Source: https://steeringlaw.com/contempt-of-cop-resisting-arrest-law-cases/
Timestamp: 2018-04-26 17:14:43
Document Index: 390295352

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 148', '§ 240', '§ 242', '§ 69', '§ 69', '§ 69', '§ 69', '§ 148', '§ 148', '§ 647', '§ 148', '§ 148', '§ 1001', '§ 148', '§ 148', '§ 148', '§ 148', '§ 148']

> Contempt of Cop * Resisting Arrest Law & Cases
Jerry L. Steering is a Police Misconduct Specialist expert in and has prosecuted, defended, consulted or has otherwise been involved in hundreds of cases, and righteous civil rights civil actions. He has sued states, municipal entities (i.e. cities and counties) and even the United States government.
We now live in a time of great importance; a time where we are going to be called upon to decide what type of government we want; these days, whether or not we shift from a free society into a “police state”. These “Contempt Of Cop“ cases are those on the front lines of that never ending battle between the oppressed (the beaten / violated ones; the victims of bruised frail police egos), and their oppressors (the police.) Never before in the history of the Republic, has our commitment, to the sovereignty of, and respect for, the rights of the individual, been so much in ignored, and some much in doubt. With each passing case, bit by bit, bite by bite, by the “Opinions” of the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals, and the state appellate courts, we see our basic right to be left alone, and our right not to be exposed to unreasonable searches and seizures, either vanish completely or yield to claims by police officers that the constitutional balance of their safety versus your constitutional rights by tipped in their favor.
Unfortunately, the natural American’s reaction to hearing that you are accused of a crime, is to presume that you actually committed some crime, or otherwise acted unlawfully, anti-socially, dishonorably or despicably. That you are the bad guy. That you crossed some known barrier, that separates good, moral and reasonable conduct, and acted contrary to the social contract; that you acted unreasonably and immorally. That is the stigma that you now bear. No matter what you do, no matter what happens to your cause, the fact of your arrest by the police, places you in a different category in the minds of all of us; to one degree or another. You may win millions of dollars for what the government has done to you, but you will, in perpetuity, have an arrest record, notwithstanding any lack of criminal or even unreasonable conduct by you.
Vindication is our goal, for our unfortunate criminal defendant / civil plaintiff clients, who are truly innocent, and who are accused of a “crime against justice.” There are a lot more innocents of “Contempt Of Cop” crimes, than just about any other type of crime. That’s because the victim is the one being gooned, arrested and prosecuted. These “Contempt Of Cop” cases, both civil and criminal, are the majority of Mr. Steering’s law practice. Here are a few tips for such innocents being wrongfully criminally prosecuted.
“Contempt Of Cop“ cases, are bogus criminal actions, brought against innocents by criminal prosecutors, for essentially, “bruised ego” violations. The “ego bruising”, is really nothing more than a civilian not immediately, and without protest or question, getting-down on the ground in a prone position, or not doing something that the officer wants you to do (lawful, reasonable or not) immediately, and without question or protest. The Constable’s “ego” is typically “bruised”, by your conduct, such as: 1) asserting your Constitutional rights , or 2) claiming knowledge of them, or 3) asking the Constable why you’re being ordered to lie down on the ground while your chest is being illuminated by the red spot of a pistol or rifle targeting device; 4) telling the Constable that you have a medical condition that makes it difficult or painful to get on the ground; 5) telling the Constable that he can’t do something (i.e. can’t go in my house without a warrant); 6) failing to consent to an entry or a search; 7) not exiting your house when ordered to do so (even though the police generally can’t order you to exit; U.S. v. Al-Azzawy, 784 F.2d 890 (1985), and 8) video / audio recording the police [something lawful].) These are but a few examples. The list is endless, but the theme is the same.
Failing to immediately do whatever the police tell you to do, without protest, challenge or remarks, often will result in you being beaten-up, falsely arrested, and maliciously criminally prosecuted; and, in places with “conservative jurors”, convicted for resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer. This is no joke. The overwhelming majority of “Contempt of Cop” criminal prosecutions are simply bogus. The police usually accused persons of fairly innocuous, but nonetheless, criminal conduct. Criminal, again, in the sense of a failure to immediately, and without question, do whatever the police tell you to do. That is a police state, if the police can brutalize and falsely arrest you, and you plead to time served and community service, just because the contrived charges have resulted in unobtainable bails; bail amounts that keep you in jail.
