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Title: Man who hit cop in self-defense is acquitted, with help of friend's video footage
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URL Source: http://libertyfight.com/2013/man_wh ... ith_help_of_video_footage.html
Published: Apr 2, 2013
Author: .
Post Date: 2013-04-02 21:04:02 by Artisan
Keywords: None
Views: 276
Comments: 10
There is an interesting story out of California which hasn't received too much attention nationally, but deserves some scrutiny. A young man who admittedly hit a California Highway Patrol officer during a traffic stop melee has been acquitted by a jury in Northern California. 19 year old Hector Gonzalez, from San Rafael, CA, was arrested in the melee on January 13, 2013. The incident began when a vehicle was pulled over for allegedly running a red light. They pulled into a Circle K convenience store, and things quickly went south, when officers Ryan Allen and Frank Jorgensen removed the occupants from the vehicle. The Marin Independent Journal outlined details of the case and the verdict. Gonzalez was "acquitted of battery against a police officer, resisting or obstructing police and public intoxication." The jury reached the not guilty verdict after only two hours of deliberations. Chief Deputy Public Defender David Brown, "argued that Gonzalez thought he was defending his brother and a friend from excessive force by the CHP."..."My client is grateful that the jury realized he was acting in the defense of self and others, and reached a just result." The Journal notes, "One of the officers asked a rear passenger for his license. The passenger said, "We weren't driving. We don't have to give you s?-." The Journal also pointed out "What happened next was captured on two video cameras, one mounted to the CHP car, the other held by one of the vehicle's occupants. Jurors were shown both videos, allowing them to watch as the traffic stop spiraled out of control." This is also more reason to film every interaction you have with law enforcement or government agents, as is our right. The trial was held before Judge Terrence Boren. Gonzalez, who's listed in arrest records as being of slight build at 5' 8" and 145 lbs., faced four charges as a result of the incident: 1. 243(b) Pc -- Battery On Po/emergency Personnel Interestingly, penal code 234(b) includes battery not only against cops but any "emergency medical technician, lifeguard, security officer, custody assistant, process server, traffic officer, code enforcement officer, animal control officer" and other on-duty personel and carries a $2000 fine and a year imprisonment in county jail. 148(a) Resisting, Delaying, or Obstructing Officer states, in part, "Every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician ... in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment, when no other punishment is prescribed, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment." It also covers persons who interfere with a radio transmission or removes or takes any weapon. However, a notable caviat is added to the law: (f) This section shall not apply if the public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician is disarmed while engaged in a criminal act. The third charge 647(f) requires the person to be "in a condition that he or she is unable to exercise care for his or her own safety or the safety of others," but in this case the exact opposite seemed to be true, as Gonzalez was protecting the safety and well being of his brother. The final charge, Business and Professions Code Section 25662 Minor Possessing Alcoholic Beverage, states, in part, There have been numerous other examples, some not well publicized, of people who defended themselves or fled police and were charged with assault and/or attempted murder, who were also acquitted by juries. One of my favorites is the case of Vincent Arias, who was shot by police while in his car, escaped the scene, and was later aprehended and charged with assault and attempted murder on a police officer. Arias was acquitted of all charges in August 2006, and tells his amazing story in the video below. The two photos are of Vincent's car. More photos and a two hour audio interview with Vincent and Martin Hill from 2009 can be found here. An amazing story of determination and success despite all odds: In 2012, Indiana legislators revised their law to specify that it's legal for residents to defend themselves with deadly force against police. Reason.com reported: [ See also Indiana First State to Allow Citizens to 'Shoot Law Enforcement Officers' .] One well known such case of people rightfully using force to defend themselves against criminal rogue police is the case of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, where feds burned seventy-six men, women and children alive in 1993. Although the case is notorious, not too many Americans are aware of the fact that all of the surviving defendants were acquitted of murder charges of the four ATF agents in their criminal trial. In reality, just two days prior to the one year anniversary of the initial (Feb. 28, 1993) raid on the Branch Davidian property, a jury had acquitted all defendants of murder charges. The jury deliberated only four days to reach a decision after a six week trial. On 2/27/94, the Los Angeles Times reported '11 Waco Cultists Are Acquitted of Murder Charges: Trial: Outcome indicates jurors placed most blame on the government. Seven Branch Davidians are convicted on lesser charges. Anaheim mother agrees with defense", which stated in part ... Although most of the defendants were convicted of some offenses, the acquittals on the most serious charges indicated that jurors believed the ATF--and not cult members, whose lawyers had argued they acted only in self-defense--was largely responsible for the violence. Defense attorney Terry Kirk sought to make that point in telling reporters outside the courthouse: "The nerve of the federal government to do what they did on Feb. 28, and then come into a courtroom and file a brief saying: 'Oh, if it's a federal agent, you don't have the right of self-defense, you have to take a bullet in the head.' "Well, the judge didn't