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full: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...rched-illinois_n_1364087.html?ref=mostpopular
Last December, filmmaker Terrance Huff and his friend Jon Seaton were returning to Ohio after attending a "Star Trek" convention in St. Louis. As they passed through a small town in Illinois, a police officer, Michael Reichert, pulled Huff's red PT Cruiser over to the side of the road, allegedly for an unsafe lane change. Over the next hour, Reichert interrogated the two men, employing a variety of police tactics civil rights attorneys say were aimed at tricking them into giving up their Fourth Amendment rights. Reichert conducted a sweep of Huff's car with a K-9 dog, then searched Huff's car by hand. Ultimately, he sent Huff and Seaton on their way with a warning.
Earlier this month, Huff posted to YouTube audio and video footage of the stop taken from Reichert's dashboard camera. No shots were fired in the incident. No one was beaten, arrested or even handcuffed. Reichert found no measurable amount of contraband in Huff's car. But Huff's 17-and-a-half minute video raises important questions about law enforcement and the criminal justice system, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the drug war, profiling and why it's so difficult to take problematic cops out of the police force.
THE STOP
The stop itself happened Dec. 4 on Interstate 70 in Collinsville, a town of 26,000 people just outside of St. Louis. Law enforcement officials say this stretch of highway is a drug-trafficking corridor. The account that follows is based on Huff’s video, the unedited dashboard footage from Reichert's vehicle and a Huffington Post interview with Huff.
After pulling Huff over, Reichert approaches Huff's car and asks him for his license, registration and proof of insurance. Huff complies. Reichert then asks Huff to step out of the car, because he says he can't hear him over the noise from the highway. Huff complies. Before talking to Huff, Reichert asks Seaton for ID as well, which Seaton isn't obligated to produce, but does.
Reichert then tells Huff he pulled him over for weaving across lanes. Huff says in his video that this is a fabrication. But he didn't challenge Reichert's claim at the time because, "I was from out of state, and I didn't want any trouble."
After running a check on Huff's license, Reichert tells Huff he'll let him off with a warning, and the two men shake hands. Legally, Huff is now free to go. But just as Huff is set to get back into his car, Reichert says, "Let me ask you a question real quick." Huff agrees.
It's here that Reichert adds, seemingly as an afterthought, that Seaton appeared nervous and apprehensive. He then asks Huff a series of what law enforcement officers call "rolling no" questions about whether Huff is transporting any drugs, weapons or cash. Huff says "no" to each.
In his interview with HuffPost, Huff asks, "If he thought Jon was nervous, and that might indicate drug activity, why did he wait so long to bring it up? And why did he wait until he had basically told me I could go?"
"It's a common tactic," says John Rekowski, the public defender for Madison County, where the stop took place. "[Officer Reichert] thinks he's doing something legally significant there. He thinks he's establishing that everything that happens after the handshake is consensual, because after that, Huff was technically free to go. But of course he isn't free to go."
If Huff had ignored Reichert's "Let me ask you a question real quick," gotten into his car and driven off, Rekowski says, there's no way Reichert would have let him leave. "And in Illinois, the definition of a detainment is that you aren't free to leave."
Collinsville Police Chief Scott Williams, who has seen the dash cam video, tells HuffPost "I don't have any reason to doubt the integrity of any of our officers. But we'll do our due diligence and look into that. If we find that any of our officers is taking shortcuts or violating someone's civil rights, that officer will be fired."
HuffPost was unable to reach Reichert for comment.
During the questioning, Reichert tries several times to get Huff to admit to having marijuana in his car, even if only a small amount for personal use. Huff says he has none. "I would just like to go on my way if I could," he tells Reichert. Reichert says that he's going to bring his K-9 out of the car to do an outside sweep.
Reichert pats down both Huff and Seaton and takes the dog around the car twice. He tells Huff that on the second trip, the dog has "alerted" to the presence of drugs, but did so at the front of the car, out of the view of Reichert's dashboard camera. He explains that because the front of the car is downwind, the drug scent would most likely register with the dog at the front of the car.
The dog's alert gives Reichert probable cause for a thorough hand search of Huff's car, as well as Huff and Seaton's luggage and personal belongings.
