accept guilt and the fine).

reply to post by phishyblankwaters

I hope you missed a few points I made earlier. I was hoping the video would be shown because it would very clearly show that although I was unhappy, I was professional, non-aggressive, and much more considerate of them than they were of me. It has become quite clear that to avoid the drama i would have been much better off simply leaving them alone, or walking away and perhaps filing a complaint with the station. One of my core beliefs, however, is to respect myself enough to follow through with my convictions (appropriately) and when I think something should be addressed I cannot sit idle. I also believe that in such situations, I have an obligation to challenge the alleged perpetrators in a manner that should prevent it from happening again. In fact, these folks should be happy I do not have a violent or abusive personality and if they were going to "bait" someone, they came out much safer themselves with me than any number of other people I can name.

Quick report for all who have graciously given time, thought, input, and opinion over the last few hours. I went to court today, they asked me if I wanted to plead guilty and pay the fine, or accept an extension so I can retain legal representation. I believe I can truthfully say it appeared the DA involved was annoyed at having to pursue the case but is bound by the constraints of his job. He was considerably more attentive and empathetic than I had anticipated, and I could almost swear when he told me to get a lawyer and possibly consider filing a lawsuit as one of my available alternatives that he made the statement with a "wink - wink - I - shouldn't - be - saying - anything - but - this - entire - thing - is - a -waste - of - the - court's -time" in his voice.

I will likely post more later after I have had some time to digest what happened and think I can better explain the court visit today. Thanks to all.

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Originally posted by Magister
I would think you had a counter suit for assault. I consider having a camera shoved inches from my face assault. There does not have to be contact.

You could technically file a counter-suit yes.
y]

Only an ignorant fool (ignorant meaning unlearned, and a fool for not recognziing his own lack of learning) thinks you can file a "counter-suit" (properly called a counterclaim) to a criminal charge. A counterclaim is a claim for relief under Rule 13 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. It has no counterpart in the Criminal Rules. This points out the huge problem existing in this thread of a bunch of people trying to give legal advice without having a law license. They might be great zombie hunters, or wonderful alien chasers, or world class chemtrail exposers, but they sure as hell aren't lawyers. That is the reason wy, in every state, giving legal advice (like when to file Motions to Dismiss, for instance) is hat least a criminal misdemeanor. In Florida, it's a lower level felony. Some of the advice you have been given, Mr or Mrs OP, seems to have been intentionally designed to harm you. You have to be careful in relying on advice from someone who may have an agenda different than yours. If you want a suggestion from someone who did actually go to school long enough to get a law degree, here it is: go to Court and announce "Your honor, I would like the record to reflect that I am not ready to proceed with the defense and I request a continuance to obtain counsel (or, if appropriate - to have counsel appointed for me since I can't afford to retain private counsel.) If you get the continuance, get a freaking lawyer. If the judge is foolish enough to deny one, you have an almost bullet-proof basis for an appeal. I assume you received a summons to appear and were not actually arrested, so usually at the first court appearance nothing substantive happens. If all else fails and you don't get the continuance, demand a jury trial. At that point the prosecutor will know you have a great appeal, and will not want to go through the whole process of a jury trial for absolutely no reason. He'll likely say either, "Oh, judge, give him his continuance", or, "Judge, we have just decided to nol pros this case." and the judge will say, "OK, case dismissed."

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum

That was my first post regarding the situation. I think I need to make something clear again: I am willing to accept that I should have handled this differently, but I continue to believe I needed to do something. Probably, as an afterthought, a complaint to the news station and likely through the school principal would have accomplished far more with less drama. What I would ask is for you to consider that a young lady had been taken and mine were not the only parent's nerves that were on edge.

Further, I have no problem allowing myself to be held accountable if my actions were indeed illegal or undeniably inappropriate. I reacted more as a papa bear than a roaring "I'm gonna eat you" bear. I understand your honest assessment of my actions, and I have done all I can to be as forthcoming with details as possible. The earlier post was full of raw emotion whereas I have had time to put the instance in perspective now.