buy it, the American people most assuredly would not have bought it, and that's the message the jury sent." ... As documented in our trip to the Branch Davidian compound, survivors erected a memorial not only to the innocent victims, but to the four slain officers. [See Skull & Bones/Bohemian Grover George H.W. Bush ranted about "weird cultists" in classic case of Psychological Projection.] In 2009, a twenty-one-year old Chicago man who had been asleep in his apartment shot and wounded two police after they tried to kick in his bedroom door. The man was found not guilty by a jury because he feared for his life and acted in self defense. In 2011, a Dallas man heard someone trying to break down his door as he begged the 911 operator to help him over the phone. He shot the people coming in, who unbeknownst to him were police officers. He was charged with "three counts of aggravated assault on a police officer," but the grand jury who heard the recording didn't indict him. Conversely, a Baltimore MD man named Sian James was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2011 for killing an officer whom James claimed had threatend to shoot him. See also: COPBLOCK.ORG: The Absurdity of Self-Defense Restrictions Martin Hill is a Catholic paleoconservative and civil rights advocate. His work has been featured in the Los Angeles Daily News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Contra Costa Times, Pasadena Star News, Silicon Valley Mercury News, Long Beach Press Telegram, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, L.A. Harbor Daily Breeze, Whittier Daily News, LewRockwell.com, WhatReallyHappened, Infowars, PrisonPlanet, Economic Policy Journal, FreedomsPhoenix, Veterans Today, The Wayne Madsen Report, Devvy.com, Rense, Antiwar.com, IamtheWitness.com, The Dr. Katherine Albrecht Show, Jonathan Turley blog, National Motorists Association, RomanCatholicReport.com, Republic Broadcasting Network, WorldNetDaily, Dr. Kevin Barret's Truth Jihad radio show, The Orange County Register, KNBC4 Los Angeles, Los Angeles Catholic Lay Mission Newspaper, KFI 640, The Press Enterprise, Redlands Daily Facts, BlackBoxVoting, educate-yourself.org, and many others. Archives can be found at LibertyFight.com. Greetings to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of the Justice. I hope you enjoyed this article. And by the way, thanks for your recent letter affirming our right to film police. :-) Update to our article Lunatic CHP cops go berzerk as female motorist successfully demands her rights under CA Vehicle code [Featured on WhatReallyHappened.com , Economic Policy Journal, From the Trenches World Report , The Daily Paul (most popular of the day), Fourwinds10.net, and TheLibertyCaucus.com. ALSO: Obnoxious CHP cop tries to make people stop filming him
"...Allen took Gonzalez's brother aside to separate him from the others, but they tripped over a curb and crashed loudly into a cement trash receptacle, falling to the ground. The other suspects, seeing the officer on their friend, became increasingly agitated and profane.
..."Brown said the situation started deteriorating when Hector Gonzalez saw his younger brother "being rammed into a concrete trash receptacle" and having his arm bent behind his back by the officer.
"...We're not denying that he hit the officer one time," Brown told the jury. "My client did that in reaction to someone who appeared to be getting seriously injured."
Counts: 1
Bond: $25,000.00
2. 148(a)(1) Pc -- Obstructs/resists Public Officer
Counts: 1
Bond: $0.00
3. 647(f) Pc -- Drunk In Public-disorderly Conduct
Counts: 1
Bond: $0.00
4. 25662(a) Bp -- Minor Possess Alcohol
Counts: 1
Bond: $0.00 "any person under the age of 21 years who has any alcoholic beverage in his or her possession on any street or highway or in any public place or in any place open to the public is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or the person shall be required to perform not less than 24 hours or more than 32 hours of community service during hours when the person is not employed or is not attending school."
The "Minor Possessing Alcoholic Beverage" charge is the only charge that Gonzalez was convicted of. Another passenger in the vehicle, 23 year old Edgar Chan-Sosa, has two prior criminal convictions. He was tazed numerous times by police during the altercation and is being charged with battery on a police officer and obstructing or resisting police. His next hearing is scheduled for April 8th. 
Shot By Cops & Charged With Two Felonies, Defendant represents himself and is acquitted!
"An amendment to Indiana'a Castle Docrtine passed in March would allow homeowners to use deadly force against "public servants" who are committing "unlawful intrusions," reports Bloomberg News:
"Republican state Senator R. Michael Young, the bill's author, said there haven't been any cases in which suspects have used the law to justify shooting police. He said "public servant" was added to clarify the law after a state Supreme Court ruling last year that "there is no right to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers." The case was based on a man charged with assaulting an officer during a domestic-violence call. Young cited a hypothetical situation of a homeowner returning to see an officer raping his daughter or wife. Under the court's ruling, the homeowner could not touch the officer and only file a lawsuit later, he said. Young said he devised the idea for the law after the court ruling."
"Dealing a sharp blow to the government, jurors on Saturday FEB 26 acquitted all 11 members of the Branch Davidian cult accused of murder and murder-conspiracy in the deaths of four federal agents who stormed their compound near Waco, Tex., a year ago. Most of the defendants were convicted of lesser charges. Five were convicted of aiding and abetting voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents. Those five and two others were also found guilty of weapons possession charges. Four cult members were cleared of all charges.
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#2. To: Artisan (#0)
Great post, Artisan.
#4. To: purplerose (#2)
thanks! :-)
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