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Friday, July 8, 2005 "M" FOR MISDEMEANOR: HOW GARDEN GROVE POLICE MADE UP A CRIME OUT OF THIN AIR Policeman issued criminal citation to Indymedia journalist who dropped a cigarette butt By DUANE J. ROBERTS [EMAIL PROTECTED] GARDEN GROVE, CA -- "The press is not free, it cost me over $300," remarked Scott Larson, a journalist with the Independent Media Project, who was quoted in a brief article entitled, "Journalist Under Attack By The Garden Grove Police Department," that was posted anonymously to the la.indymedia.org website on Wednesday, June 29, 2005. In that article, Larson recounted a seemingly bizarre incident that occurred sometime during the early morning hours after the May 25th protest against Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist where a Garden Grove Police officer by the name of Lawton cited him for dropping a cigarette butt. According to Larson, the citation issued to him was done with malicious intent: it was done to punish him for videotaping this same policeman whom he alleges tried to "harass and intimidate a peaceful protester" standing outside on the public sidewalk of Garden Grove Police Department headquarters. Among other things, the article mentions Larson later tried to fight the citation in court, but that the Commissioner handling his case acted with indifference. According to Larson, the Commissioner "seemed to be preoccupied with moving people through the system as quickly as possible, and did not allow the opportunity for people to address the court." A $336 fine was imposed. During the past week, rumors have been circulating around the internet about the above posting. People have asked me if this is true: Did a Garden Grove policeman write up a ticket to an Indymedia journalist who dropped a cigarette butt? After all, this is the same police department we've all been reading about that raided the Westminister home of Theresa Dang in search of a lost flashlight, isn't it? Would it be such a big surprise to anybody now that they actually stooped this low to harass other people whose only real crime was to exercise their constitutional right to free speech and assembly? Up until now, Larson, a former Garden Grove resident, didn't want me to write anything about this matter until he and his loved ones were many thousands of miles away from the city he used to live, work, and play in. "The Garden Grove Police Department is out of control," Larson told me in a telephone call he made from the middle of Kansas a couple of days ago. "I no longer feel safe in the State of California." On the evening of Wednesday, May 25th, Scott Larson was an Indymedia journalist covering the protest against Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, who appeared at the Garden Grove Woman's Civic Club that night to deliver a speech before a meeting of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform. Larson arrived at the demonstration with a bonafide press credential that was visible to anybody who saw him; and he carried all kinds of photographic equipment on him, including a video camera. Larson not only shot numerous photos of the protest as the evening went on, but he captured on videotape spectacular images of the Garden Grove Police officers in action, including a scary situation where about a half dozen policeman suddenly charged the crowd and tackled a male protester to the ground, allegedly shoving a nightstick into his mouth. (according to Larson, this protester wasn't doing anything to provoke their incredibly violent attack) Shortly after Garden Grove Police on the scene decided to declare the protest an "unlawful assembly", Larson was one of about 40 protesters, concerned citizens, and family members who raced to their headquarters to learn more about the fate of the persons who had been arrested. There he continued to cover events as an Indymedia journalist, filming people marching on the public sidewalk near the front entrance who demanded that all the protesters arrested by police that night be immediately released. But while many people were focusing their attention on activities taking place directly in front of GGPD headquarters, a young Mexican woman wearing a bandana over her face began to look at a small stone memorial for "fallen peace officers" that was off to the side, just out of everybody's line of sight. As she began to read the inscriptions imprinted upon it, one policeman (hereafter to be known as "Officer Lawton") began to watch her like a hawk. At first, Officer Lawton just kept a close eye on her. But he then looked around to see if he himself was being watched. Believing that nobody was paying attention to his actions, he began to walk toward her in a stealth-like manner: he moved slowly and silently, just like a hungry lion that was getting ready to pounce upon his prey. The young woman was too busy reading the words on the monument to take notice of him coming towards her. Although there is no evidence to suggest that Officer Lawton was planning on arresting or even attacking this young woman, nobody wanted to risk that possibility. To the policeman's surprise, a few people had in fact been watching him from the corner of their eye; they suddenly sprung up from where they had been seated and began to rush to her defense. Larson ran over with his video camera and filmed all of his movements. He and others began yelling loudly to let everybody know what was going on. This sudden burst of attention caused Officer Lawton to become temporarily disoriented. He began stumbling around like a drunken sailor, almost tripping over himself at one point. But when he quickly came to his senses, Lawton began to back away from the young woman, apparently realizing how awkward it looked for him to be in such close proximity to a protester whom many witnesses agree was doing nothing wrong. With the guidance of her friends, the young woman walked back to safety of the crowd. And when things calmed down a bit, most people sat back down. They realized that whatever Officer Lawton was planning to do, it had been foiled by their vigilant response to his rather questionable behavior. After that incident, Larson felt a bit nervous. