Pete Eyre, Adam Mueller and Jason Talley were traveling through Jones County on I-59 North on May 14 when they were stopped by Jones County deputies.

In Laurel [...]]]> The Motorhome Diaries folks have fired their next barrage against Jones County.  First, from an article in the Laurel, Mississippi Leader-Call that sums up the situation:

Pete Eyre, Adam Mueller and Jason Talley were traveling through Jones County on I-59 North on May 14 when they were stopped by Jones County deputies.

In Laurel Justice Court in September, deputy James Atkins testified that he pulled the group’s RV over because he could not read the temporary tag. He said the three were later arrested because they were disruptive and didn’t obey his commands when they were asked to show identification. The three were found guilty of their respective charges. Their bond payments were enough to cover the fines on their charges and no jail time was required.

According to a letter from Jackson-based attorney Michael Cory, the agencies are being sued “for the unlawful conduct of their law enforcement officers who were acting within the scope of their employment in reckless disregard of the safety and well-being of the claimants and the reckless destruction of their property. None of the claimants were at the time of the event described below engaged in criminal conduct.”

Jones County Sheriff Alex Hodge, deputies James Atkins, Abraham McKenzie, Carrol Windham, State Trooper Chris Walker, Highway Patrol Director Michael Barthay, Public Safety Commissioner Stephen B. Simpson and Chancery Clerk Larry Ishee are all listed in the lawsuit.

The suit seeks more than $250,000 in general damages stemming from the arrest.

It also claims that on July 23, following the Jones County incident, Eyre and Talley were detained by the Canadian Border Service Agency when trying to enter the country through the Vermont border.

Cory states in the letter that the two were denied entry into Canada due to “false reporting of a ‘gun’ charge on Eyre’s record stemming from the Jones County events.

“The false information generated by the unlawful conduct of the Jones County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi Highway Patrol has resulted in a severe and unwarranted restriction upon the claimants’’ ability to travel internationally,” the letter states.

The case represents classic police abuse of bogus traffic stops and disorderly conduct charges– someone doing something legal continues behaving legally when a cop says “stop,” and suddenly legal behavior becomes a crime under the influence of the officers magic wand (or baton).   In prior posts, I’ve described the initial stop, posted a plea that someone sue Jones County along with noting that the sheriff explained the stop by saying the MotorhomeDiaries folks had were activists with an agenda (oh, no! They probably even think we should allow everyone to vote!), and posted an eyewitness account of their Justice Court experience.

Here’s their notice under the state tort claims act.  The act requires a pre-suit notice for claims against the state for state-law torts (like false arrest or the like) that describes the claims, damages, and witnesses.  This one does that, and in the process tells the story of the stop as thoroughly as anything I’ve seen.  There are lots of details, including some funny ones:  “Deputy Atkins now claims that he was concerned that Mueller’s video camera could have been a disguised firearm.”  Here’s Motorhome Diaries Suit Letter.

These folks’ lawyers have also filed a motion to suppress, arguing that any police testimony or evidence (and I’m not sure what the evidence against the motorhome folks would be– that one beer from the motorhome fridge?) was illegally obtained.  Here’s that motion.

I was in the Jones County Justice Court for the trial — in fact [...]]]> A regular commenter on this site, Habeas, described his experience representing the MotorHomeDiaries folk in Jones County Justice Court.  I’m elevating his comment to a post and reminding him to check out the Steve Forbert lyric in my earlier post:

I was in the Jones County Justice Court for the trial — in fact I was admitted pro hac vice as one of the defense attorneys. Dale Danks and Michael Cory, Jr. of Jackson appeared as well. We were all volunteer counsel.

One of the reasons the judge took the matter under advisement is that we raised and argued a motion to suppress evidence on the theory that the stop was illegal and the subsequent arrests were the product of that 4th Amemdment violation. [I can hear the incredulous lawyers out there already: "A motion to suppress in Justice Court???" -- echoing Harvey in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: "Rules"? Rules in a knife fight?"] We were also challenging the application of the disorderly conduct/resisting arrest statute as well as the law proscribing the possession of beer in a dry county.

