Politician Wants Cop Fired After Receiving Ticket

[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 speeding extortion and resisting and is brought to us by wfla news channel 8's channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve on february 14 2022 officer julia beskin of the sarasota police department pulled over republican congressional primary candidate martin hyde for speeding and texting while driving after mr hyde stops officer beskin's body camera shows her exit her vehicle and approached mr hyde's driver's side window hi how are you doing how are you doing sarah sebastian sarasota police department you're on audio and video recording the reason for the stop you were observed going 57 and 40 and you were on your phone texting while you were doing that that was at euclid and fruitville i'm not pointing at you i'm pointing in the direction where it was just go right ahead sir can i see it like that yes sir i do can i see your last registration insurance please did you do this yes sir i'm sorry i still have a job to do sir yeah what's your name up sebastian it's going to be on the citation can i see your insurance registration and your license please sir can i have it seven years sir can i see your registration please you're not going to give me a registration sir i'm asking you if you're going to produce me with your registration you want to have it on you okay [Music] i'm asking you if you have your registration you're making career decisions sorry because you were speeding and you were texting all right hang tight when officer beskin informs mr hyde that he was speeding and texting mr hyde demands to see the video evidence however officers are under no obligation to provide evidence to citizens to justify their traffic stops and mr high typically would only be legally entitled to see any video footage that existed if he challenged the citations and the video was to be used as evidence against him although section 318.14 of the florida statutes requires the government to prove traffic offenses beyond a reasonable doubt in court this burden can be satisfied without video evidence of any kind for instance section 316.19 of the florida statutes allows evidence of the speed of a vehicle measured by any radar speed measuring device to be admitted if it is obtained by an officer who meets certain conditions such as satisfactory completion of a radar training course and who has made an independent visual determination that the vehicle is operating in excess of the applicable speed limit and obtain the radar evidence when conditions permit the clear assignment of speed to a single vehicle video evidence is also not required for an officer to stop a vehicle for speeding in fact as the florida second district court of appeals held in the 2008 case of state versus allen police officers can stop a vehicle for a speeding violation based on the officer's visual or oral perceptions and verification of actual speed by the use of radar equipment or speed clocking is not necessary to justify the stop because officer beskin advised mr hyde of his exact speed it is likely that she used radar to capture his speed but even if she had only stopped mr hyde because it looked like he was speeding it is likely a court would find that she had reasonable suspicion to make the stop call the supervisor sir you're going to be issued a citation anything you have to say away from the supervisor you can wait for the supervisor but i'm going to go through what i need to go through are you are going to be you should assist the registration well you've been already issued a citation for that will fail to produce your registration all right sure you're going to you're going to be a citation 57 and a 40 for speeding 256 information in the back you're going to have an option an option to plead not guilty an option to take a safe drivers course if you qualify for the course it will reduce your fine i'm a law-abiding citizen and you're being bloody rude if you decide to go ahead and do the court just make sure you do a private submission of payment as they do you require a certificate of completion if you sign up for it you must complete it otherwise they will go ahead and suspend your license why are you money you have 30 dollars your payment options are on the green storm phone number on the bottom in case you have any questions when my supervisor comes i'll wait for him with you if you like me too your citations accept them i will wait i will wait but i will wait on my card there you go throughout his interaction with officer besskin both before and after she issues some citations mr hyde makes several comments that imply he will use his influence in the police department to get her fired if she continues with the traffic stop or issues him any citations while attempting to intimidate a police officer is inarguably unethical a court could also conclude that mr hyde's actions violated florida criminal law section 838.021 of the florida statutes defines the crime of corruption by threat against a public servant which is a felony offense and states that quote it is unlawful to threaten to harm any public servant with the intention to influence the performance of any act or omission within the official discretion of the public servant in violation of a public duty or in performance of a public duty because section 838.014 of the florida statutes defines the term harm as meaning quote pecuniary or other loss disadvantage or injury to the person affected threatening an officer's job would certainly qualify as a threat of harm and attempting to influence an officer not to write a citation would likewise fall under the scope of this statute similarly section 836.05 of the florida statute states that quote whoever maliciously threatens an injury to the person property or reputation of another or maliciously threatens to expose another to disgrace with intent to compel the person so threatened to do any act or refrain from doing any act against his or her will shall be guilty of a felony of the second degree however even though mr hyde's conduct could fit within the definitions of these crimes it is possible that a court could determine that his statements were protected by the first amendment in the 1969 case of watts vs united states the supreme court stated that quote a statute such as this one which makes criminal a form of pure speech must be interpreted with the commands of the first amendment clearly in mind what is a threat must be distinguished from what is constitutionally protected speech while extortion is not protected speech and as the supreme court explained in the 2003 case of virginia versus black the first amendment permits a state to ban a quote unquote true threat which is defined as quote those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals the state of the law regarding non-violent quote-unquote threats is much less clear for instance in the 1987 case of houston versus hill the supreme court recognized that quote the freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state and it is easy to imagine how defining statements about getting police officers fired as unprotected speech could lead to widespread abuse and the suppression of free speech the