These,“Contempt Of Cop“cases, typically involve the police using force upon persons (i.e. beating them) and/or falsely arresting them, and then inventing bogus and “creative” allegations of violations various “Contempt Of Cop” statutes, such as violations of: 1) Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1) (resisting / obstructing / delaying peace officer; the most abused statute in the Penal Code); 2) Cal. Penal Code § 240/241(c)(assault on a peace officer); 3) Cal. Penal Code§ 242 / 243(b) (battery on a peace officer); and 4) Cal. Penal Code § 69 (interfering with public officer via actual or threatened use of force or violence.) Cal. Penal Code § 69 is a “wobbler”; a California public offense that may be filed by the District Attorney’s Office as either a felony or a misdemeanor. In Orange County, Riverside County and Los Angeles County, allegations of violation of Cal. Penal Code § 69 are usually filed as misdemeanors. In San Bernardino County, however, allegations of violation of Cal. Penal Code § 69 are filed as felonies much more often than her sister counties.
As shown below the ambiguity of California’s “Contempt of Cop” statute, Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1), “allows” the police to claim to that you committed a crime for behavior that is constitutionally protected, such as verbally protesting police action (i.e. “officer, stop hitting that handcuffed man in his head”), questioning police assertions of authority (i.e. “Do you have a search warrant to have entered and searched my house“) and failing to immediately comply with orders from a police officer (i.e. “Officer; why are you pointing that gun a my face and want me to lie down on the dirty ground”.) It’s also the general default charge that the police use when you didn’t commit a crime, because the boys and girls back at the at the station in the report writing room, will come-up with some sort fabrication of the events, based on the “deniable” and the “undeniable”, to justify splitting you head open for not getting on the ground fast enough. The police Admit but spin what they can’t deny (i.e. conclusive video or audio recording), and deny anything prejudicial, or any material fact that is viewed as potentially helpful to the victim of police abuse being able to recover compensation for outrages perpetrated upon them.
A recent example of the ignorance about and misuse of Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1) is the arrest of actress Daniele Watts in Los Angeles by the LAPD. The LAPD received a call that a man and a woman were getting it on in a car in Los Angeles. When they arrived at the scene they saw Daniel Watts and her boyfriend, but they weren’t doing anything. The LAPD Officer started his investigation for a possible case of lewd conduct in public (Cal. Penal Code § 647(a)) and asked Ms. Watts for her name. She refused to tell the officer her name, claiming that she had a right not to do so. Notwithstanding the fact that Ms. Watt’s claim was correct, the LAPD Officer told her that she had no such right and that she was obligated to divulge her identity to him (which is not the law.) Because of Ms. Watts’ refusal to identify herself, the LAPD Officer handcuffed her and placed her in the back seat of his patrol car (listen to recording here.)
Throughout the contact, one can hear the officer repeat that he had “probable cause” (of some crime; which he didn’t), and that when the police are investigating a crime that a civilian has a duty to cooperate with the police including having to tell the police who they are, under the threat of arrest for non-compliance for Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1). The officer was wrong on both counts. First, a person has no obligation to cooperate with a police investigation; especially of themselves. See, People v. Shelton, 60 Cal.2d 740 (1964) (“A suspect has no duty to cooperate with officers in securing evidence against him . . . “.)
As things turned out, Ms. Watts was criminally prosecuted, but not for violation of Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1), but for misdemeanor public indecency. She ended-up pleading to the lowest charge in the Penal Code; misdemeanor disturbing the peace.
Mr. Steering has consulted on, or have represented clients, in thousands of these “Contempt of Cop” cases; both civil (suing the police and their employer) and criminal (defending bogus “contempt of cop” type cases.) Most of the police reports in these contempt of cop cases are cookie-cutter type reports. The officers use certain terminology in a way, that literally anything can be justified (i.e. a) the suspect’s hands were reaching for his waistband area, so I shot him; b) the suspect took an aggressive stance with fists clenched, so I tased him; or c) the suspect took an aggressive stance with fists clenched, so I punched him in the face, hip threw him on the ground, pulled him arms up behind his back and cuffed him; all with officer’s knee and body weight in neck of victim (“suspect”); d) the suspect said “f___k you to me, and took a swing at me; e) the suspect appeared to be impervious to pain, so I had to repeatedly hit him with my baton, which didn’t seem to have any affect on the suspect; f) my taser had no effect on the suspect so I hit him with my baton; and on, and on and on; and g) the suspect keep his hands underneath his body and wouldn’t allow me to pull his arms back, so I punched him in the head with hammer blows, and he gave up.
