City Cops Arrest Sheriff For Corruption

[Music] welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers search warrants officer privilege and departmental corruption and is brought to us by fire and police videos as channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve let's dive right in and audit the interaction on the evening of March twenty second twenty twenty Espanola New Mexico resident Phillip Chacon barricaded himself into his home after the Espanola police department attempted to make contact with him regarding a stabbing incident which occurred earlier that day the Espanola PD surrounded the house and began issuing orders for mr. Chacon to surrender peacefully shortly after the incident began Rio Arriba sheriff James Lujan arrived on the scene in plainclothes and attempted to order the Espanola city police officers to leave the scene I'm not asking I'm telling you I will bring him in okay and he's he's asking us to pull back and he'll pull him in but he's been drinking I can smell it on him we're gonna need somebody ah yeah okay we need to pull somebody over here suddenly above me because he's he's already pushing his way to run with me so okay I'm not pulling back hi I'm late I told Jeremy Jeremy just calling c'mon one now but do you smell it I'm I think one was smells mr. Chacon eventually surrendered to the officers and was taken into custody during the standoff sheriff Luhan revealed to the Espanola officers that he had been communicating with mr. Chacon while he was inside the home and briefly attempted to convince the officers that mr. Chacon was not actually in the house sheriff Luhan strange behavior and unwelcome appearance garnered suspicion from the Espanola police department and culminated in the department filing official charges against sheriff Luhan and securing search warrants for both the sheriff's personal cell phone and the phone issued to him by the Sheriff's Office on the morning of May 14th the Espanola PD attempted to serve those warrants at the Rio Arriba sheriff's office [Applause] okay I'm not sure if all right good genes here at this point sheriff Lujan has officially been served the search warrants and must comply with the orders of the judge immediately the search warrant authorizes officers to search the sheriff for the phones and as of this moment the phones are in the sheriff's pocket which means that he was served the warrant while in possession of the phones however sheriff Luhan attempts to circumvent the authority of the warrants by handing his phones to his colleague under sheriff Martin Trujillo [Applause] the sheriff informed the officers that he will not surrender the phones until he has spoken with his attorney while all Americans are entitled to due process under the 5th and 14th amendments disputing the legitimacy of a search warrant as it is being served does not fall within the scope of those protections if a defendant wishes to challenge the validity of a search warrant they must do so in a court of law not on the streets and the fact that the Espanola officers allowed the sheriff to call his attorney and wander around the office freely after serving the warrants is a testament to the privilege that officers often afford one another when performing their duties in a country where departments are authorized to execute no-knock raids daly sees millions of dollars of contraband and intercept sensitive personal information all in the name of justice it is highly irregular for officers to allow a suspect to comply with a warrant on their own terms [Music] does the PD face number doesn't have a magistrate or district ace this isn't district court - and this is a magistrate one okay this case is already in the district courts is a match do you understand that this case well this case is in district court right you go to district court judge so for this district court judges don't do search warrants anymore they just put them all down the magistrate in the 1971 Supreme Court case of Coolidge versus Hampshire the court held that a warrant must be issued by a neutral and detached judge capable of determining whether probable cause exists whether the warrant was signed by the circuit judge or a magistrate is irrelevant to obtain a warrant law enforcement officers must show that there is probable cause to believe a search is justified officers must support the showing with sworn statements and must describe in particularity the place they will search and the items they will seize the search warrant that the Espanola officers are attempting to serve specifically targets sheriff lu han's work phone and the personal phone that he was using to communicate with mr. Chacon during the march 22nd standoff keep this in mind because it will play an important role later in this episode Wow even that's out there [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] undersheriff trujillo walks away with the phones and the espanol officers inform the deputies that they need to be able to see the phones in case the sheriff attempts to delete anything the sheriff and undersheriff eventually returned to the front of the office but continued to wander aimlessly in and out of the view of the officers shortly thereafter Espanola interim police chief Roger Jimenez arrives on the scene to speak with sheriff Lujan goodbye so he has the Warrens they're signing their legal it's a court order I know I know you guys are just doing your job I don't want you guys in the middle of this while we needed the phones that's it you have your phone look can I see a man be soon like to give you that professional courtesy take it home you guys well I'm not the one beat in the show I had only sent these guys in here you know I just looking we wipe the phone that's fine Ronnie's brother you want to get the phone well is you know undersheriff it's not probably there's a court order you know I don't wanna I really don't I don't want to have to put anybody in cos I don't but if if that's what I have to do then I will do it I don't want to do that I haven't accompanied the search for somebody house here I gave them copies not the phone's busy I told you you have your search warrant says to search me for personal phones he has the phones he already told me yes okay that's