In the same situation, without better preparation and legal understanding, I would surely do the same thing again. You and others have said I was wrong and that is a realistic conclusion. Being human means I handle some things better than others with or without warning, and this is something I have been curious for outside input since it happened. I certainly take no offense when you tell me I handled it poorly or outright awfully because I want to learn, especially if it was a mistake.

Lastly, as a person without an overly aggressive nature (I've stated this many times before), maybe it's a good thing I was the one who did something improperly so no one was actually physically hurt in this particular life lesson.

Thanks for the honesty. I give my word I will sincerely strive to use constructive criticism to become a better person, father, and husband.

reply to post by F4guy

Your observations seem to be exactly correct. I want to clarify, however, that I posted asking for opinions and/or known precedent as a reference. I am truly curious and certainly not clear as to how the law itself will or even should judge my actions. I was given an extension today to retain an attorney, and as far as filing a lawsuit I recognize the distinction between that procedure and defending myself from these charges.

I will continue to say I could have handled it better, but I can think of a lot of folks who would have handled it much worse and probably got in real trouble. Given how anxious we parents were at the time under the circumstance, I can definitely say I reacted less aggressively than I would have at other times in my life. Let's see what eventually happens, and hopefully we can all learn something from my mistake/action/ongoing search for the right answers. I conclude with this: it looks like virtually everyone who has responded would have handled this somewhat differently. Some for the better, some not, just not exactly the same.

ATS continues to make me a better person in addition to simply a more informed person.

Thanks for your time.

The camera person was assaulting you, and you acted in self defense. He was in your face with an object, it doesn't matter if that object happened to be a camera. If you wanted him to leave keep a distance and he didn't, its harassment. He could have been rational and stayed at arms length, but he invaded your personal space.

It's too bad you're at court; please do tell the public the name of the media group and the names of the reporting team, get some karma running about scumbag reporters who use their press status to assault and harass people in public for the lawsuits.

reply to post by samstone11


I can understand your position. I think that it was maybe protective instinct that caused you to do what you did.

On the other hand. I have seen too many times on TV how the Press or anyone affiliated take the "Freedom Of Speech" rule to the next level where there is a fine line between right or wrong. Moreover there are allot of celebrities that have been where you are. Typically they get the Short End of the Stick. It is just the law. If we were to revise that law it may very well infringe on the portion that we want to keep.

Also, just note about your appearance. I did not seen the indication either way. Did you plea or file an extension? just curious. Another thing to note is. ... Typically prosecutors are Very Selective about the cases they take. They pursue cases that that can win. It is All about the Money. I am truly surprised that there may have been a hint that this was a waste of time. DA/PAs do Not think like that. They need the win for 2 reasons. The Money, and the Points for Election. As far as filing a suit goes. You might as well pitch that idea. Unless it is based on principle and you have a Huge overflowing pile of money. There is nothing the crew did wrong so a suit would be Futile.

Like I said celebrities are presented with these same issues on a daily basis. How many times have you seen on the news that a suit was pursued against a Paparazzi and won? You probably haven't because it Rarely if Ever happens.

Thanks for taking this in stride and learning from it.

reply to post by Sandalphon


Maybe you don't understand this but it was Not assault on behalf of the cameraman.

When you are out in public anyone has the right to do anything they want as long as they are following the laws. If that means that they follow you along with a camera 12 inches away from you then that is just how it is.

That is one of the many evils of the great country.

WHY in Heaven's name are you seeking a solution on ATS? You should be getting real legal advice, not depending on everyone's "expert" opinions here. You are wasting time.

Accidental double post.

I would use the option of trial by jury, punishment by judge ( looks better to the jury ).


If you get legal representation you're going to probably have to coach him on an opening disposition.

In a trial jury you have the option of not allowing up to 3 jury members and you can question each and everyone one of them to see which jury members might be compassionate to your plight.

