Crazy False Arrest Gets Cop Suspended

[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 the fourth amendment police vehicles and misconduct complaints and is brought to us by frickin media's channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve on february 9th 2022 first amendment auditor steve jones was driving with a friend in utica michigan with their dash cams recording when another motorist pulled beside them and motioned for them to pull over they stopped at a marathon gas station and the other driver exited his vehicle and approached them to complain about being videotaped the motorist eventually called the police and claimed that the auditors were threatening him sergeant greg murabito of the utica police department responded to the call in an unmarked vehicle hi what's going on we didn't call you he did okay we'll go talk to him no i'm going to be talking no you're not going to talk to me yeah you ain't going to talk you ain't going to talk to me at all i got to say to you not nothing so go talk to the guy that called you in that in that procedure planning party calls you go talk to the complaining party no you don't get sure it is sure it is sure it is go talk to him he'll tell you what's going on and then you can be like oh nothing illegal is going on i can go back to doing my real job no touch our vehicle you are you are don't touch our vehicle you didn't pull us over yes no you did not we was parked here idiot we were parked here okay you didn't pull us over don't try that that was wrong with you he says he pulled us over you know we was parked there hey look do you not see my life i don't give a about your lights i don't give a about your lights hey pull us over when we're parked cause we didn't commit a traffic violation idiot you're a dummy mr jones argues that sergeant moribito could not have pulled them over because they were already parked and did not commit a traffic violation by definition police officers cannot quote unquote pull over vehicles that have already stopped but in some situations they can detain the drivers of parked vehicles while all traffic stops are considered seizures for fourth amendment purposes no such brightline rule exists for parked vehicles the supreme court summarized in the 2002 case of united states versus drayton that quote law enforcement officers do not violate the fourth amendment's prohibition of unreasonable seizures merely by approaching individuals on the street or in other public places and putting questions to them if they are willing to listen if a reasonable person would feel free to terminate the encounter then he or she has not been seized when this standard is applied to a traffic stop as the supreme court explained in the 1984 case of berkemer vs mccarty quote few motorists would feel free either to disobey a directive to pull over or to leave the scene of a traffic stop without being told they might do so partly for these reasons we have long acknowledged that stopping an automobile and detaining its occupants constitute a seizure within the meaning of the fourth amendment even though the purpose of the stop is limited and the resulting detention quite brief however when it comes to officers approaching parked vehicles courts consider some interactions to be quote unquote consensual if they conclude that a reasonable person would feel free to terminate the encounter while other interactions are deemed fourth amendment seizures in michigan a primary factor as to whether a police interaction involving a parked vehicle is a non-consensual seizure is the location where the officer parks their vehicle in the 2021 case of people versus duff the michigan court of appeals held that an individual in a parked car was not seized when a police vehicle parked in such a way that allowed the driver to leave with quote unquote some maneuvering the court explained that apps and other coercive behavior on the part of the officer quote a police officer can initiate a consensual encounter by parking his police vehicle in a manner that allows the defendant to leave in this situation a court would likely conclude that sergeant moribito detained the auditors despite the fact that he did not park in a manner that prevented them from driving their vehicle away based on his other coercive conduct however the court would also likely determine that sergeant moribito had the reasonable suspicion necessary to detain the auditors based on the allegations of threats from the other driver [Laughter] right right right right yeah when you pull somebody over you have to tell them what you pulled them over for so if you don't have our chickens if you don't have articulables we've got a complaint that there's a thing i don't care so yeah i don't care what he said people don't lie people no you won't oh no you will not you ain't getting my id numbnuts you ain't getting my id numbnuts i promise you i don't answer your questions either you must think i'm stupid you are i don't answer your questions you're doing a good enough job proving that right now yeah you don't improve how stupid he is you guys are brilliant obviously smarter than you are hey wrong oh yeah you can get away from the pain and you can get away from hey keep your hands to yourself answer yourself no you don't put your hands on people what the hell is wrong with you dude that bad's done went to your little head didn't it walk go get away you take a walk i'll stand where i want to stand up get in your car