Beau Davis, whom I’ve spoken with a few times in the past, recently announced that police in Greenfield, Massachusetts have charged him with “wiretapping” for reasons that are currently unknown to him.
Beau has worked with my friends Ademo (aka Adam Mueller) and Pete Eyre on their project Liberty On Tour. Last year, prior to starting Liberty On Tour, Adam and Pete were arrested by the Greenfield police and charged with wiretapping for recording themselves trying to bail a friend out of the Franklin County Jail. They thoroughly documented their arrest, court hearings, and other interactions with the Greenfield police at Cop Block and Liberty On Tour with blog posts, legal documents, and, most importantly, videos, some of which were made with Beau’s assistance.
It seems likely that Beau’s wiretapping charge has something to do with the work he did with Ademo and Pete during their wiretapping ordeal.
Here’s how Beau described the charges on his new blog which he just launched to raise awareness about his case:
A few days ago, my parents in FL received a letter in the mail from the Trial Court of Massachusetts District Court Department, stating that I needed to be present in court in Greenfield, MA, alleging that I unlawfully wiretapped a member of the Greenfield Police Department on May 20, 2011. The charge is, as it is written in the letter, “WIRETAP, UNLAWFUL c272 §99(C)(1)”, which is a felony in Massachusetts. The charge was filed on August 11, 2011. It is August 21, 2011 and I am just now receiving the letter today from my parents. The date of the arraignment is September 7, 2011.
I still do not know how Greenfield acquired my parents address back home; I can only speculate at this point.
The court has not stated how I have allegedly committed this offense, so I have nothing to go on at the moment, other than speculation. Now, why Greenfield, MA is trying this again after they failed to convict my friends Pete Eyre and Ademo Freeman for the same “offense”, I do not know. This could be to save face or to try and further make an example of one who tries to hold public officials accountable for their actions. I do not understand their motives as I do not yet know who I’ve apparently hurt in the matter.
– Beau Davis, “The Letter That Came In The Mail,” 5 Years For Filming a Cop, August 21, 2011
As I’ve discussed on this blog numerous times before, the Massachusetts wiretapping statute only prohibits the creation of “secret” audio-recordings. Unless a prosecutor can show that Beau “secretly” recorded the police, (by, for instance, hiding a recording device in his pocket), then it’s unlikely that he will be convicted of wiretapping.
But even if Beau did openly record the police, it’s still likely that his charge will go to trial. When Ademo and Pete were arrested for wiretapping, they held their cameras in plain sight and made it clear that they intended to record the police, but that didn’t stop Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Bengston from prosecuting them nor did it stop Judge William F. Mazanec III from refusing to dismiss their bogus charges.
As soon as more information about Beau’s case becomes available, I’ll post an update.
Originally posted at Massachusetts Cop Block
Dear Sir,
I recommend you retain a licensed attorney who will file a Motion for Specification of charges,, different juridsictions have different forms so a local guy would be your best bet.
Recording the puiblic performance of official duties is an First Amendment right and also could be considered as a means to provide an accurate record as to your own defense. What the cops are doing is trying to preemptively exclude your “best evidence” that refreshes your own memory and preserves evidence for the fact finder.
My personal project is insufficient.
Why do the police keep doing this? Expecting privacy withing 300-400 yards of the Liberty on Tour/CopBlock guys is insane, and a losing battle? Hasn’t Greenfield citizens had enough of tyrants and paying for them too?
Read the United States Court of Appeals ruling August 26th proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Beau is innocent of the unlawful accusations/charges. GFLD PD needs to be slapped hard in the wallet to make the tyranny stop! Secret government ALWAYS turns out badly… http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/10-1764P-01A.pdf
These blue suit pigs need to help accountable by the people. The government isn’t going to do it. I the people started taking action using force things would change.Just following orders my ass. I drove by a troopers house the other day. It was freaking huge. These crooks are being bribed. Not to mention if you score to high on their IQ test you cant be a cop.
Recent Mass. federal court ruling may help:
http://gizmodo.com/5835723/federal-court-says-you-can-record-the-cops
You should now file official oppression charges.
The ACLU “should” help. US circuit court IN MASS just said that they were going on previous Supreme Court decisions when they made their ruling on Glik’s case. This case should be thrown out post haste, because of the Glik’s ruling.
Link to the court ruling: http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/10-1764P-01A.pdf
I will also send this to Beau’s blog. THEY HAVE NO CASE!
First circuit court which is a MA court says, “The first amendment goes beyond protection of the press and the self – expression of individuals to prohibit the government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw.” First National Bank v. Belloti 435 U. S. 765, 783 (1978)… “The filming of public officials engaged in their duties in a public place, including police officers performing their responsibilities, fits comfortably within these principles. Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a CARDINAL First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting “the free discussion of governmental affairs”.
Ask for a “summary dismissal” (may want to make sure this is the right term for MA), quote this decision, and the lower courts will have no choice but to dismiss.