not what our Lord says does it okay so do you want us to lock down the sheriff's office where you call them back you're gonna static so it's down under chef you can go to the courts historian we are we're gonna lock down this building until [Applause] [Applause] you're not going to stop me from leaving if I under arrest my under arrest this slight physical altercation demonstrates that the deputies prioritize their loyalty to the sheriff above their sworn duty to uphold the law the Espanola officers followed the proper protocol and served a legitimate search warrant to the sheriff the Rio Arriba deputies are bound by the same oath to uphold the law as it is dictated by their respective justice system as every other member of law enforcement their failure to uphold the search warrant raises serious questions about their competence as a department and reveals a glaring gap between their ability to perform their duties according to the law and the ethical standards associated with law enforcement as a whole [Applause] I'm here how so will you on a misdemeanor okay for now for now they're something else then why don't you give me the phones but seeking legal counsel first I have them right do I not have a right to see you have a couple order you have a Hitler and it doesn't say how long I have to give it to you does it it says now yes yes don't you a court order you have the copies it says now yeah when do you okay so you just do whatever you want sheriff there's just be so much easier if you just give us these phones and do it well no but you we I saw you give them to your under sheriff plasm in his pocket so just the knowledge of that this is all for us than the retaliation because I told the City Council that you shouldn't be the chief that's what it is think whatever you I don't think I know okay that's exactly what it is do these phones are not to be gone through until you have a warrant for the content you only have a warrant for the phones you're out nothing you're absolutely right good luck Sam you better not come through a magistrate get better go through a district court don't you think you understand after acquiring the phones the Espanola officers left the scene without further incident the officers secured a search warrant for the contents of the phone a few days later and discovered that sheriff Lujan did not surrender the correct phone to the officers the search warrant specifically named the phone that the sheriff had used to communicate with mr. Chacon but neither of the phones that the sheriff gave to the officers were the one he had used on March 22nd upon realizing that the sheriff failed to comply with the stipulations of the search warrants an arrest warrant was issued and on May 21st the Espanola Police Department arrested sheriff Lujan at his office during the arrest the sheriff managed to get a resisting charge stacked on top of the other charges he was already facing overall sheriff Lujan in the Rio Arriba sheriffs office get an F for failing to comply with the language of the search warrants escalating a lawful interaction into a passive-aggressive standoff and actively working to shield the sheriff from the authority of a court order the blind loyalty of the deputies sheds light on the gang like operations of certain police departments across the country and officers who operate under the best interest of their department at the expense of properly enforcing the law are a danger to their communities if the sheriff's actions are any indication of his guilt then there is no doubt that he will be prosecuted for his crimes it will be interesting to see what if any information is gathered from the cell phone that the sheriff went through so much trouble to hide and there is a good possibility that the sheriff could face more charges in the future throughout the interaction the sheriff mentions that the search warrants were issued in retaliation for comments that he had made about the interim police chief but I was unable to substantiate those claims and the sheriff's office could not be reached for comments the Espanola police department gets a c-minus for offering the sheriff privileges that they do not grant to average citizens by allowing the sheriff and deputies to wander aimlessly through the building while executing a search warrant and not arresting the sheriff after he made several attempts to evade complying with the court order by extending a professional courtesy to sheriff Lujan the Espanola officers afforded him ample time to deceive the officers and attempt to make a getaway in the middle of the interaction any civilian who attempted to evade a search warrant by leaving the scene or passing off evidence to a colleague would have been arrested on the spot and this encounter draws many parallels to an interaction I have covered in the past involving the arrest of attorney Victor Reve for defying the authority of a search warrant in central Alabama I will post a link to that episode in the info card above regardless of any professional titles all Americans are equally subject to the laws of this country but the Espanola police department provided sheriff Lujan with the degree of leniency that is not consistent with the standard protocols administered during most interactions with average citizens let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to Like and subscribe for more police interaction contents [Music]

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 3,395,044

Rating: 4.9069805 out of 5

Keywords: amagansett press, first amendment audit, 1st amendment audit, auditing america, news now california, sgv news first, high desert community watch, anselmo morales, photography is not a crime, san joaquin valley transparency, first amendment audit fail, walk of shame, news now houston, police fail, 1st amendment audit fail, public photography, auditor arrested, police brutality, highdesert community watch, pinac news, cops triggered, news now patrick, east hampton

Id: KzRvaFAKuuk

Length: 17min 29sec (1049 seconds)

Published: Thu May 28 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/moisttysh]

Mmmmmmmm yes police officers acting like children

[u/-skeemin-]

They should all arrest themselves

[u/rohith_on_reddit]

sorry, who's corrupted?