This B.S. goes on and on and on.) The politicians won’t take any action against the police, until they perceive that the body politic does, or foreseeable, will, or disapprove. So, for example, two Fullerton, California police officers were recently acquitted on murders charges for the beating death of Kelly Thomas; notwithstanding that the video and audio recordings of the beating death show two cops, threatening to, and then beating Kelly Thomas to death.
So, for example, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department statistics, in the year 2010, the LASD shot and killed 15 people who they claim were reaching for their waistband; none of whom were found to have had a weapon when they were shot. Police Misconduct is rampant and condoned and defended by the command structure of most, if not all, modern police agencies. There is a “Blue Code of Silence“ between and among peace officers throughout the nation, and everyone knows this.
This is no startling revelation. The County of Los Angeles has itself released a report Commissioner by the Board of Supervisors, acknowledging the existence of, and actually condemning, the Sheriff’s Department’s own rogue gangs of sadistic jailers at the Los Angeles County Central Men’s Jail. See, The Citizens Commission on Jail Violence September 28, 2012.
A retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Captain reported to the Los Angeles Times, that the L.A. County Men’s Central Jail was, essentially, a torture chamber, run by these jailer gangs (tattoos of their gang symbols on their ankles and all) of sadistic sociopaths. Discipline for beatings was not existent, and torturing inmates was actually required for jailer gang initiation. See, “L.A. County sheriff’s official tells of jail brutality”, LA Times, July 7, 2012. See also, “L.A. County jail violence sheriff’s fault, panel says“, LA Times, September 28, 2012. Rival Sheriff’s Department jailer gangs even got into a rumble between the “3000 Boys” (the third floor jailers) and the “2000 Boys” (the second floor jailers)at a Sheriff’s Department Christmas party.
More recently, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was convicted of conspiring with his subordinately deputies and staff to obstruct an FBI investigation into allegations of sadistic beatings of inmates by deputies, and an overall culture of violence and brutality at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Lee Baca resigned from office over a scandal at the LA County Men’s Central Jail involving the Indictment of 18 LASD Deputy Sheriffs and their Supervisors for torturing prisoners and obstructing the FBI’s investigation of the same.
On February 10, 2016, Sheriff Baca was convicted of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2); lying to the FBI regarding his knowledge of a scheme in the Sheriff’s Department to intimidate an FBI agent who was investigating complaints of beatings of inmates by deputies at the Los Angeles County Jail, and to hide an FBI informant – jail inmate from his FBI handlers.
Anaheim PD had six of these bogus waistband shootings in 2012. Huntington Beach also had its share of shooting unarmed persons. Remember; the various County District Attorney’s in California are not going to prosecute a police officer for a duty related activity (i.e. beating your brains in with a baton while officer’s partner cuffs you up for no crime at all; for failing to instantly obey them.)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, AND ANSWERS ABOUT “CONTEMPT OF COP CASES”.
WHY AM I BEING FALSELY CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED WHEN I’M THE VICTIM?
You’re Being Criminally Prosecuted Because Prosecutors Are Either: 1) The Instrument Of Police Oppression, Or 2) Simply Incompetent In Their Understanding Of What Type Of Conduct, Can Be, And Actually Is, Criminalized, By The “Contempt Of Cop” Group Of Criminal Statutes
Approximately, 95% of “Contempt of Cop” case criminal prosecutions are bogus; either: 1) simple frame-ups, to justify a peace officer’s use of force, or an unlawful arrest, or some other commonly committed Constitutional violations, or 2) simply mind boggling applications (i.e. strained theories of Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1) violations), or misunderstandings (i.e. don’t understand what Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1) proscribes), by public prosecutors, as to what types of constitutionally protected conduct, can be criminalized by the government, and, what conduct actually is so criminalized by California criminal statutes. These “Contempt of Cop” cases, sometimes referred to as “Obstruction Crimes” (i.e. resisting / obstructing / delaying peace officer, assault and battery on peace officer) are so rampant, that even the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department own Semi-Annual Reports show that phony charges of resisting a peace officer are most often brought to shift the blame, from the offending police offer to his/her citizen victim.