The jury will have to be convinced without a doubt that you are guilty of your crime. If you address or have your attorney address your concerns about "Advertising to child predators, on the mainstream media." for your child and other children's safety, I feel the jury may sympathize with your dilemna.

If not then you're going to have to play to the jury on how they would feel if this occurred near them and the news team refused to respect the safety of individuals in a very sensitive situation.

reply to post by samstone11


You have no expectation of privacy in public and unfortunately its not against the law to video record children as they leave a school.

My question would be what part of the story did you leave out?

You went from confronting media to the court appearance for assault. What exactly did you do to get the assault charge?

reply to post by schuyler

Shuyler, I simply want to understand more than I do. I have been very careful not to solicit advice because I don't want to put anyone in that position and it violates T&C, correct? ATS is by far my favorite place of internet solitude, and I regret I don't get to come and participate here more often. There are some very, very well informed, educated, and highly respectable folks here and of all the things I know vs. all the things I don't know, I KNOW ATSers don't hold back. You may have seen that I have been creamed by a few comments, but I have yet to see any which I believe to be mean spirited or obnoxious. There have been others who shared similar recollections, some told me how they would handle the situation, and not all of it was encouraging or positive.

This honesty is what I requested, not advice. Something went quite wrong in my incident, and realized I would be putting myself on trial by my peers at ATS by posting, but I truly have learned more than I would have from the experience otherwise thanks to the good people on this site. Maybe someone who reads this will someday find themselves in a similar situation and be better prepared. I absolutely hope to never be a part of such a thing as this instance again, but if it were to occur I have many people at ATS to thank for their objective viewpoints and willingness to point me in a better direction.

In the end, I have a wonderful family and wife who will also help me make the best decisions going forward and I alone am responsible for my actions, positive or negative. From here, I will see an attorney for the legal representation necessary and do all I can to live up to my obligation to live the best example I can for my kids in the process.

Thanks to all, and more comments are always appreciated.

reply to post by Xcathdra

There has been a lot to read in this thread and I'm sure it's easy to miss what I said about how the assault charge came about. In simplest terms, when the cameraman turned to me all my mind would say to me at the time was they didn't care about the kid's safety and I was so bewildered that it looks like I could/should have processed it better. Instead of turning and walking away, I moved the camera, which apparently opened me up to a great deal of scrutiny. I would like to repeat, however, that by no means were my actions aggressive or threatening. In fact, I really wanted them to play the tape because I firmly believe any rational individual will see I was considerably more professional than they were, but that is admittedly my opinion. I was sincerely offended by the intrusion into my "personal space" as well, and so overwhelmed with the lack of respect for safety, myself, my family, the school, and the kids I may or may not have exhibited the best judgement in how I reacted.

I understand that in today's world it's virtually impossible to discern the true intent and character of a person you have never met, but I really, really want to believe in integrity, sincerity, and concern for our fellow man/woman. What happens is sometimes when I encounter things that seem to go against common sense or regard for others I wind up disappointing myself as well while it plays out.

Some responders have said they would have been upset also, possibly to the point of violence, many have agreed something should have been done, but virtually no one has said I could touch the camera without some negative repercussion regardless of the situation. Overall, I hope to offer a learning experience not only for myself, but anyone else who might benefit from some degree of forethought in the future.

Best regards---

reply to post by samstone11


It is an ethical, and legal requirement for journalists not to film people, especially students without permission from the individuals (and in the children's case, their parents or guardians). When shooting people, they must shoot below the head if they do not have permission from the individuals of which they are filming. This is especially so if journalists are filming school children. They are not allowed to identify the children for obvious reasons. Faces must also be blurred so as to not identify them.

If journalists do break the above rules however, they can be taken to court for intrusive purposes.

Well, this is how it is meant to be, and is in Australia.

Good luck with your predicament.

To be honest you will probably get the same outcome that you would have got if you had provided the genetleman with an impromtu colonoscopy.

Best of luck with it, lets hope common sense prevails.