get away from my heart we pay for but it's being used it's being used in public service so it's a public vehicle here here's the bin number we'll find out yeah one of the auditors approaches sergeant moribito's unmarked vehicle to film inside the open door and sergeant moravido orders him to stand back and shoves them away as we have discussed many times on ata courts have consistently held that the first amendment protects both the right to film police officers exercising their official duties in public and to film in public in general and while officers may issue orders that incidentally impact an individual's exercise of the first amendment right to film for safety purposes as the first circuit explained in the 2014 case of garaki vs begin quote a police order that is specifically directed at the first amendment right to film police performing their duties in public may be constitutionally imposed only if the officer can reasonably conclude that the filming itself is interfering or is about to interfere with his duties here the court would likely conclude that the auditors were within their rights to record sergeant moribito's vehicle and anything within it that was visible from a public vantage point which would make sergeant moribito's use of force in shoving one of the auditors away from his vehicle an unreasonable and unconstitutional instance of excessive force sergeant moribito also states that the unmarked vehicle he's driving which is equipped with red and blue flashing lights is his personal property and not a government-owned vehicle if this statement is true the situation is not only unusual but potentially illegal under section 257.698 of the michigan compiled laws quote the use or possession of flashing oscillating or rotating lights of any color is prohibited except as otherwise provided by law a police vehicle must be equipped with flashing rotating or oscillating red or blue lights for use in the performance of police duties furthermore section 257.603 of the michigan compiled laws specifies that quote only police vehicles that are publicly owned shall be equipped with a flashing oscillating or rotating blue light that when activated is visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of 500 feet in a 360 degree arc therefore a court could conclude that the installation of the flashing emergency lights on sergeant moribito's personal vehicle violated michigan law depending on the light's visibility yeah sarge you need to put this little bit in check put this little check hey you ever hear you ever hear of uh you're right it is but you don't have those freedoms when you're on duty you have duties not rights dummy yeah you are you're definitely getting some time off for that one partner oh yeah once the complaints come in what's the phone calls roll in uh-uh don't touch it you don't get to get off your property hey get your hands off don't touch the car you'll get a complaint too wow y'all a bunch of tyrants up here ain't you bunch of tyrants [Music] yeah i'm coming for your job come for it i am i'm fine i'm coming for your job i'm coming for your job [Applause] you ain't got that badging gun punk you ain't pulling out that badging gun you ain't without it you you're dispensed now he's blocking the vehicle that's unlawful containment move can you guys move in no i don't have jobs please put the dog back on the leash yeah put him on a leash we're not taking your complaint today you have to go back tomorrow to make your complaint you can make as many complaints i think you need to just take yourself out of the situation because right now what you have interested right now okay [Music] at the police station sergeant moribito and the other officers refused to accept the auditor's complaints inform them that they can file their complaints tomorrow and give them two minutes to leave the station generally the policies and procedures for filing police misconduct complaints are set by individual police agencies and departments while the utica pd's policy on how citizens can file complaints is not publicly available it is difficult to imagine that their policy allows officers to refuse to accept a complaint and demand that citizens return the following day if they wish to file a complaint in a 2021 collaborative white paper on building trust between the police and the community chief ronald haddad of the dearborn michigan police department argued that citizens should be made comfortable to report any and all complaints the white paper also presented the dearborn police department's bias-free policy as an example of best practices the policy quote mandates a commitment to unbiased equitable treatment of all persons and unequivocally prohibits discriminatory practices equally important this policy includes sections on the duty to report observed violations by other members a prohibition on delaying or discouraging citizens from making complaints and a requirement for supervisors to continuously monitor their personnel to ensure compliance other michigan police departments that have made information on filing complaints publicly available provide multiple options for how individuals can file complaints in a clear effort to ensure that citizens who want to make a complaint are able to do so for instance the detroit police department's website states the quote if you have a concern regarding the performance of any detroit police department employee you have a right to file a complaint by letter