Motives For Public Prosecutors To File A Bogus Criminal Action.
5) The predisposition of persons to believe police officers; and
CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE SECTION 148(a)(1); THE “BOOT” OF THE POLICE STATE
Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1), otherwise known as “contempt of cop“, is the most abused criminal statute in California, simply because it’s so vague. It’s like “Alice in Wonderland“; it means everything and it means nothing. It’s over inclusive; it’s under inclusive. It means whatever the jury wants it to mean. For example, what does “delaying” an officer mean? Is not immediately dropping to the ground on one’s belly and putting one’s hands behind one’s back, after being ordered to do so by a peace officer, a crime? If so, why? Is failing to open the door to one’s home when directed to do so by a peace officer a crime? If so, why? Is failing to exit one’s residence when ordered to do so by a peace officer a crime? Is demanding to know what’s going on before complying with police orders a crime? Is failing to identify oneself to a peace officer upon a demand to do so, a crime? Is verbally challenging a peace officer’s authority to do something, a crime? Is arguing with a police officer “delaying” an officer’s investigation? Is causing an officer to deal with you “delaying” a peace officer? How do you know if the peace officer is engaged in the lawful performance of his/her duties; something necessary for that crime to be committed? Do we have to immediately and without question, obey whatever “commands” that we are given by a Constable? No reasonable person of average intelligence could possibly know the answers to these questions. However, persons are convicted for these very acts and omissions in California every day.
California Penal Code § 148(a)(1) is the quintessential statute that really is “void for vagueness.” See, Skiling v. United States, ___ U.S. ____ (2010.) Section 148(a)(1) is also the statute of choice by police officers to arrest a civilian for violating, for non-criminal conduct, such as for “failing the attitude test”, and other non-criminal actions (i.e. questioning or challenging or protesting police conduct) that lead to Section 148(a) arrests. The ambiguity of Cal. Penal Code § 148(a)(1) creates an opportunity to arrest innocents for “imaginary”(contrived) conduct, that is really no crime at all. Section 148(a)(1) prosecutions are the government’s vehicle to beat-down the victims of the police abuse (i.e. false arrests, excessive force); to use a criminal case to preclude or impair civil redress to those police abuse victims. See, Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477(1994) (can’t sue for false arrest if convicted of crime, even if government didn’t have warrant or probable cause to arrest when arrest was made); See also, Susag v. City of Lake Forest, 94 Cal.App.4th 1401 (2002) (can’t sue cops for excessive force if convicted of resisting arrest.)
When a Jury Instruction for a criminal offense is contained in the California Judicial Council Standard Form Jury Instruction Manual (“CALCRIM“), that instruction is usually the only instruction given to the jury on that issue. Although “Special Instructions” are submitted by the lawyers in a case to the court, most of the time they are not given. The Standard California Judicial Council Jury Instructions for violation of Section 148(a)(1) is CALCRIM 2656. It is essentially a recitation of the statute, with an explanation that a peace officer is not lawfully performing his/her duties if they are making an unlawful detention or arrest, or are using excessive force. The California Appellate Courts have integrated the holding of People v. Curtis, 70 Cal.2d 347 (1969) into CALCRIM 2670; that since a peace officer has no duty to act unlawfully, that if the peace officer is acting unlawfully, that he/she is not engaged in the lawful performance of her duties. However, the Jury Instruction does not mention other unlawful conduct, such as, for example: a)First Amendment retaliation (i.e. cop taking action against another for exercise of protected free speech); b) cop unlawfully entering residence to make arrest; c) cop executing a search warrant that is either facially deficient, or was obtained unlawfully [insufficient probable cause alleged, or outright falsehoods in warrant application to have obtained warrant]; d) ordering one out of residence; e) unreasonably seizing civilians in an unnecessarily painful, humiliating or degrading way. These are but just a few examples, but the point is made; that there are many things that the police do that are unlawful, and unlawful conduct by a police officer is a defense to, such as to violations of:1) Cal. Penal Code 148(a)(1) (resisting / obstructing / delaying peace officer); 2) Cal. Penal Code 240 / 241(c)) (assault on a peace officer); 3) Cal. Penal Code 242 / 243(b) (battery on a peace officer); and 4) Cal. Penal Code 69 (interfering with public officer via actual or threatened use of force or violence) (See, People v. Curtis , 70 Cal.2d 347 (1969) (defendant cannot be guilty of any crime, an element of which, requires the police officer to be in the lawful performance of his/her duties.) However, it doesn’t matter if those constitutional violations (the examples of unlawful police conduct) are viable defenses in criminal actions for “Contempt Of Cop“ crimes, because if those defenses aren’t contained in a special Jury Instruction, anything that the lawyers say to the jury is just argument; nothing more, and without the force of the law; the law by which they are instructed.