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lighted it up, and began puffing on it. The nicotine calmed him down, somewhat. But when he finished smoking, he threw the butt down onto the pavement, not thinking about what he had done. That's when Officer Lawton sprung into action. It apparently was payback time. Officer Lawton, who had been staring at Larson, called him to the side and proceeded to write him up a ticket for "improper disposal of a cigarette." According to the citation, Larson was charged with violating Section 23111 of the California Vehicle Code which reads: No person in any vehicle and no pedestrian shall throw or discharge from or upon any road or highway or adjoining area, public or private, any lighted or nonlighted cigarette, cigar, match, or any flaming or glowing substance. But this was no ordinary ticket. Officer Lawton wrote an "M" for misdemeanor on it. Instead of citing Larson with the usual "littering" infraction, he charged him with committing a criminal offense that was punishable for up to a year in jail and a huge fine. "Is this police harassment?" Larson remembered asking Officer Lawton as he wrote up the citation. The rather hefty policeman allegedly smiled and replied, "Yes." Officer Lawton might have had a few chuckles that morning by writing up a misdemeanor criminal citation against a man whose only offense was to drop a cigarette butt. But the truth is, the last laugh was on him and the GGPD. Although various provisions within the California Vehicle Code can either be enforced as an infraction or a misdemeanor depending on the circumstances, there are statutory limits on how overzealous policemen like Officer Lawton can choose to enforce these laws. In Larson's case, he was lucky. A careful examination of the California Vehicle Code shows that what Officer Lawton did to him was in direct conflict of existing state law. Section 40000.28 of the Vehicle Code makes it explicitly clear that Section 23111 cannot be enforced as misdemeanor unless the person charged with it is driving or operating a motor vehicle at the time the offense has been committed; on the other hand, a pedestrian who violates this law can only be cited for an infraction. Since Larson was standing on the sidewalk the moment he dropped the cigarette butt, the Garden Grove Police had no statutory authority to charge him with a crime other than a simple infraction. Hence, when they made an attempt to file this case as a misdemeanor offense, they soon found out that state law could offer them no justification for them to do so. In essence, they slammed their heads into a legal brick wall. And indeed, the minutes of the "Docket Report" for Larson's case ( #GG101255IA) obtained from the Orange County Superior Court on the afternoon of Friday, July 1st clearly show that the GGPD had no choice but to handle the citation as an infraction. According to an entry made by a court clerk on June 21st, they filed this case as an "INFRACTION charge of 23111 VC filed as count 1. Date of violation: 05/26/05". Another entry posted the very next day mentioned "Courtesy Notice sent" -- meaning that the court had sent Larson a letter reminding him of the date, time, and location of his pending hearing, and information about the lesser charge he was now facing. When I asked Larson if he received any letters, he acknowledged that about a week before his scheduled court appearance, he received one in his mailbox. What did it say? It informed him that the citation issued by Officer Lawton on the morning of May 26th had been "miswritten as a ticket". On the morning of Wednesday, June 29th, Larson drove from his Garden Grove home to the West Justice Center in the City of Westminster and appeared before Commissioner Kenneth I. Schwartz in Dept. W2. When his name was called, he made an attempt to argue his case before Commissioner Schwartz; but Schwartz wanted none of that. Larson told me that the Commissioner appeared to be "rushing the cases through system" and was putting pressure on everybody who came before him to enter a guilty plea. After squabbling a bit with the Commissioner, Larson eventually capitulated. According to minutes of the "Docket Report", Larson plead "GUILTY as to count(s) 1." Commissioner Schwartz then ordered him to go forthwith to the clerk's office and pay $336 worth of fines, fees, and penalty assessments. He promptly paid it and left the courthouse. When I asked Larson about what he thought about all of this, he said it really doesn't matter to him anymore now because he's thousands of miles away from California. Although he told me he didn't originally want to plead guilty nor pay all that money, he decided to do whatever it took to settle this matter once and for all; he didn't want it to stop him and his family from fleeing the state: "Sometimes I have to realize that the system does bite back." -------------------------------------- Permission granted for reproduction for the above work in any non-profit publication provided that credit is given to the author. -------------------------------------- FOR MORE INFO ABOUT SCOTT LARSON -------------------------------------- Downloadable PDF file of the "Docket Report" for Scott Larson's case (#GG101255IA) obtained from the Orange County Superior Court on the afternoon of Friday, July 1st: http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/larsondocket.pdf -------------------------------------- Statutory provisions within the California Vehicle Code that pertain to Scott Larson's citation and regulate how Section 23111 can be enforced by law enforcement agents and judicial officers: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc23111.htm http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d17/vc40000_1.htm http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d17/vc40000_28.htm http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d18/vc42001_7.htm -------------------------------------- Journalist Under Attack By The Garden Grove Police Department 1Planet1People 6/29/05 la.indymedia.org http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/06/131121.php -------------------------------------- Minutes of Tuesday, June 14th meeting of the Garden Grove City Council where Scott Larson, Theresa Dang, and others spoke critically of the police 6/14/05 City of Garden Grove http://ch.ci.garden-grove.ca.us/internet/pdf/afm/cc/m06142005.pdf -------------------------------------- To learn more about how you can help people who were either arrested or criminally charged for various offenses by Garden Grove Police as a consequence of their participation at the May 25th protest against Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, please go to http://www.may25.org or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please consider making a financial contribution. Also check la.indymedia.org regularly for the latest news on this matter as they are covering this matter very aggressively. -------------------------------------- SEE THE FOLLOWING LINKS FOR OTHER INFO -------------------------------------- Minuteman Flap Leads to Home Search Daniel Yi 6/18/05 The Los Angeles Times http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/06/129652.php -------------------------------------- GG Police pursue phony criminal charge against woman hit by Minuteman supporter Duane Roberts 6/17/05 la.indymedia.org http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2005/06/129491.php -------------------------------------- No probe of police conduct at anti-Minuteman protest Eleeza Agopian 6/15/05 The Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/06/15/sections/local/local/article_560039.php -------------------------------------- The first photo on this page is of Theresa Dang, one of four persons struck by a minivan driven by Hal Netkin LA-IMC 5/25/05 la.indymedia.org http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2005/05/127222.php -------------------------------------- Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield sends me a message about Theresa Dang Duane Roberts 6/21/05 la.indymedia.org http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2005/06/130193.php -------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________ Sell on Yahoo! Auctions no fees. 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