telephone online fax or in person through any entity of the police department or in person at the oci similarly the ann arbor pd's website explains the quote to file a complaint and or compliment an employee contact lieutenant cory mills of the professional standards section by coming in person to the police department contacting us by writing or by phone if the professional standard section lieutenant is not available please contact the patrol command desk regardless of whether sergeant moribito and the other utica officers violated policy by refusing to accept the auditor's complaints it clearly did not comply with police best practices and only serve to discourage and delay the filing of a complaint you have two minutes and badge numbers if you can't read i don't know what to tell you my name is i don't want to see your number right there right there that's my last name right there filming when mr jones continues to argue sergeant morabito handcuffs him and places him under arrest according to mr jones he was slammed against a wall during the arrest causing a laceration to his shoulder in an interview with a local paper he stated that he was released after approximately one hour and that the officers berated and ridiculed him while he was in custody mr jones has retained an attorney and intends to pursue criminal and civil charges on february 15 2022 mr jones posted another youtube video where he visited the macomb county sheriff's department to file a criminal complaint upon arriving at the station mr jones discovered that the department had been attempting to reach him as the deputy chief of utica pd requested that they investigate the potential criminal aspects of the encounter in addition to the macomb county sheriff's investigation sergeant moribito was placed on paid leave while the utica pd conducts its own internal investigation as of the date of this episode both investigations are still pending overall sergeant moribito gets an f for maintaining a hostile unprofessional and out-of-control demeanor throughout the encounter refusing to accept the auditor's complaints and likely using excessive amounts of force on more than one occasion when the auditors responded to his inquiries with hostility sergeant moribito reacted by matching and escalating the aggressive nature of their conduct rather than attempting to de-escalate the situation it should also be noted that this is not the first time that sergeant moribito has been accused of using excessive force in the 2005 case of weissel versus city of utica the plaintiff alleged that officer moribito and his partner pushed an individual out of his vehicle and onto the ground where they punched kicked and maced him the plaintiff also alleged that he was then taken to the police station where he was hosed down with cold water ridiculed and called a racial slur although sergeant morabito denied the allegations in the weissel case there's no video footage of the encounter and the undisputed video evidence of his behavior during his interaction with mr jones and his friends on its own seriously calls into question whether sergeant moribito has the temperament and self-control required to be a competent police officer this is yet another officer who appears to have allowed his ego to dictate his decision-making and this interaction highlights the important role that officers play in setting the tone of a citizen encounter mr jones and his friends get a b because although they also maintained a hostile and insulting demeanor throughout the encounter they were perfectly within their first amendment rights to do so and they exercised their rights to film the encounter refused to identify themselves when it was not required and followed up this interaction by attempting to file multiple complaints and pursuing legal action while i cannot suggest or condone insulting or taunting another individual including a police officer nothing the auditors did was illegal and the first amendment protects the right of citizens to express dissent to police actions and to communicate offensive and challenging ideas without government retaliation while i commend the auditors for challenging the legitimacy of sergeant morabito's conduct and following up this encounter with the proper legal action their persistent name calling and taunting certainly did not help to improve an already tense situation and these types of encounters not only serve to build distrust between citizens and the police but also cause officers to be wary and suspicious of the auditing community as a whole 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 check out my second channel for even more police interaction content [Music] you

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 1,456,262

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: SF146b3HzFc

Length: 16min 45sec (1005 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 21 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/jmd_forest]

Wow ... an actual suspension as opposed to a jail sentence for the felonies that cop committed.

[u/nobodyGotTime4That]

Original video from FRICN Media. https://youtu.be/AJi0LgnoIJA

[u/TommyChiffon]

The cops eyes are the windows to his soul. You can see his brain scramble when he's insulted or presented with questions that he doesn't like.

What a bully. So glad that he showed his true colors.

[u/TooApatheticToHateU]

"Suspended". Cops are rewarded with paid vacations for being complete tyrants.