The deputy who initiated the stop said he could not read a temporary out of state license tag from his position athwart I-59 in an emergency turn area. He followed but did not chose to run the plate via his dispatcher because he could not read it clearly. After he stopped the MH he was able to read the handwritten New Hampshire tag and nothing on the face of it seemed to be amiss. He ordered the driver out of the car before checking the validity of the tag via radio or computer — and from the safety of his patrol SUV. At this point the investigation “diverged” with questions about drugs, etc. [These of course being a prelude to a request for a consensual search. But no consent was forthcoming] The driver told the deputy that he had two handguns inside, but both were disassembled and in locked containers with ammunition stored in a separate locked container. In MS it is not against the law to carry such weapons in a motor vehicle. The deputy said he noticed movement inside the MH and asked the driver about other occupants. He said there were two and the deputy ordered them out and directed them to stand in designated areas separated from one another. One of the guys was recording the incident with a digital video camera and the first deputy did not tell him to stop but said he warned him not to move closer than the rear end of the patrol SUV. He also said with a straight face that he was aware of guns being disguised as video cameras and that made him uneasy — but not enough to demand that the guy show him the camera or hand it over for inspection or to turn away while he continued to question the driver. When a second deputy arrived the camera guy was arrested for [they say] refusing to obey the police order to stay in one place. By this time a third deputy had arrived and after the camera guy was cuffed and put in a police car, the first deputy (about 6 ft. 230 lbs) and the second deputy (over six feet and weighing in at about 260 lbs)both fully armed approached the second passenger and asked for his ID. It was claimed that as he was being approached by these two intimidating figures he took an “aggressive stance” (hands at side with clenched firsts and one foot behind the other; another way to look at this would be a “defensive” position) He declined to produce his ID because he could not see how he had done anything wrong. {And according to the U.S. Supreme Court a person cannot be made to produce ID without reasonable grounds to suspect he is or was engaged in criminal activity.) When he also refused to turn and put his hands on the MH (as in “assuming the position” for a frisk) he was pepper sprayed, put in a choke hold (by the 260 pounder) and thrown to the ground and handcuffed. He too was charged with DOC.

Sometime later a state police K-9 officer just happened to be driving by and stopped at the scene. He was asked by the deputies (and by this time a supervising Captain had arrived) to lead his drug sniffing dog around the exterior of the MH. He claimed the dog “alerted” near the rear of the MH and this led to the search of the interior of the MH. Absolutely no trace of any kind of illegal drug was found, but there was that other dangerous substance A SINGLE BOTTLE OF [ALLEGED] BEER in the fridge. The driver was then arrested and charged with possession of beer in a dry county. The deputy did not “tag and bag” the beer, could not remember the brand, or whether it was even alcoholic or non-alcohol beer. [By the way, we had subpoenaed any video tape made by the police from their cars, any recordings of radio traffic concerning the incident, and photos, etc. Also made a motion to preserve this stuff. It was not produced and that led to a question whether the police tape contained exculpatory material. The prosecutor said it didn’t but of course he hadn’t looked at it or even known there were such items at the time of the trial. This was another reason the judge took the matter under advisement. He said he would look at the police video to see if it had relevant information.

The guys were taken to jail and the MH towed to another location where (with no warrant or regard for inventory procedures) it was totally ransacked and damaged in another fruitless search for drugs. It was later taken to a non-secure impound lot and the video camera and the guns were left in plain view on a seat in the MH. Oh, and incidentally, the video footage taken by the passenger had been deleted — but of course the deputy had no knowledge of that even though he was the person in charge of the evidence.

Our purpose was to get the police committed to their stories and we fully expect to proceed to a trial de novo preceded by evidentiary hearings on motions to suppress, spoliation of evidence, possible Brady issues (I’m guessing that the video taken from the police car may come up missing or erased or accidentally destroyed. In any event, I am not even sure whether it would show much of the action based on where the patrol SUV was positioned at the back of the MH.

All in all, it was a very interesting day in Jones County.

Uncertain of who or what they were dealing with, Hodge said deputies arrested the suspects [...]]]> I noted earlier the stop-and-harrassment of a group of libertarians passing through Jones County, Mississippi. The Jones County sheriff has dug himself in a bit deeper with his explanation of the arrest. Among the highlights of Sheriff Hodge’s explanation:

Uncertain of who or what they were dealing with, Hodge said deputies arrested the suspects and subsequent investigation revealed the individuals had an agenda which included not complying with orders given by authorities. They were discovered to be motorhomediaries.com activists.

Oh, no! They have an agenda!

More details about it here.

I am very, very bothered by the police view that they can give someone an order they have no [...]]]> From this account of a traffic stop in Jones County, Mississippi, it appears that some of the outlaws down there work for the sheriff’s department.  H/t to Habeas, who noted it on Radley Balko’s site.

I am very, very bothered by the police view that they can give someone an order they have no right to give, and then arrest the person for failing to immediately follow it.  The disorderly conduct is from the guy with the badge.