“THE GREATEST SCAM ON EARTH”; WHY THE AVERAGE INNOCENT JOE OR JANE , GETS CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED FOR “RESISTANCE” / “CONTEMPT OF COP” CRIMES: PART II; THE DISCOVERY “SHAM” OF THE EVIDENCE CODE’S STATUTORY SCHEME FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PEACE OFFICER PERSONNEL RECORDS.
The Barriers to Pre-Trial “Discovery” in Contempt Of Cop Cases.
One would think that one’s “liberty” interest, is even greater than their “financial or pecuniary” interest. That being the case, one would opine that “discovery” in a criminal action, would be at least as expansive as that in mere civil litigation; haggling over money. However, the opposite is the case. This seemingly unjustifiable position is justified and condoned by the politicians, since they view the body politic as presuming that if you’re arrested, then you must be guilty, and, therefore, the citizenry is not going to pay for those pesky depositions and document and evidence production demands and inquiries. Moreover, in California Superior Courts, you actually have to pay to get criminally prosecuted (i.e. have copies of items of discovery made for your lawyer.) Behind the Orange Curtain you don’t get a free court reporter, even for a jury trial, in a misdemeanor criminal case; something mind boggling [you get one every where else in Southern California, unless your indigent.] So, if you have your own retained counsel in a criminal case, your going to have to bring your own court reporter to transcribe your trial, which will costs you approximately $1,500.00 – $2,000.00 per day, depending on how soon you want the transcript.
Mr. Steering also has, over the years, developed criminal case discovery strategies for these actions, that, in large part, are due to 1) extensive experience in obtaining criminal discovery in these types of cases, and 2) intricate knowledge of what items of evidence are available from a particular police agency, that will help show your innocence. This is in large part, due to Mr. Steering’s obtaining discovery of evidence in hundreds of civil lights actions (i.e. suing the police.) Most of the time in Superior Court criminal actions, because of Proposition 115 (that limits discovery in criminal actions; See, (Cal. Penal Code 1054 et seq.), the police simply don’t give the prosecution what items of evidence that they have about a particular case, even though it is perfectly clear to them that the items of evidence are not privileged, and must be turned-over to the lawyer for the criminal defendant. Prior to Proposition 115, criminal defense lawyers in California were able to directly subpoena the police agencies for items of evidence.
Proposition 115 changed that. It requires that a criminal defendant who seeks evidence from the police agency that was an investigating and/or arresting agency in your case, first make an informal request upon the prosecutor for the requested items. After the prosecutor then fails to produce all of the items of evidence, the criminal defendant make bring a Motion to Compel Discovery. The problem with all of this, is that at the hearings on the Motion to Compel Discovery, the prosecutor usually tells the Court that he/she requested the items of evidence sought from the police agency, and that they told him that the items don’t exist. This is normal, even though in the majority of these Motions and requests, the items really do exist; the police just don’t want to produce them (either too lazy or the evidence is too exculpatory.) Once the prosecutor tells the Judge that the sought items of evidence don’t exist, that’s it for most Judges. You don’t get what you need and your Motion to Compel is denied. Some Judges will let you call witnesses at the hearing on the Motion to Compel Discovery (usually from the same police agency from which the evidence is being sought), but there is no provision in the California Penal Code’s statutory criminal discovery scheme for such hearings.