rights of individuals to express their dissent with police actions must be balanced against the state's interest in protecting against corruption and it would be interesting to see how a court would decide this case if mr hyde had been criminally charged if that is your feeling you are more than welcome to fight the citations in court i'll fight the citation i'll fight your employment okay sarge frangione is on his way okay speeding 57 and a 40. uh texting while driving failing to produce his registration when i asked he told me i could look it up okay you know who he is yes okay hello mr hyde i guess fringe you start you talked to sergeant francione by the phone i did yeah okay he's on his way she just she requested another unit so that's why another certificate a ticket for no registration when they've got their registration she's trying to make her spurs but it's a big mistake well this one is the expired one but that's not making it take two seconds yeah we're gonna make sure that she pays the price for being disrespectful mr hyde argues that because he eventually provided a copy of his registration certificate to officer besskin he should not have been cited for refusing to present his registration despite the fact that it was expired however even if his registration certificate had not been expired it is possible that mr hyde could still be cited with a violation of the registration statute section 320.0605 of the florida statute states that quote the registration certificate or an official copy thereof shall at all times while the vehicle is being used or operated on the roads of this state be in the possession of the operator thereof or be carried in the vehicle for which issued and shall be exhibited upon demand of any authorized law enforcement officer a violation of this statute is a non-criminal traffic infraction and although section 318.18 of the florida statutes allows the clerk of the court to dismiss a case under the statute if the driver can show proof of having a valid registration at the time of arrest this is not required additionally mr hyde's initial refusal to provide his registration may have violated section 316.072 of the florida statutes which states that quote it is unlawful and a misdemeanor of the second degree for any person willfully to fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any law enforcement officer in the 2020 case of united states vs wilson the 11th circuit concluded that an officer had probable cause to arrest an individual for violation of this statute when he repeatedly refused to produce his driver's license in response to the officer's valid order to do so during a legal traffic stop similarly mr hyde's conduct could also constitute resisting an officer without violence which section 843.02 of the florida statutes defines as resisting obstructing or opposing any officer in the lawful execution of any legal duty without offering or doing violence to the person of the officer as the 11th circuit explained in the unpublished 2017 case of rider vs andrews quote the refusal to comply with an officer's request during the lawful execution of a legal duty may constitute resisting without violence in this case the court went on to conclude that refusing to provide license and registration during a valid traffic stop at the very least gave officers arguable probable cause to arrest an individual for resisting without violence given this precedent a court would likely conclude that officer besskin would have been within her authority to arrest mr hyde for violating either of these statutes when he repeatedly refused to present his registration certificate let me go talk to her and see well it's a waste of time she's got it in her head i know exactly who she is told me exactly who she is that's fine seven years might not turn into weight proceed to the route stay in your car you can go to state yup go to station hey martin yeah i have to leave it on mr hyde eventually took the citations and drove away after securing a promise that officer beskin's body camera footage would be reviewed on february 22nd mr hyde issued a public apology for his actions on social media and has since dropped out of the republican primary although the sarasota pd has not issued a public comment on the incident a spokesperson indicated that officer beskin's actions were not under review court records show that mr hyde's speeding and texting while driving citations were paid on february 21 2022 but as of the date of this episode he has not paid the fine for the registration citation overall officer besskin gets an a-plus for remaining calm and professional throughout the encounter treating mr hyde with civility and respect despite his hostility and working to de-escalate the situation in the face of threats to her career although officer beskin likely would have been within her authority to arrest mr hyde at several points during their exchange she instead exercised her discretion to try to de-escalate the situation by calling a supervisor and waiting at the scene until he arrived at no point did officer besskin say or do anything to provoke a response from mr hyde and she maintained a cordial and professional demeanor while mr hyde insulted her made comments about her nationality and threatened to have her fired i commend officer besskin for having the courage to carry out her duties without showing bias or favoritism to mr hyde and for remaining professional but firm when he threatened to use his influence against her officer beskin was able to set aside her ego to de-escalate the situation and i encourage other members of law enforcement to learn from officer besskin's example former candidate hyde gets an f for maintaining a hostile and angry demeanor throughout the encounter attempting to misuse his political influence to avoid being cited for traffic offenses and potentially committing multiple crimes during the traffic stop much of this interaction's escalation can likely be attributed to mr hyde's ego and his apparent sense of entitlement based on his position in the community and his contributions to the sarasota pd in fact mr hyde admitted as much in an apology letter he wrote in the sarasota herald tribune stating that quote i admit that i did expect the reception that i get from most local cops which is a positive one because i have fought in my aggressive manner on their behalf on everything from officer pay to internal affairs matters at the point when i realized that my rather silly statement do you know who i am wasn't going to work i should have shut up and let it go but i didn't unfortunately instead of restraint and a little humility it was righteous indignation that ran through my veins while issuing this apology did require some level of courage and integrity on mr hyde's part it in no way excuses his attempts to abuse his political sway for personal gain and this interaction highlights the conflict that often arises at the intersection of politics and policing 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

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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: b4HvGCkI8yU

Length: 16min 20sec (980 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 21 2022