Been there done that and have the shirt. Every second Saturday in the summer months I would have a midnight BBQ for my friends. I live right on the city line but technically I am in the county and my house sits back an easy 75 feet from the street. Anyway, one night the City cops show up and let themselves through 2 gates and kicked the second open with a padlock. So around 1:30 am I see 3 city cops in my backyard and I am thinking how'd the fuck did they get passed my locked gate? And why are City cops here?
Two months before I installed cameras and motion alarms because an idiot stole my new lawnmower out of my shed. I thank my wife for nagging me for weeks to hook up the cameras to the VCR because this saved my ass and $1,000's in court/lawyer fees.
I've never been a fan of cops due to being a son of cop and know most cops are fucking broken. So I politely asked him what the problem was? The cop ignored me and started to collect id's. I was like wait, why are you on my property? He told me to shut up and sit down or I'll be arrested. I said fuck this I am calling the sheriffs because this is county property NOT city. ZAP that's a tasering and I was soon cuffed and on the floor. Please believe me you'll do whatever they ask when tasered.
The sheriffs show up as they were walking me to the city cop car. I hear the cop trying to pawn me off on the sheriffs and they wanted nothing to with it. The cop was trying to cover his ass because when I went down from the taser I clipped a chair an my eye was swollen closed. At the station I get my police report with 12 different charges from public intox to resisting arrest and assault on a police officer ETC. My bond was $20k.
Two months later at my 1st hearing the city is already trying to cut a deal on the charges. A sign they have a weak case so I declined all. Then a month later at the pretrial hearing they were trying to scare me telling me they are going for a 4 year sentence or take 30 days in jail and all felony charges will be dropped. Nope. My attorney then sends discovery for trial and included was the tape of a cop kicking open a locked gate. BINGO!
Then the city offers me a public intox charge and a $150 fine. Nope. We go to trial and the cop does not show up so they move to dismiss the case. Nope. I told my attorney to file a motion for another hearing when the cop is available. The City attorney then drops all charges. 30 days later I file a suit with the City, the cop, and his union. Still in limbo with this.
The moral of this story is get good legal advice and don't back down with deal IF you are in the right. It is a long drawn out process and most people say fuck it and cave. If you don't have the scratch for an attorney bring your tape to the local ACLU.
