When criminal defense lawyer Jackie Carpenter wrote of her experience being misidentified as the gun moll for her passenger bandit, it was unusual in that Jackie, as a criminal defense lawyer, had the opportunity to feel for herself what it was like on the ugly streets for defendants. Via Elie Mystal at Above the Law, there’s another member of the club.
There are a couple of undisputed facts. David Lee Phillips is black. And he was certainly jogging in a historically black part of Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Review-Journal picks up the story from Phillips’s lawsuit against LVPD:
Phillips, wearing jogging clothes with reflecting material on his running shoes and sweatpants, and dressed for the 38-degree weather, stopped to stretch while waiting for the light to change. He was carrying a golf club he uses to fend off stray dogs as he runs through the Bonanza Village subdivision.
Did Phillips brandish his golf club at police officers? Umm… no. But he did acknowledge the police, which is apparently a big no-no:
While crossing at the light and heading north on Vegas Drive, he waved to police Sgt. Raymond Reyes, who was stopped in traffic.
“He gave me a real hard look,” said Phillips.
When the light changed, Reyes turned left on Vegas Drive at a high rate of speed, made a U-turn, activated his light bar and stopped in front of Phillips, who said he set his golf club against the block wall and walked about 40 feet from it, to where Reyes came to a stop.
Phillips said the officer put his hand on his gun and told Phillips he was going to search him for weapons. Phillips asked him why he would do that and refused to be searched when Reyes couldn’t offer legal justification.
This story came a little too close for comfort for Elie, who survived a DWB in his earlier days.
In any event, with six officers on the scene, Phillips stopped trying to defend his rights, and started trying to defend his life:
Phillips said that when he told the police his name and gave them his address, one officer noted there was a downtown lawyer by that name. Phillips said that when he said he was indeed that lawyer, the officer responded, “What kind of lawyer would live in a shithole neighborhood like this?”…
The threats came when Reyes ordered Phillips to walk to the back of his patrol car and another cop told him that if he moved he would be shot with a Taser. A third officer, he said, aimed a Taser at him.
“I just kept my hands up and said ‘I’m staying right here until you guys decide what you want me to do.”
Phillips had cases on the next day, and felt embarrassed as word spread around the courthouse about his arrest, that he was swinging the golf club at the officers and acting irrationally. After all, it’s not like 6 police officers would attack him over nothing.
One of the most interesting aspects of Above the Law is the nature of its readership and their thoughts about the law. Ridiculing Elie is something of a right of passage over there, but the comments to his post, such as this one, by the Bigaw wannabes are brutal.
Earth to all the “_______ while black” meme-writers (you know who you are): when a guy stands there with a gun, has the ability to call backup, and has the force of law behind him is NOT the time to get snarky.
Seems like the only sensible thing this guy did was fold his tent when it became clear that he might be Tasered. Just like this white guy would have done, but from the start.
While criminal defense lawyers fight over the scope of their duty, and some fight to keep themselves from being another isolated incident on the police blotter, there remain other lawyers who are only too happy to have the police around to make sure that no black man with a golf club runs free.
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I’ve always been amazed that the vast majority of practioners who don’t do criminal defense work are as naive about the realities of the system as the average layperson. Highly discouraging.
I disagree. They are far worse, because their position isn’t based on ignorance, but on the belief that they are the protected class and enjoy the benefits of police impropriety.
As a practical matter, just about the only place to argue with a police officer in such circumstances is by the side of the road; complaints to management, lawsuits, etc. almost never do any good.
Unfortunately, also as a practical matter, the side of the road is a very dangerous place to argue about misperceptions of law and fact with a police officer; it’s almost impossible to win.
I don’t think we disagree. I think they are as ridiculously ignorant as laypersons, but I agree that the attorneys are more culpable, as they have no excuse for such ignorance. I’m not sure I’d pin the problem on the class privilege thing, though, as working class laypersons seem to hold pretty similar pro-cop views.
Sir, this event reminds me of two episodes of ‘Reno 911’ where in the first, Jones (the big black deputy) & Garcia (the only mexican deputy) confront two Mormans or Jahova witnessess on a sidewalk. Another episode they confront teenagers. To their amusement both times they barked out orders that contradicted the others. There is no doubt that Reyes and his gang watch the show.
This will settle out of court and if the NAACP, ACLU and Jessie Jackson get wind of it it’ll be on CNN and the View, until they release another tape of Mel Gibson.
Do you think he should advertise for witnesses to the event and seek footage of the dash-cams before they are all erased? Or just call the Whitehouse?Thanks.
The comments on the link are truly disappointing. Since when did people have to participate with the police? People continue to assert that a person who knows their constitutional rights is somehow “snarky” or playing the race card. The constitution, for the record, everyone, is different from race! One has nothing to do with the other! When someone declines to consent to a waiver of any constitutional right, that falls squarely within the constitutional realm, not race. Is that so hard to comprehend?
I think they would have to improve significantly to reach “disappointing”. They’re disgraceful, but the commenters think they are so very witty. These are the ones who believe they are due the Biglaw big bucks jobs because they are the best and the brightest.