Helmet cam video of traffic stop may land this guy in jail

[jphilipson]

Saw this on another forum - thoughts? If someone approaches me with a gun I might forget to disable audio on my camera as well!

Officials Upset Over Posted Traffic Stop Video - wjz.com

Apr 8, 2010 11:21 pm US/Eastern
Officials Upset Over Posted Traffic Stop Video
Reporting
Kelly McPherson
HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) ―


Video of a traffic stop in Maryland is now spreading across the popular web site YouTube, but the man with the camera is now in trouble with police.

Video of a traffic stop in Maryland is now spreading across the popular web site YouTube, but the man with the camera is now in trouble with police.

Video of a traffic stop in Maryland is now spreading across the popular web site YouTube.

It's a video that's landed one man in serious trouble with the law. As Kelly McPherson reports, police are now going after the man with the camera.

It was a highway confrontation caught on camera.

"Get off the motorcycle, get off the motorcycle. Get off the motorcycle, state police," yelled the officer involved.

The video is causing a stir online but also with state police and now the Harford County state's attorney.

Fitted with a helmet camera, Anthony Graber was recording his ride when an unmarked trooper car pulled him over for speeding.

"I was afraid. I thought the person, at the time I didn't know it was an officer, was going to shoot me," said Graber.

The father of two and Air National Guardsman could go to prison for recording the audio of the traffic stop ultimately because he posted it on YouTube.

"I posted it on YouTube because my mom was worried about the legality of it, and she was upset that a police officer pulled a firearm on me because I'm not a criminal," said Graber.

"When that plain clothed trooper witnessed this, initially he got out of his car, he held that gun at his side, momentarily when he saw the situation was under control he quickly put it away. He never pointed it at the individual. We think he acted appropriately," said Greg Shipley, Maryland State Police.

State police saw the video online, reopened the investigation an turned Graber's traffic ticket into reckless and negligent driving charges.

"Anybody driving over 100 miles per hour on one wheel up Interstate 95 ought to expect to be pulled over," said Shipley.

Maryland is a two-party consent state. That means you can't record somebody without telling them. It's a felony to break that law.

That's exactly what state police told the motorcyclist when they came to his house more than a month after he'd been pulled over.

"I don't want to go to jail. I haven't really done anything wrong. It wasn't a violent crime. No one was injured. No one was hurt," said Graber.

The Harford County state's attorney is handling the case but has not charged the motorcyclist.

Youtube vids

- Motorcycle traffic violation - Cop pulls out gun[/url] - short

- pullover2[/url] - long

 

[BusaPops]

Well thats insane! NutS! Somebody give the cops a kick in the brains!!! I can record whatever the heck I want if I can see it. The issue comes if I want to make money off it - then I need permission.

 

[mike1180]

That's a case of "letting sleeping dogs be"
100 mph on 1 wheel?
Illegal recording?
Did he think THEY would get in trouble if he posted it?

 

[jphilipson]

Well thats insane! NutS! Somebody give the cops a kick in the brains!!! I can record whatever the heck I want if I can see it. The issue comes if I want to make money off it - then I need permission.

That's the way I understand the law, but I am not familiar with Maryland's law. If there is no commercial gain then it shouldn't be an issue. Of course since it was posted to youtube, that may construe commercial gain. Not for him, but Youtube is making money on the video now with ads and such.

 

[jphilipson]

That's a case of "letting sleeping dogs be"
100 mph on 1 wheel?
Illegal recording?
Did he think THEY would get in trouble if he posted it?

+1 .. Apparently he's not very smart. He could have edited out the parts with speeding and wheelies at least

 

[Wayneovich]

Officer should have Identified his self before pulling out his gun What was he thinking. Was he going to shoot the guy if he ran? That is a odd situation.

 

[k03gsxr750]

I thought when you were in public you had no way to expect privacy, if you were at a baseball game and the guy behind you was recording his kid's birthday party or something, happened to catch you in the backgroud that give you grounds to sue? I thought the recording thing was only for a time that you should have a reasonable expectation of privacy, IE in your home ext. Is the only issue here the audio? I guess I don't fully understand the law that was broken here...

 

[BusaWhipped]

Some unknown guy in his plain car wearing plain street cloths jumps out of his car pulls a gun and starts telling him to get off the bike without identifying himself when there was a marked unit with an officer in uniform behind him. I think this guy way over reacted and had no reason to brandish his firearm. But the biker will be at fault in the end because the lawyers and judges will always side against bikers.

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Well thats insane! NutS! Somebody give the cops a kick in the brains!!! I can record whatever the heck I want if I can see it. The issue comes if I want to make money off it - then I need permission.

You may record it but when you post it publicly is when you violate others right to privacy I would think ?

 

[BusaWhipped]

You may record it but when you post it publicly is when you violate others right to privacy I would think ?

This has come up before, probably not in MD though. TV crew on site shooting something, guy with mistress is in the background. Wife sees it when it airs. So far rulings have been in favor of the people shooting the video since its something happening in a public place.

 

[skydivr]

You'd have to watch the whole video to make any opinion of the situation. The rider crossed 3 lanes, picked the front tire up and was in 3 digits. That's reckless driving right there. I suspect the undercover officer saw this and followed the guy until the uniform showed up to make the stop. While I think the UC might have not needed to pull his gun, he was within his rights to do it.

The biker was stupid enough to post his transgressions on the internet. When he put it in the public domain, the police had the right to use it against him. If they had confiscated it and charged him, he might have been able to use the 5th about self-incrimination. Until he posted it, they wern't charging him with anything other than speeding. Only after he posted it to the public domain did they charge him with reckless.

He should have edited that part out before he posted it. His own stupidity.

 

[Vonderbach]

While I sympathize with the kid for getting spooked by the plain clothes officer, the guy was comitting a felony at the time, and felony stops usually involve guns.

 

[jphilipson]

While I sympathize with the kid for getting spooked by the plain clothes officer, the guy was comitting a felony at the time, and felony stops usually involve guns.

Where was the felony? He pulled over on an off ramp, not like he was running.

 

[B00ST00]

While I sympathize with the kid for getting spooked by the plain clothes officer, the guy was comitting a felony at the time, and felony stops usually involve guns.

Explain to me how he was comitting a felony??

 

[B00ST00]

Where was the felony? He pulled over on an off ramp, not like he was running.

Running from the police in Maryland is not a felony either.

 

[Florida Sport bikes Blog]

My understanding is MD is like Florida all parties must consent to audio recording, . Wasn't the marked unit recording with a dash cam? If so wouldn't that be consent of all 3 by default. Pulling a man over w/ cam attached to helmet isn't that impled consent? Here's a blog about this story: Motorcyclist jailed for 26 hours for videotaping gun-wielding cop | Photography is Not a Crime
I read the Blog author faced identical ordeal for recording the police twice in Miami.