Reichert finds no drugs. He does claim to find "shake" -- marijuana residue -- beneath the seats of Huff's car. That, Reichert says, must have been why the dog alerted. Reichert never collected any of the alleged shake for testing, however, and Huff says now it's nonsense. After an hour of questioning and searching by Reichert, Huff and Seaton leave Collinsville with only a warning for an unsafe lane change.
full http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...rched-illinois_n_1364087.html?ref=mostpopular
Last December, filmmaker Terrance Huff and his friend Jon Seaton were returning to Ohio after attending a "Star Trek" convention in St. Louis. As they passed through a small town in Illinois, a police officer, Michael Reichert, pulled Huff's red PT Cruiser over to the side of the road, allegedly for an unsafe lane change. Over the next hour, Reichert interrogated the two men, employing a variety of police tactics civil rights attorneys say were aimed at tricking them into giving up their Fourth Amendment rights. Reichert conducted a sweep of Huff's car with a K-9 dog, then searched Huff's car by hand. Ultimately, he sent Huff and Seaton on their way with a warning.
Earlier this month, Huff posted to YouTube audio and video footage of the stop taken from Reichert's dashboard camera. No shots were fired in the incident. No one was beaten, arrested or even handcuffed. Reichert found no measurable amount of contraband in Huff's car. But Huff's 17-and-a-half minute video raises important questions about law enforcement and the criminal justice system, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the drug war, profiling and why it's so difficult to take problematic cops out of the police force.
THE STOP
The stop itself happened Dec. 4 on Interstate 70 in Collinsville, a town of 26,000 people just outside of St. Louis. Law enforcement officials say this stretch of highway is a drug-trafficking corridor. The account that follows is based on Huff’s video, the unedited dashboard footage from Reichert's vehicle and a Huffington Post interview with Huff.
After pulling Huff over, Reichert approaches Huff's car and asks him for his license, registration and proof of insurance. Huff complies. Reichert then asks Huff to step out of the car, because he says he can't hear him over the noise from the highway. Huff complies. Before talking to Huff, Reichert asks Seaton for ID as well, which Seaton isn't obligated to produce, but does.
Reichert then tells Huff he pulled him over for weaving across lanes. Huff says in his video that this is a fabrication. But he didn't challenge Reichert's claim at the time because, "I was from out of state, and I didn't want any trouble."
After running a check on Huff's license, Reichert tells Huff he'll let him off with a warning, and the two men shake hands. Legally, Huff is now free to go. But just as Huff is set to get back into his car, Reichert says, "Let me ask you a question real quick." Huff agrees.
It's here that Reichert adds, seemingly as an afterthought, that Seaton appeared nervous and apprehensive. He then asks Huff a series of what law enforcement officers call "rolling no" questions about whether Huff is transporting any drugs, weapons or cash. Huff says "no" to each.
In his interview with HuffPost, Huff asks, "If he thought Jon was nervous, and that might indicate drug activity, why did he wait so long to bring it up? And why did he wait until he had basically told me I could go?"
"It's a common tactic," says John Rekowski, the public defender for Madison County, where the stop took place. "[Officer Reichert] thinks he's doing something legally significant there. He thinks he's establishing that everything that happens after the handshake is consensual, because after that, Huff was technically free to go. But of course he isn't free to go."
If Huff had ignored Reichert's "Let me ask you a question real quick," gotten into his car and driven off, Rekowski says, there's no way Reichert would have let him leave. "And in Illinois, the definition of a detainment is that you aren't free to leave."
Collinsville Police Chief Scott Williams, who has seen the dash cam video, tells HuffPost "I don't have any reason to doubt the integrity of any of our officers. But we'll do our due diligence and look into that. If we find that any of our officers is taking shortcuts or violating someone's civil rights, that officer will be fired."
HuffPost was unable to reach Reichert for comment.
During the questioning, Reichert tries several times to get Huff to admit to having marijuana in his car, even if only a small amount for personal use. Huff says he has none. "I would just like to go on my way if I could," he tells Reichert. Reichert says that he's going to bring his K-9 out of the car to do an outside sweep.
Reichert pats down both Huff and Seaton and takes the dog around the car twice. He tells Huff that on the second trip, the dog has "alerted" to the presence of drugs, but did so at the front of the car, out of the view of Reichert's dashboard camera. He explains that because the front of the car is downwind, the drug scent would most likely register with the dog at the front of the car.
The dog's alert gives Reichert probable cause for a thorough hand search of Huff's car, as well as Huff and Seaton's luggage and personal belongings.
Reichert finds no drugs. He does claim to find "shake" -- marijuana residue -- beneath the seats of Huff's car. That, Reichert says, must have been why the dog alerted. Reichert never collected any of the alleged shake for testing, however, and Huff says now it's nonsense. After an hour of questioning and searching by Reichert, Huff and Seaton leave Collinsville with only a warning for an unsafe lane change.
full http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...rched-illinois_n_1364087.html?ref=mostpopular
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